Participant handbook for the Dulwich Centre

One Year Narrative Therapy Training Program 2021

in China
Dear participant,

G’day and welcome to this One Year Narrative Therapy Training Program.

Participants in other courses we have been involved in have been keen to know from
the Dulwich Centre Faculty what was expected of them in relation to the course they
were enrolled in. Over time, we have had many conversations about this and have
found it helpful to write our ideas down on paper so that they can be referred to
throughout the year. This is the purpose of this handbook. It also contains a range of
information about the course and the processes and procedures we have developed.

As we are an independent centre, we have had to develop our own procedures. This
has been an enjoyable and thoughtful process that has occurred over years. It is also
continuing. If you have any suggestions as to how we could improve this handbook, or
our structures, we’d love to hear them!

We’ve been eagerly awaiting the commencement of this training program. We’re
looking forward to learning together!

Warm regards,
Charlotte England, Ming Li, Hong-Ru Liang, Chris Dolman, Cheryl White,
David Denborough & Jane Hales
On behalf of the Dulwich Centre Faculty

1
Contents

General information about the faculty and Dulwich Centre 3

1. The faculty
2. The courses we offer
Key aspects of the course 3
3. Overall structure
4. Reading
5. Written reflections on the reading
6. E-list reflection on the reading
7. Timelines
Timeline summary 6
Formal bits and pieces 7
8. What enables successful completion of the course?
9. Feedback from participants to the faculty
10. Feedback from faculty to participants
11. If you have a complaint…our resolution process
12. Dulwich Centre Faculty email address
13. Dulwich Centre’s e-learning site
14. Optional Certification module

Reading list 13

2
General information about the faculty and Dulwich Centre
1. The faculty
Dulwich Centre Training Faculty works as a collective. We all play our different roles and together we
present this course. The collective consists of:
Co-ordinator: Cheryl White & David Denborough
Teachers: Chris Dolman
Tutor: Ming Li and Hong-Ru Liang
Liaison: Charlotte England
For those doing the optional certification module there will be other faculty members involved in
responding to your tapes. It is relevant to note that, if you speak to one member of the collective about
a matter related to the course, you can expect that this will be shared with other members. We will
meet together and discuss how things are going. Emails sent to us may be shared. There is a shared
confidentiality within the faculty.

2. The courses we offer

The courses Dulwich Centre offers are skills-based courses in narrative approaches to therapy and
community work. In this way, they are quite specific.

Key aspects of the course

3. Overall structure
As you are already aware, this program will consist of:
 Teaching block One: 1st - 5th May & 7th – 10th May
 Regular structured reading program – 10 collections of reading
 Regular structured writing program to relate readings back to one’s practice
 On-line e-learning site to remain in contact with faculty and participants throughout the year
 Teaching block Two: 1st-5th Oct & 7th-10th Oct

Optional extras
Certification Module: In 2021, those who successfully complete an optional extra certification
module will then be eligible for recognition of prior learning for one subject of the Master of Narrative
Therapy and Community Work (run in partnership between Dulwich Centre and University of
Melbourne). This certification module involves:
• Participants recording two sessions of their work, transcribing 15 minutes of the interview,
analysing it, sharing this and receiving supervision about it
• Writing a 5000 word project about how you have used narrative practice in your work over the
year. The aim of this project is to support practitioners to be able to use narrative practices in their
own context and in their own ways.
More information about this optional certification module can be found on page 9.

4. Reading
Much of the momentum of the course is created by regular reading and reflection. The reading list is a
key source of the ideas that the course aims to convey. For this reason, it is important that participants
keep up with the reading. We realise that the reading list is considerable so we have divided it into
‘primary reading’ and ‘secondary reading’. Ideally all participants would read both ‘primary’ and
‘secondary’ reading. We strongly recommend this. However, as a requirement for the course,
participants need only read the ‘primary reading’ for each week.

3
5. Written reflections on the reading
Each participant is expected to submit a brief paper (approximately 500 words) on each collection of
reading. It will be possible to upload these directly to the online learning site. The aim of these short
papers is to relate the reading back to practice, and can be orientated around the following questions:
 What did the writings offer?
 Were there any aspects of the writings that resonated with your own experiences or learnings in
different aspects of your practice? If so, in what way?
 How could you put the ideas in the readings into practice?
 What differences could the ideas make to your practice?
 What questions and/or dilemmas did they raise?
 In what areas did they spark your curiosity?

We have found that this process greatly contributes to the learning experience and assists participants
in making links between the reading and their own practice. This process also enables us as a faculty
to stay in touch with people’s thoughts and explorations.

Here are some helpful hints from graduates from the practitioners in earlier courses in relation to these
reflections:

We found it very helpful to develop a regular routine for these reflections. It was then about
prioritising this rhythm so that the writing got done. Some of us always did our reflections on Sunday
morning after breakfast, others after dinner on a particular evening of the week. One of us always
took the readings to the local coffee shop on Sunday morning and read them while her partner read
the newspapers! We all found it helpful to develop a routine and to stick to it. If you do get behind,
we’d recommend that you take some time off work and catch them all up!

These reflections do not have to be ‘academic’, nor do they have to be the best piece of writing you
could possibly do. It’s much more important to do the regular reading and complete the writing. This
is a particular form of writing which involves a different rhythm. Here are the steps we found helpful:
(1) do the reading (2) take notes (3) wait a couple of days (4) then sit in front of the computer and
write for about thirty minutes (5) a couple of days later then go back to these writings to edit and
finish the writing, again for about thirty minutes. Of course, you will develop your own rhythm and
process.

We also found it helpful to organise a ‘buddy’, a specific audience/witness, for whom you will do the
writing. The pieces can even be written in letter form to this person if that is helpful. We found it
helpful to ‘write from the point of passion’, start from whatever aspects of the reading meant the most
to you and then just write. The piece may end up going in a completely different direction and this is
okay. Importantly, you have to trust the people reading it – that they’ll respect your writing and ideas
and that if they think you need feedback they will then give this to you. These reflections are not
assessed or graded, they are a way to stay in touch with each other and to relate the readings to your
own life and practice.

4
6. Forum on the readings
We also use the reading and reflections as a key way of maintaining a sense of connectedness between
participants. This is because each participant nominates one reading about which they would be happy
to write a longer reflection (1,000 words) and then posts this on the General Course Forum in the on-
line learning site. Everyone will then be able to read how another participant engaged with the ideas in
the particular reading. We have found this process works really well in maintaining a sense of
connectedness even when people are reading and writing in different countries!

This 1,000 word reflection will explore the same questions listed above but in greater detail. These
papers should also be uploaded to the e-learning site as you do with the 500 word reflections.
Participants will choose which reading they wish to write their 1,000 word piece about.

For the final reading, participants have a choice of topics. For this reading, participants will not
receive a tutor response. Instead, all participants will post their reflections for this last reading to the
general forum so that you will be able to read each other’s reflections.

7. Timelines
We have put a lot of thought into the timelines for this course – the dates when participants will be
required to send in reflections. We try to balance flexibility for participants, with the need to maintain
connection between participants and to retain the integrity of the course. We have also taken seriously
the feedback we have regularly received from participants of previous courses that having firm
timelines actually assisted them in prioritising their study when otherwise other demands in their life
may have taken over. We have particularly received this feedback from women participants who have
many family responsibilities. We have heard that having firm timelines actually enables them to
prioritise their study and learning and to ensure that there is space in their lives to follow through on
the course work that they have committed themselves to. With all of this in mind we have developed
the following structure:

Written reflections: These are due on the dates listed on the reading list. These dates are not flexible
because it is a key component of the course that participants complete the reading and then the
reflections at the same time as one another. As explained above, it is the regular reading and
reflections that maintain connectedness between participants and faculty when in different contexts
and countries. If you don’t send your reflection in on time you will not receive feedback on it, and this
is real waste! If you are concerned that you might not able to keep up with these timelines, we strongly
recommend you get one or two weeks ahead so that there is some latitude if something unexpected
then comes up (for instance the flu, the computer crashing, unexpected events in your family, sudden
demands at work!). We particularly recommend this because a couple of the due dates are on or close
to public holidays! If you do slip behind, it’s best to skip a week and then continue to hand in the rest
of the reflections at the proper date. This way you will get feedback on all but one of your reflections!
There are 10 reflections, but you will still complete the course if you only hand in 9 of these. So there
is scope to miss one reflection at some time during the course! If you do hand in reflections late it may
be necessary to pay a late fee in order to receive feedback on these.

Extensions: If there are extenuating circumstances as to why it is not possible for you to complete the
reflections by the due date, it is possible to apply in writing for an extension until the 18 February
2022. If this extension of time is required, however, we cannot guarantee that faculty members will be
able to offer feedback on your writings. It will be possible, however, for participants to pay an
additional consultant’s fee and we will approach one of the course’s external consultants to read and
give feedback on your writings.

5
Timeline summary:

Teaching Block 1 …………............................................................................. 1 – 5 May & 7 – 10 May

Reflections:

1. Externalising conversations AND re-authoring conversations 21 May

2. Considering the absent but implicit & escaping failure 11 June

3. Thinking behind practice 2 July

4. Considerations of folk psychology 23 July

For those doing certification module: Outline for final project 6 August

5. Re-membering practices 13 August

For those doing certification module: Tape recording 1 20 August

6. Documentation 3 September

7. Mental health 24 September

Teaching Block 2 …………............................................................................. 1 – 5 Oct & 7 – 10 Oct

For those doing certification module: Tape recording 2 22 October

8. Collective narrative practice 29 October

For those doing certification module: DRAFT Written essay 19 November

9. Outsider witness practice and definitional ceremony 26 November

10. Working with effects of abuse/trauma* 17 December

For those doing certification module: Written essay 14 January 2022

* Please note that you will not receive a tutor response to this reflection. Instead all participants will
post their reflections to the general course forum.

6
Formal bits and pieces
8. What enables successful completion of the course?
The following criteria are what need to be demonstrated in order to successfully complete this course:
 Attendance of at least 90% of training sessions.
 Full payment of course fees.
 Successful and on-time completion of readings/ reflections (If doing certification module this
includes two tapes and one written project)
 Completion of a feedback form to offer us rigorous feedback on your experience of the training
program.

If a participant is falling behind in relation to completing assessment tasks and course requirements, a
discussion will take place and a plan will be drawn up to try to ensure that they complete the course.
Considerable effort will be made to assist students in successfully completing the assessment tasks!

9. Feedback from participants to the faculty

In order to ensure that the courses run at Dulwich Centre are fulfilling participants’ expectations, it is
imperative that the faculty consistently seeks and receives feedback. This will occur in a range of
different ways:
 Dulwich Centre will seek participant feedback at times throughout the year.
 Feedback about any aspect of the course can also be sent to us c/o [email protected]
at any time.
 On particular issues, such as gender, race, sexuality and class, the faculty has engaged a number
of consultants and we regularly check in with them and run questions by them. If students
would like to have more information about this please feel free to ask.
 The faculty has also formed a small focus group of past students that we stay in touch with to
review processes and structures of the courses that are running.

10. Feedback from faculty to participants

The faculty will provide feedback to participants about their progress in the course in a range of ways,
including:
 Written feedback will be offered throughout the year on participants’ written reflections.

11. If you have a complaint… our resolution process

Dulwich Centre will ensure that participants have access to a fair and equitable process for dealing
with grievances. If a participant has concerns about any aspect of the program (including assessment
results, the feedback they have received, or a grievance about any other matter), we would like to hear
about this and will do all we can to respond. If you would like a copy of our formal resolution process,
please request one. It can be briefly summarised as:
 Speak directly with relevant teacher.
 If this does not lead to adequate resolution, speak with the course liaison, Charlotte England.
 If this does not lead to adequate resolution, lodge a written appeal or grievance to the Dulwich
Centre Faculty.
 In the event that these internal processes do not resolve the issue, the faculty will approach
Dean Lobovits who acts as external consultants to the training courses. Dean will then liaise
with the parties concerned and attempt to resolve the grievance.

Please note, we really want to ensure that, if anyone has a grievance, it gets sorted out and resolved. If
there are other ways that will assist in this process, we will be very open to considering them.

7
12 Dulwich Centre Faculty email address
To contact any Dulwich Centre faculty member please use the address: [email protected]

13. Dulwich Centre’s e-learning site

Throughout the year we will be using the online learning page on Dulwich Centre’s website as the hub
for this training program, so it will be good to find your way around this as soon as possible. We really
encourage participants to use the forums on this site and to share ideas, dilemmas, stories of practice
with each other.

14. Certification module

We have included here information about the optional certification module. This involves participants
completing and receiving feedback on two tapes of their work and a written project.

Recordings of interview

In order to ensure that participants develop a sense of confidence with their interviewing skills, we
have found it helpful to ask that they record an audio and/or videotape of themselves conducting an
interview. We are asking participants to do this twice during the course year. Ideally this recording
will take place in the participant’s workplace. If this is not possible, then an alternative interview will
need to be conducted and recorded. It may sound obvious, but it’s important that the interview that is
recorded is a recent interview, one that demonstrates the skills and ideas that you have been studying
in this training program. It seems to work best if the recording covers a 15-20 minute section of a
counselling session. A faculty member will set aside time to review your tape, to talk through the
session and draw out learnings from it.

After participants have sent in their tape, a time will then be made to review them quite soon
afterwards. Each participant will be expected to work out a time to phone the designated faculty
member for approximately 45 minutes to discuss the interview.

Here we have tried to describe what will be required with the tape that each participant will need to
make as a part of the training program.
1. Record a therapeutic interview
We would greatly prefer to receive both an audio and a video recording of this interview. We
will accept audio only, BUT - we can give more thorough feedback on video recordings, and we
also think that there are a number of good skills to develop in relation to making video
recordings (including setting the context, establishing permissions, filming, getting used to
viewing yourself, etc).
2. Prior to sending this to us, we'd like people then to transcribe (or arrange for someone to
transcribe) some, or all of, the interview – especially the parts of the interview you would like to
discuss in some detail. It is okay just to transcribe 15-20 minutes of continuous conversation.
We believe people learn a lot this way.
3. For those people who are working in a language other than English, this transcription will then
need to be translated into English.
4. Finally, we'd like each person to write a brief one page essay about the interview describing
where you are in relation to narrative practices and the narrative maps in this particular
interview; raising and discussing any dilemmas that were associated with the interview for you;
and reflecting on your thinking that was behind the directions you took in the interview.
5. Please make a copy of the cover sheet (p. 13) and fill this out and send it in with the tape,
transcript and one page reflection.
The sort of example to choose: In past training programs some participants have chosen to send in a
tape of a conversation that they were particularly unhappy with. This doesn't really lead to the best
learning experience. It's best not to send in an example of either the best or the worst of your practice.

8
We'd suggest sending in an example that is somewhere in between! If in doubt, choose an example that
is closer to the better end of the scale... an example in which you do feel you were able to engage with
narrative practices.

The transcript: We have discovered a way of laying out the transcript that assists the tutors to offer the
most helpful feedback. The ideal layout for the transcript is to have the transcript in one large column on
the left hand side of the page, and then a second narrower column on the right hand side in which you
insert some comments/commentary about certain parts of the conversation. Please note, it is only
necessary to transcribe 15-20 minutes worth of continuous conversation. If you transcribe more than this,
then please indicate clearly which 20 minutes you wish to discuss. Thanks!

The reflection: when you write up the short reflection on the extract of the conversation please include
reflections on:
Which narrative practices you were using in this portion of the interview
 what position as a therapist you were taking in this portion of the interview
 discuss any dilemmas that were associated with this portion of the interview
 reflect on your thinking that was behind the directions you took in this part of the interview
 offer comments about what you were happy with in terms of your contribution to this interview
 offer suggestions as to what you might have done differently if you were approaching this interview
again.
Demonstrating narrative practice: The main purpose of generating these tapes is as a learning
experience not as an assessment (hence the reason we ask you to send in a tape which is neither your best
nor worst example of practice). If, however, there is very little demonstration of narrative practice in the
tape that you send in, you may be asked to submit an extra tape. There is a requirement that the tape you
send in demonstrate your engagement with narrative practices.

Consultations: Participants will need to set up Zoom on their computers (if you have fast internet
connection) as then the consultations about the tapes can occur via Zoom with no phone charges. Zoom
can also enable you to talk with other participants during the training program if you choose to, and will
be used for the teaching blocks.

Please pick an example of your work that you would like to receive some feedback on. And make sure
you take care in receiving appropriate permissions for the interview to be recorded and shared with
faculty members. Charlotte England will be in touch with you nearer to the date with instructions as to
how you will send the recording to us.

9
Written projects
We have found over previous years that asking participants to take on a major project, to hand in a written
piece of work about this project in the style of a journal article (approx 5,000 words, no more than 6,000
words), and supporting them in the process of writing this, has been a very constructive exercise. In past
years, these written presentations have varied over a wide range of topics and we are open to you coming
up with your own ideas about this. We encourage everyone to choose a project/topic that they have lots of
energy for and would like to develop further thinking/skills around. Please email Loretta Pederson
([email protected]) at any time throughout the year if you would like to correspond
in relation to ideas or dilemmas around writing your assignments.

The aim for the written project is that it be of a quality that can be submitted to a professional journal, but
it’s important to note that there is a great diversity of writing styles for different journals. We don’t want
the experience to be intimidating, but on the other hand we do wish to ‘stretch’ participants. We have
heard in the past that many people need a bit of challenge to take the next step in their careers, which may
be to publish their work. The written article needs to have APA referencing (7th edition). See
https://library.unimelb.edu.au/recite/apa7
Here are some more helpful hints about the written project from people who participated in our interstate
course:

We found it made a big difference if you could find a local audience to witness and encourage the project.
Often it worked best for those people who could base the project in their workplace because then their
colleagues could act as an audience. The other things we’d recommend include: keeping the topic of the
project simple, doing something you have passion for, running your ideas by faculty members, and
thinking about it all year (decide on something early!). We’d also recommend taking up the opportunity
to have faculty members read your drafts.

10
 What needs to be demonstrated in the written projects
These guidelines are meant to assist people stay on track with the ideas they are developing for their
projects. They are not meant to be restrictive, however, and we're more than happy to speak with people
individually about the ideas they have and to find ways that the projects people are interested in fit
congruently with what we in the faculty require. The main theme that needs to be addressed in the project
is that of ‘double-story development - including the rich acknowledgement of the effects of the
problem AND a rich description of alternative/preferred stories’.

One of the key concepts of narrative practice involves ‘double-story development’ – ways in which
individuals, groups, communities can develop ways of articulating the effects of problems/obstacles in
their lives as well as being able to articulate their responses, special skills and knowledges, and
alternative story-lines associated with these. Often, it is important that this double-story development
occurs simultaneously and continually. Within your project, it will be necessary to demonstrate how you
have made such double-story development possible in your work with individuals, groups and/or wider
communities.

It may be important to articulate how space was created to externalise ‘the problem’ and name the
dominant story, to trace its effects, etc, and how identifying unique outcomes or engaging with the absent
but implicit led to the first traces of an alternative story.

A significant emphasis of this project is in relation to how you have gone about generating rich
description of the alternative/second story and clearly demonstrating the relevant practice skills. There
are, of course, very many ways of generating rich description, as well as a vast array of circumstances and
contexts to which your project might relate. As you are planning and working on your project, we
recommend you keep coming back to the question: ‘Am I writing about work that involves double-story
development and the rich description of alternative/preferred stories?’

In order to successfully complete the course, any five of the following need to be demonstrated in your
written project:
 the use of the individual and/or collective externalising conversations (must include second story
development)
 the use of re-authoring conversations (tracing the social, relational, cultural histories of skills and
knowledges)
 the use of re-membering conversations
 ways of linking people's lives around shared preferred themes (may include the use of outsider
witnesses / definitional ceremony structures)
 the use of letters, documents, certificates, etc,
 the use of archiving solution knowledges and sharing these knowledges between people
 examples of enabling contribution
 re-invigoration of folk culture as response to trauma (creating song, dance, theatre, ritual, etc from
the material of the ways in which people are responding to hardship)
 the use of collective narrative methodologies – Tree of Life, Team of Life, collective timeline,
checklists of social and psychological resistance
 any other ways of enabling double-story development and the rich description of the
alternative/preferred stories of people’s lives
A further necessary competency involves:
 Demonstrate an awareness of the operations of power and privilege in your relationships with those
with whom you work (‘clients’).
 Demonstrate practices of accountability to respond to these operations of power and privilege.
 An awareness of considerations of individualism/socio-centrism

Each participant in this program is working in a unique context. Many of you will also be endeavouring to
find ways of ‘translating’ the ideas taught in the course into your own language and cultural context. We

11
hope that the process of developing your course project will encourage participants to generate their own
unique forms of narrative practice, which is responsive to the culture, language and local context. Our aim is
that people’s projects will contribute to a diversity of narrative practices.

Please take some time (words) within the project to describe your process of adapting/changing/developing
the ideas and practices taught within the course in order for you to be constructing your own forms of
narrative practice in your own context.

There are many ways in which these competencies can be demonstrated within the written project, and we
really encourage creative approaches. We do, however, need to see real-life demonstrations of the practices
(i.e. it’s not appropriate to make up examples of interviews, or interview yourself, etc). There is no
prescription as to styles of writing or presenting. What is important to keep in mind though is the clear
demonstration of the practice skills outlined above. These skills can of course be demonstrated in a wide
range of contexts!

If participants’ written assignments do not reflect an adequate demonstration of the skills mentioned above,
then participants will be invited to do some further work to ensure where possible that they can successfully
complete the course.

In summary, your project will need to demonstrate:

 double story development
 the rich acknowledgement of the effects of the problem
 the rich description of preferred storylines
 the use of any five of the themes outlined on the previous page
 an awareness of the operations of power and privilege in your relationships with those with whom you
work (‘clients’).
 practices of accountability to respond to these operations of power and privilege.
 an awareness of considerations of individualism/socio-centrism
 a consideration of how you are adapting/changing/developing the ideas and practices taught within the
course in order for you to be constructing your own forms of narrative practice relevant to your own
context.
 Written in the style of a journal article with APA referencing

We are very much looking forward to seeing people’s written projects!

12
 Dulwich Centre One Year
Narrative Therapy Training Program in China 2021

Reading list
We have put a lot of thought into this reading list. We have tried to create a flexible reading list, so that those
who have already read widely can stretch their thinking, and those for whom much of this reading will be
new will also be able to thoroughly enjoy the process. We have also decided to make this reading list
primarily practice-based and the topics we have chosen relate directly to narrative practice. There are a
number of different aspects to this reading list:
1) Background reading:
 ‘What is narrative therapy? An easy-to-read introduction’ by Alice Morgan. Adelaide: Dulwich
Centre Publications.
If you have not already done so, we recommend you read this book and this on-line resource as background
reading for the training program.
2) Required reading
Under each topic there are the required readings (marked with a ‘●’). Even if you have already read a
particular article, we have found that it is a different experience to read an article as part of a course, to write
a reflection upon it that relates it back to your own work, and then to read other participants’ writings on the
topic at the same time. Participants will be writing their regular reflections on the required reading for each
of the 6 topics. Participants will select which of these topics they would like to write their 1,000 word
reflection upon. For this week it is expected that participants will read both the required and secondary
reading and then write a 1,000 word response that will be circulated to all participants via the General
Course Forum.
3) Secondary reading
For some weeks there are secondary, optional readings (marked with a dash ‘-’). These are designed for
those who wish to further stretch their thinking, for those who may work in the particular area that is the
focus for that week, and for the particular person who is writing the 1,000 word reflection for that week.

Reflections
Please upload your reflections to the Dulwich Centre e-learning site. Please also post the 1,000 word
reflection to the General Course Forum on the e-learning site. Thanks! It is a requirement of the training
program that you complete 9 out of the 10 readings throughout the year.

Access to readings
We will ensure that all participants have access to the vast majority of reading for the course via our web
site. For copyright reasons, we can only provide readings in this way from books and journals that have been
published by Dulwich Centre Publications.

13
 Topics

1. Externalising conversations AND re-authoring conversations 21 May

2. Considering the absent but implicit & escaping failure 11 June

3. Thinking behind practice 2 July

4. Considerations of folk psychology

23 July
5. Re-membering practices 13 August

6. Documentation 3 September

7. Mental health 24 September

8. Collective narrative practice 29 October

9. Outsider witness practice and definitional ceremony 26 November

10. Working with effects of abuse/trauma* 17 December

* Please note that you will not receive a tutor response to this reflection. Instead all participants will
post their reflections to the general course forum.

Stay up to date Page 20

14
To read first! Where narrative therapy comes from – histories

Short extracts from the book: A memory book for the field of narrative practice
Compiled by Cheryl White (Adelaide, Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications).

- Five radical ideas, splits and things not to leave behind: A conversation with Ron Findlay
- Feminist challenge and women's liberation by Cheryl White
- Just Therapy contributions: A conversation with Charles Waldegrave
- Seeking a therapy free from heterosexist assumptions by Cheryl White
- Histories for the future: A conversation with David Epston

1. Externalising AND Re-authoring conversations 21 May

Externalising conversations
 Narrative practice with families with children: Externalising conversations revisited by Michael White
(Narrative practice with children and families)
 ‘Externalising - Commonly asked questions’ co-ordinated by Shona Russell & Maggie Carey, Narrative
Therapy: Responding to your questions
 ‘The Ethic of Collaboration and De-centered practice’ by Michael White
Part III of Narratives of therapists’ Lives [on web page]
 ‘Conversations with AIDS and CARE.’ By Yvonne Sliep and the CARE Counsellors, Dulwich Centre
Journal 1996 # 3 [on web page]

Re-authoring conversations
 ‘Re-Authoring conversations’ by Michael White in Maps of Narrative Practice, Chapter 2
 Collective re-authoring conversations: Step by Step: developing respectful and effective ways of working
with young men to reduce violence by David Denborough Dulwich Centre Newsletter 1995 Nos. 2&3
[on web page]

2. Considering the absent but implicit & escaping failure 11 June

 ‘Re-engaging with history: the absent but implicit’ by Michael White (2000) in Reflections on narrative
practice.
 ‘Explorations of the absent but implicit’ by Jill-Freedman, The International Journal of Narrative Therapy
and Community Work 2012, No. 4, 1-10.
 ‘Questioning Normality and Escaping from Failure’ by David Denborough in Retelling the stories of our lives
Chapter 6
 Story variations: Resisting the cultural gaze. The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community
Work 2020 No. 1, 46-60.

3. Thinking behind practice 2 July

 ‘Post-structuralism and therapy – what’s it all about’ by Leonie Thomas in Russell & Carey in Narrative
Therapy: Responding to your questions.
 Narrative Therapy, Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese Medicine: an interview with Ming Li’, by David
Denborough. The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2020 No. 1, 61-65.
 ‘Beyond psychological truth – Deconstructing Western deficit-oriented psychology and the co-construction of
alternative psychologies in narrative practice’ by Chris Wever, The International Journal of Narrative
Therapy and Community Work 2015, No. 1, 11-25.
 ‘Working for gender justice across cultures’ An interview with Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese by Cheryl
White Chap 8 Conversations about gender, culture, violence and narrative practice
- ‘Responding to child abuse: Confucianism, colonisation, post-structuralism’ by Tsun On-kee Angela, The
International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2004, No. 1, 25-27.
- ‘Young people and the creation of culture’ by Wong Cheong-wing Victor, The International Journal of
Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2004, No. 1, 35-36.

15
4. Considerations of folk psychology 23 July
 ‘Folk psychology and narrative practice’ by Michael White in Narrative Practice and Exotic Lives,
Chapter 6
 Diversifying and democratising narrative practice: Folk cultural methodologies & Tracing the roots of the Tree
of Life narrative approach by David Denborough in Do you want to hear a story? Adventures in Collective
Narrative Practice
 ‘Songs as sustenance’ Chapter 8 in Collective Narrative Practice by David Denborough
 Conformity pressures: Deconstructing social discourses in the Korean context by Eunjoo Lee

Project title and 2-page outline 6 August

5. Re-membering practices 13 August

 Re-membering: responding to commonly asked questions Compiled by Maggie Carey and Shona Russell
 The ‘Life Certificate’ by Mohamed Fareez
 ‘About re-membering: the stories of Nancy and Amy’ by Sharon Shui-king Leung and Ellen Yee-man Ma,
The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2012, No. 2, 1-10.
 ‘Teamwork: Remembering Who Is Important to Us’ by David Denborough in Retelling the stories of our lives,
Chapter 4
 Re-membering reciprocal relationships by Chris Dolman The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and
Community Work 2011, No. 1, 45-53.
- ‘A conversation about AIDS and dying’ by Michael White & David Epston in Experience, Contradiction,
Narrative & Imagination

Tape 1 20 August

6. Documentation 3 September
 ‘Collaborative representation’ by Sue Mann
 ‘Therapeutic documents revisited’ by Michael White in Re-authoring Lives, Chapter 8
 ‘Collective documents as a response to collective trauma’ by David Denborough in Collective Narrative
Practice Chapter 2
- Walking in Sunshine: Collecting insider knowledge about detaching from depression. The International
Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2020 No. 1, 61-65.
 ‘Establishing non-criminal records’ by Eileen Hurley The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and
Community Work 2007, No. 3, 3-10.
 See on-line project: Encyclopedia of young people’s skills and knowledge

7. Mental health 24 September

 ‘Psychotic Experience and Discourse’ an interview with Michael White in Re-Authoring lives, Chapter 5
 ‘Honouring Samoan ways and understandings: Towards culturally appropriate mental health services’ and
‘Multiple sites of Healing’ by Kiwi Tamasese The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community
Work 2002, No. 2, 64-71.
 ‘What to do when a diagnosis doesn’t fit?’ by Amy Druker The International Journal of Narrative Therapy
and Community Work 2014, No. 4, 16-23.
 ‘Talking about the ‘suicidal thoughts’: towards an alternative framework’ by Loree Stout The International
Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2010, No. 3, 3-15.
 Hopeful conversations about voice hearing by Chris Dolman and Michael Spurrier The International Journal
of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2016, No. 4, 14-25.
- ‘A different story: Narrative group therapy in a psychiatric day centre’ by Ron Nasim The International
Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2007, No. 1, 15-28.

Tape 2 22 October

16
8. Collective narrative practice 29 October
 Look at the collective projects at: www.dulwichcentre.com.au/projects
 ‘Unearthing new concepts of justice: Women sexual violence survivors seeking healing and justice’ by Hung
Suet-lin Shirley & David Denborough The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work
2013, No. 3, 18-27.
 Collective Narrative Practice with young people with Aspergers syndrome by Kit Hung Tse
 ‘Broadening the horizon: Looking beyond individualism/collectivism’ by David Denborough Chapter 9
Collective Narrative Practice

For those doing certification module: DRAFT Written essay 19 November

9. Outside witness practice and decisional ceremony 26 November

 ‘Outsider-witness practices: some answers to commonly asked questions’ compiled by Shona Russell and
Maggie Carey
 ‘Azima ila Hayati – An invitation in to my life: Narrative conversations about sexual identity’ by Sekneh
Hamoud-Beckett The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2007, No. 1, 29-39.
 ‘Opening up of the counselling room - The joining of stories as a political act’ by Renee Handsacker The
International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2012, No. 3, 1-10.
 ‘Enabling contribution: Exchanging messages and convening definitional ceremonies’ by David Denborough
in Collective Narrative Practice, Chapter 3

10. Working with the effects of abuse/trauma 17 December

 ‘How can you do this work? Responding to questions about the experience of working with women who were
subjected to child sexual abuse’ by Sue Mann in Trauma: Narrative responses to traumatic experience,
Chapter 1
 ‘Naming abuse and breaking from its effects’ an interview with Michael White (1995) in Re-Authoring Lives:
essays and interviews.
 ‘Collective narrative practice with rape victims in the Chinese society of Hong Kong’ by Hung Suet Lin
Shirley The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2011, No. 1, 14-31.
 ‘Children, trauma and subordinate storyline development’ by Michael White in Trauma: Narrative responses
to traumatic experience, Chapter 7
 ‘Some reflections on the use of the journey metaphor in working with young women who have experienced
sexual abuse’ by Yau Cheuk-wai Delphine The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community
Work 2004, No. 1, 37-39.
- ‘A story of survival’ by Cecily In ‘Taking the hassle…’ Dulwich Centre Journal 1998 Nos. 2&3

Stay up to date!

Friday Afternoons at Dulwich Centre: free video presentations and forum discussions
http://dulwichcentre.com.au/friday-afternoons/
International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work: https://dulwichcentre.com.au/international-
journal-of-narrative-therapy-and-community-work/
Dulwich Centre Email News: free e-newsletter full of news about trainings and projects:
https://dulwichcentre.com.au/email-news/

We hope you enjoy the course!

17