Collective narrative practices are newer narrative methodologies developed by the Dulwich Centre Foundation for use with individuals, wider groups and communities experiencing trauma and difficulties.  These methodologies are easy to engage with while offering hopeful and effective approaches to responding to hardship.

Key Principles:

– To enable people to tell their stories in ways that make them stronger.

– Enable people who are experiencing hardship to make a contribution to others who are also experiencing hard times.

– The experience of making a contribution sustains and generates hope.

– Even if we initially only hear a story of trouble, hardship, loss, despair, there is always more than one story.

– People are always responding to the difficulties they are facing.

– It’s best to start small. Our role is to ‘play our part’ in sustaining and building on the local initiatives of individuals,  families, groups, communities.

– When whole communities are affected, we seek collective ways forward – this involves finding ways to share skills between different members of community, and between communities. It also involves enabling the community to experience making a contribution to another community.  These processes require teamwork and partnerships. No one person has to find the solutions.

(from Denborough, D., & White, C. November 2007 workshop handout)