Courses & Seminars

Please use this registration form:  ITNT120612 Registration form (226.5 kB)

Course Outline.

Narrative Therapy is the newest modality of working with clients, developed in 1995 by Australian Michael White and New Zealand born David Epstein.  Initially used to help clients overcome addictions, Narrative therapy has proved successful in a variety of different ways – for example, Narrative therapy helps the client identify the ‘story of their life’, highlight strengths and use those skills and strengths to move forward successfully.

Key subject areas covered:

• What is narrative therapy and did it originate and in what ways does it differ from other current modalities, such as cognitive behavioural therapy or the humanistic approach?
• Understanding key tools of Narrative therapy, such as creating an ally and ‘outsider witnessing.’
• The understanding of the three stage process when working with clients in a narrative way – Understanding the clients story, unpacking their difficulties and discovering where they are stuck, helping them re-author their story in a more productive  and beneficial way
• The importance of understanding the clients individual and collective experience in how they create, and interpret, their individual story – the background, community and culture in which they were born, their country of origin  and world events that may  have helped shape their particular story
• Pulling it all together – a combination of practical and experiential activities that will solidify techniques and tools in the participants mind when wanting to use a narrative approach with clients

Participant Learning Outcomes:

• Identify and recognise the skills and techniques used when adopting a narrative approach with clients
• Encouraging clients to tell their story, with a particular focus on strengths and resilience they have –and how to encourage them to use these gifts when moving forward in the future
• A solid understanding of the critical three stage process in narrative therapy
• Understanding the non-intrusive and more ‘gentle’ approach used by narrative therapy as opposed to other approaches/modalities
• Gain a comprehensive understanding of key critical tools used when working from a narrative approach – some of these include:
• Panning for gold, sparkling moments, narrative space, creating  and working with an ally, curious questioning, the use of metaphors, outsider witnessing and celebrations
• Come away with practical ideas of how to use this approach when working with clients and their family members

The target group for this course is:

All community workers with an interest in transforming organisations – eg Board members, managers, team leaders, experienced practitioners, new practitioners, idealists and visionaries.