Terminal illness, death and dying are universal human experiences, but discussing them can be challenging. This video demonstrates the use of a therapeutic conversation guide, ‘STEPS Together’, providing a structure to employ narrative practices to support people to develop preferred narratives in the face of hardships related to terminal illness. The video features unique conversations with people with terminal illness, their caregivers and the bereaved. This work was completed with support from Singapore Cancer Society, Psychosocial Services Department.

This presentation describes Beck’s work as a counselor in an in-patient mental health crisis treatment program in Calgary, Canada. The goal of this project was to support nurturance and growth of narrative ideas and work in a setting that can often be hostile to such practices. Beck also hopes this project will offer solidarity and understanding of the difficulties for practitioners new to narrative ideas in navigating the shift from dominant practices to more narrative-aligned practices. Guided by the metaphor of seed-planting, growth, and nature, the initiatives described were both intentional and organic in origin, and demonstrate how bringing narrative ideas to the forefront of Beck’s practice changed not only their own work, but the larger program as well.

This video explores the danger of a single story in traditional mental health assessments, and presents an alternative assessment tool that seeks to contribute to rich story development while satisfying organisational requirements. This double-storied assessment tool elicits stories of strength and hope alongside stories of difficulty. The work draws on the maps of narrative practice and discusses six aspects of the assessment tool: structuring safety, externalising conversations, re-membering conversations, unique outcomes, deconstruction and documentation. Transcripts from case examples are used to demonstrate the use of the assessment tool. The tool can be used by narrative practitioners and other mental health professionals who are required to administer assessments and wish to resist pathologising approaches and to invite practices of accountability into their work.

In this presentation Lesley will share how collective narrative practices can be an effective remedy for the lingering effects of trauma and violence against women. These practices acknowledge and dignify the complexity, defiance, resistance, and human agency of the women that live with these ongoing effects. In this presentation she will demonstrate how, through the use of letters of encouragement and other documents, women can make powerful connections, sharing ideas and resources about their lived experience. Shared documents and connecting women provide an antidote to isolation and a sense of being alone, that too many women experience after violence, and these ideas can provide a sense of solidarity and rekindle a glimmer of hope.

In this presentation, Michael shares his co-research with people experiencing homelessness drawing on collective narrative practices. Michael’s work was informed by a solidarity team carefully selected for their insider and professional knowledges to foster his accountability to those who had experienced “survival”, “fleeing violence”, “living without a roof”, or “feeling invisible”. The learnings from these collaborations subvert, upend, step beyond and outside of the dominant discourses of homelessness. We’ll learn about the betwixt and between space of being newly re-housed and the ways in which choosing homelessness might represent an act of resistance against a culture that does not work for everyone. 

In this Friday Afternoon Video, Hailey Trudgeon details her experience using narrative practice to help children be a part of conversations about emergency preparedness within their community. It explores the importance of children’s voices in discussions about emergency preparedness within their communities. Children are viewed as resilient and capable contributors within their communities throughout this video.