Jan 17, 2023 – Narrative Therapy: An Introduction to the Politics, Ethics & Practices
Jan 17, 2023 – Narrative Therapy: An Introduction to the Politics, Ethics & Practices
Event Date:
January 17, 2023
Event Time:
9:00 am
Event Location:
This is an ONLINE EVENT
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Facilitated by Amy Druker
Regular registration $160 thereafter
Narrative therapy is viewed as a collaborative and non-pathologizing approach to counselling and community work that centres people as the expert of their own lives. Narrative therapy is based on the belief that people make meaning of their lives through stories. The stories people live by are not a mirror of a person’s life but are actually shaping of people’s lives and identities. Narrative therapy suggests that stories are not neutral; and are understood to be influenced by a broader context – particularly in the various dimensions of class, race, gender, sexual orientation and ability.
Workshop description
This workshop is for people who are new(er) to narrative therapy and interested in learning (or learning more) about its collaborative, respectful and socially just ways of understanding people and problems. By refusing to locate problems inside of people, and by always seeing problems in the broader cultural context in which these problems were produced, narrative therapy stands against the individualizing and pathologizing of people’s suffering.
The workshop will cover:
- The theoretical framework that underpins narrative therapy.
- The ways stories shape our lives. Participants will be invited to consider a story (or description of them) that has been told about them more than a few times, to consider the effects of this story/description on their lives, and to take a position on what authority they want this story to have going forward.
- Deconstructing ‘discourses’ or common cultural understandings which may be linked to ‘totalizing’ identity conclusions (eg. “I’m a troublemaker”). The broader socio-political context which may be implicated in the production of these totalizing identity conclusions will be discussed, and how these can be deconstructed through intentional lines of inquiry.
- The narrative practices of Externalizing and Re-authoring. Participants will have an opportunity to try out these ideas/practices in small groups.
- The Statement of Position Map (SOPM) and its use in externalizing a problem and exploring a person’s preferred relationship with a problem.
- A live interview with a participant volunteer. Participants will have an opportunity to further experiment with these ideas by offering up questions for the interviewee during the live interview.
The intention of this workshop is to offer participants a taste of the politics and ethics that guide narrative therapy practices, and to consider how/in what ways these values and ethics fit and/or don’t fit with their own values, ethics and preferred ways of being in this work (and in life).
About the facilitator
Amy Druker (she/her) first met Narrative ideas a decade ago when she was working as a harm reduction outreach worker with pregnant people in downtown Toronto. For over 7 years Amy worked as an individual and family therapist at a youth mental health agency, where Narrative Therapy was the first language of all of the practitioners. She now runs her own independent practice, where she offers therapy and non-hierarchical clinical supervision, and clinical consultation at a downtown harm reduction agency. Amy is on Faculty at the Narrative Therapy Initiative (NTI) in Salem, MA. Amy’s practice is guided by a commitment to social justice, anti-oppressive practice, to the questioning of taken-for-granted ways of thinking about things (including the ‘doing’ of therapy and clinical ‘supervision’) and the imposition of expert knowledge. Amy sees Narrative Therapy not as a technique, but as a worldview which helps her to live out her social justice values. To be in touch with Amy please reach out to her at therapy@amydruker.com.
STUDENTS – At checkout in ‘discount code’ enter STUDENT10. Also in the ‘additional info’ box please include your student info – i.e.: Name of institution and program of study
For groups of 3 or more, please register together in one transaction and at checkout in ‘discount code’ enter GROUP10. One main person can be registrant, and please type info (name, email, address) for other group members in the ‘additional info’ box
Certificates of Training can be requested at the end of the online workshop and will state 7 hours of narrative therapy training. Certificates can be used to qualify for eligibility for continuing education credits from professional colleges and licensing boards. Please contact your own college or association to confirm requirements.
Cancellations will be accepted if requested via email to contact@narrativetherapycentre.com at least 14 days prior to the event. A 10% admin fee will be deducted from the amount to be refunded.
We regret that a refund cannot be offered after the cancellation date, but a colleague may be substituted for attendance.
There will be a 45 minute lunch and two breaks. Times t.b.a.