(HS 022077 Conyer 2021) NARRATIVE THERAPY - RE-AUTHORING STORIES TOWARDS AGENCY, DIGNITY AND HOPE: A one-day workshop of core

Course overview

This formative statement is a core principle for narrative-oriented therapists. Something becomes a problem when it gets in the way of a persons life, visions, and hopes. How we approach the problem shapes how we look at it, what we will find, and how we might act in response. A client may come to you in the grip of a problem saturated story about themselves or some aspect of their life. Narrative therapy approaches invoke curiosity about the meaning of the problem to them, how this informs their thoughts and actions, and ways in which these are, or are not, helpful. As an alternative to defining the person according to the problem or locating the problem within the person, a narrative oriented therapist is guided by positioning theory which suggests we come to know and experience ourselves through relationships located within specific histories, cultures, and political systems. Informed by this orientation, therapist and client work collaboratively to co-research, deconstruct and reauthor the problem-saturated story. This can help the client to reclaim their life from the effects of a problem, and to discover or find their way back to preferred identity conclusions. This in turn can open hopeful possibilities which honor valued relationships and treasured aspects of their history and culture. This workshop includes illustrative examples, practical exercises, case study reflections, journal articles, handouts, and ample presenter-attendee dialogue.