Comments by Participants

Here is what people said after participating in our first "Extending Narrative Practice: Refreshing the Spirit of the Work" gathering

"I loved the space, with time to question, struggle, listen, enjoy, learn, and renew. The three presenters set a tone for learning and sharing that I have really never experienced before! Also, we all came to feel that we could continue our work with revitalized viewpoints, which is a precious gift to us all. Could we do this every year? Same place, same format, same people?"

"I especially enjoyed having lots of practice time with the permission and encouragement to stop, check in with each other, try again and play.The video clips were great. I am grateful for the opportunity to have our team be part of a community conversation and to receive such beautiful and powerful reflections. Shona's teaching of the Absent but Implicit and small group on developing preferred story were very helpful. How another training could measure up to this, I'm not sure. the place, people and format were perfect. This is just what I needed!"

"I loved the way the three of you worked together - collaborative, gentle, thorough - a very supportive web-like hammock holding us as we try new things. The way you supported our practicing was perfect - the structures made it easy to dig in and try with no thought of failure. That was a huge part of the renewal for me."

"I especially enjoyed the teaching style- having a plan, structure, things to say, but also flexibility; the gathering of responses from the audience and opportunities to rehearse, practice and be creative. I loved the poetic document and being with others well-versed in narrative."

"As much as I have enjoyed and learned from videos of Michael in action, I so appreciate the freshness and commitment and wisdom of others continuing the teaching work. this helps us to know that not only does the work live on, but that it lives on in all of us. We are narrative practice and we will all continue to create it, in spite of the absence of the physical body of Michael. His spirit lives on!"

"Living with violence brings with it certain understandings of yourself and others. You are subjugating the other, you are not taking care of the other, you’re engaged in practices of selfishness and power over another. By engaging with ethics, part of which involves looking for the stutter or hiccup in the discourse of violence, opens up an opportunity to engage with something that is really important to the person you're working with."

- Rob Hall, (a brief excerpt from "Working with men who use violence in their relationships" - a conversation between Rob, Maggie Carey and Shona Russell  included in the upcoming online course, Extending Narrative Practice)

Here is what people said after participating in our first "David Epston" gathering

"I was needing a catalyst to mix into my thinking to propel me forward in my ability to ask therapeutic quesitons. This workshop dropped the catalyst into my brain and opened new doors of thinking and language."

"I liked picking apart questions and drawing my own attention to "ramping them up" - constructing them in a way that draws out exaltation,  person-hood and rich detail. I appreciated David's willingness to maintain his focus on this activity."

"This location is magnificent. I loved seeing old friends and meeting new people, being reminded that narrative practice involves a distinct set of skills (in addition to a good attitude), and that these need to be practiced."

"I appreciated how "hands on" it was - the mix between seeing questions, witnessing a live interview and getting time to discuss and breakdown the intent behind asking questions. I appreciated that we were able to slow down the process of formulating questions, in a way I'd never done before."

"I enjoyed having opportunities to discuss ideas in small groups in addition to having "the expert in residence" in the large group. It was refreshing to experience very practical examples of how questions can be used, and further developed. I loved how the workshop challenged my thinking about my work, getting me to ask new questions of myself and planted ideas about how to strengthen my use of narrative ideas."

"I especially appreciated discussion of how narrative therapy is not only cognitive but a "celebration of the heart and mind.""

VERMONT TRAINING EVENTS

"The key is practice, practice and more practice....
Interestingly, it is rigorous practice that enables spontaneity. The expressions of life that seem most spontaneous to us are those that we have had practice in."
Michael White: Maps of Narrative Practice.



Re-authoring Teaching training events take advantage of our beautiful Vermont location to create rigorous and lively learning experiences where participants can further develop skills in narrative approaches in collaboration with others, while savoring an environment offering panoramic views, good company, and outdoor splendors. We are delighted to have found two ideal locations here in Vermont:

The All-Souls Gathering in Shelburne, Vermont is a remarkable non-denominational project of environmental stewardship, “where spirit meets nature,” Our workshop schedule makes the most of the picturesque and inviting Vermont landscape: out-door lunches (weather permitting), small-group meetings on the hillside, cycling and other planned outdoor activities. Participants can also sign up for meditation, yoga and massage (extra fee).

Treleven Farm is a learning and retreat collaborative that promotes stewardship, social action, reverence, and innovation. This non-profit retreat center cares deeply about the way humans are connected with the land, with our deeper selves, and with one another. Treleven hosts our smaller training events (up to 40 people) on a working sheep farm nestled in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.





We are thrilled to offer several 2012 events:

Gaye and Shona Return to Vermont!

Gaye Stockell, Shona Russell, and Peggy Sax will offer the second "Extending Narrative Practice: Refreshing the Spirit of the Work" gathering at the All-Souls in Shelburne, Vermont, June 18-19, 2012. This year's theme will be the rites of passage as a metaphor for the process of therapy. We are especially eager to share our ideas about engaging the liminal imagination and fantasy in the search for openings, lines of flight, new skills and abilities in the betwixt and between - a process that is invigorating for both the person seeking consultation and the service provider (therapist, coach or social worker).

Material presented in the large gathering (within the beautiful sanctuary) will be further explored in smaller practice groups on this panoramic Vermont hillside. Throughout, we will offer multiple opportunities for putting ideas into practice through discussion, exercises, inquiry, and reviewing tapes and transcripts. Together we will engage in narrative conversations that refresh the spirit of our work, and explore practices to re-invigorate professional identities and the values we bring to our work.

Click here for further workshop details and to register

Rob Hall and Alison Newton Are Coming to Vermont!

Responding to Abuse Within Families and Building Ethical Resistance: A one-day practice based workshop from an Australian Perspective in developing responses to people who have been subjected to abuse from those they love and to those who have inflicted abuse on those they love.

We are thrilled to offer a one-day practical workshop on June 20th, 2012 with special guests Rob Hall and Alison Newton (both of Adelaide, Australia) that will provide participants with a framework for counselling people subjected to or perpetrating abuse in a range of circumstances, with a particular focus on domestic violence. The workshop is based on the work and approaches of Michael White and Alan Jenkins who, as friends and colleagues for 30 years, have informed and supported Rob and Alison in their work.

Alison and Rob will share their considerations of this therapeutic approach as a journey with the aspects of both being subjected to abuse and perpetrating abuse, being responded to - but responded to in ways that acknowledges the complexities and does not loose sight of power relations.The workshop will begin with looking at initial consultations with women subjected to abuse, followed by consideration in relation to consultations with men who have been abusive. The journey of responding and building resistance to violence for both men and women will develop and interweave throughout the day. The final topics and practices will be concerned with notions of accountability and restitution.

This workshop will explore principles, philosophical underpinnings of work that responds to violence, introduce skills and offer opportunities to practice. The ideas will be illustrated with case studies and demonstrations. The training will follow a progression that clients might take in an ethical journey of learning about the self they prefer to be and the ways of building resistance to the violence.

Click here for further workshop details.

Click here to register

Please click here if you are interested in arranging a private consultation with Rob and Alison.

David Epston returns to Vermont!

We are delighted to welcome David Epston back to Vermont, October 8-11, 2012, during prime leaf-peeping season. If you have not experienced the legendary beauty of Fall in New England, maybe now is a time to do so. On the first day, we offer a large-group training at All Souls Gathering in Shelburne, Vermont, "Can a person's mischief make trouble for a problem? A query for "former" children who have become therapists and the people who they are seeing." This workshop is for practitioners working with children as well as with the young at heart - anyone with a playful spirit. Then, over the next three days, David will offer a “master-class” for a maximum of 40 experienced narrative practitioners at Treleven Farm - a working sheep farm surrounded by the beautiful Champlain Valley. Please register early. Last year, David's workshop filled our capacity at the exquisite All Souls venue. This year we also anticipate that the 3-day Masterclass will soon fill up. Autumn accommodations are limited. We are currently putting together a list of options including welcoming local homes.

Click here for further information, and to register for the one day training.

Click here for further information, and to register for the 3-day David Epston Masterclass

In addition to being an international presenter, David is a prolific writer. We have created an unusual online resource called "The David Epston webpage" to provide an overview of David Epston's contributions clustered into seven sections: 1) Welcome to "Reauthoring Teaching" 2) David Epston - An introduction; 3) Remembering Michael White; 4) The Poetics of Inquiry 5) Playful approaches; 5) Anti-anorexia/Anti-bulimia; 6) Letter-writing;7) Alternate sources of bravery. You don't need to be a workshop registrant to test pilot this innovative resource. Not only do we save paper, but we hope to demonstrate how technology can bring together resources, create webs of connection, and engage a vibrant learning community. Through this link, you'll find many handpicked favorite writings, all of which you can then download for your own personal use. Here, we invite you to try out a resource linked to others throughout the world who share interest in David's work.

David's most recent book, Down under and up over: Travels with narrative therapy (2008) was published by the Association of Family Therapy (UK). It is already out of print. The publisher has generously given permission for the manuscript to be provided to interested parties for free. Chapters include "Haunting from the Future: A congenial approach to parent-children conflict" by David Epston, Gavin Rennie & Ksenija Napan, "Community approaches - real and virtual - to stealing" by David Epston and Fred Seymour). You'll find these chapters - and more - on the "The David Epston webpage".

Workshop Participants

These workshops are appropriate for psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, nurses, counselors and other human service practitioners in work contexts that include independent practice as well as agency settings such as community mental health, parent-child centers, and hospital programs. Continuing education credits through Alliant International University will be available for licensed social workers, psychologists and other mental health clinicians.

Presenters

David Epston is the co-originator with Michael White of what has come to be known as ‘narrative therapy and community work’. The collaboration between David and Michael began in the late 1970s, as continued for many years. David’s best known publications are White and Epston(1990), Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends; Freeman, Epston and Lobovits(1997), Playful Approaches to Serious Problems: Narrative Therapy with Children and their Families and Maisel, Epston and Borden(2004), Biting The Hand That Starves You: Inspiring Resistance to Anorexia/Bulimia along with other collections of papers and book chapters. David is especially intrigued by the poetics of inquiry: What is a good question? Where do questions come from? How are good questions related to good stories? What guides inquiry in narrative therapy?

Rob Hall, a social worker (Adelaide, Australia), has been working in the area of gender violence and abuse since 1980. He first worked in an emergency counselling service exploring approaches to inviting men to take responsibility for their violence and to find ways to ensure the safety and well being of people they had abused. He then joined a colleague, Alan Jenkins, in the further development of work with men who have perpetrated abuse. They formed a partnership, in this work, with Maxine Joy and Alison Newton and established an independent therapy centre. Since 1994, Rob has also been working with adolescents who have been sexually abused with a focus on Aboriginal adolescents, their families and communities. Rob has shared these explorations of practice in many seminars and workshops. In 2008, Michael White invited Rob to be an associate with his Adelaide Narrative Therapy Centre. Michael’s associates Maggie Carey, Shona Russell and Rob formed Narrative Practices Adelaide after Michael’s untimely death. You can read about Rob's work in the online article posted on the Pratiquesnarratives.com website: Pitfalls and challenges in work with men who use violence against their partners.

Alison Newton, a psychologist (Adelaide, Australia), works in a narrative approach with women who have been subjected to abuse by their partners. She was the first family therapist in Australia to document and present a therapeutic approach to dealing with domestic violence. Alison developed her collaborative approach while working in a community health setting in an area considered disadvantaged. Alison is experienced in providing therapy to women and men who have been violent to their partners. For more than 20 years, she has run a therapy support group and WOWSafe, an award winning social action group for women who have survived abuse within their families. In 1994, Alison established and became a co-director of The Nada Consulting and Training Centre, a therapy centre, with her colleagues Alan Jenkins, Rob Hall, Maxine Joy, and Penny Roughan. She continues to coordinate the social action group and consult with people marginalised by society.

Shona Russell, M.A., Adelaide, South Australia, has made narrative approaches to therapy and community work her focus for 20 years through her work in non-government organizations and in independent practice. Shona was an active member of The Dulwich Centre teaching faculty, where she and her close colleague Maggie Carey played a primary role in developing the skills practice component of the International Training programme. In 2008, Shona joined Michael White, Maggie Carey and Rob Hall in Narrative Practices Adelaide. Shona continues to be inspired by those with whom she works both in counseling and teaching contexts including in Bangladesh, Columbia, Mongolia, Palestine, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Canada and France. She has written and co-authored numerous articles and books

Peggy Sax, Ph.D., Middlebury, Vermont, is in independent practice as a Licensed Psychologist, consultant, workshop presenter and instructor. She has apprenticed herself to narrative therapy since the early 1990s. Currently, Peggy enjoys presenting about Neighborly ways of being and communal practices that support naturally occurring communities. She is the author of several articles, the book, Re-authoring Teaching: Creating a Collaboratory, this companion Re-authoring Teaching website and founder of the online “The Narrative Practice and Collaborative Inquiry Study Group.” It gives her great joy to bring together favorite people, ideas and practices – to learn, engage, play and replenish together within her beautiful home state of Vermont.

Gaye Stockell, M.A., Sydney, Australia, started her exploration of narrative ideas and practices 20 years ago in Sydney, whilst working in community mental health services. Working in partnership, she introduced narrative conversations to people experiencing severe mental illness concerns and as a new approach to therapeutic group work. In her independent practice, Gaye continued to explore narrative practices through her conversations with families, couples and individuals as well with the counselors, psychologists and social workers she meets in consultations. Her consultation/supervision work has been in the areas of sexual assault, mental health, drug and alcohol, adolescence and services for people who are homeless. She has taught at universities and institutions in Australia and overseas, including the USA, Cuba, New Zealand, Italy, Paris and the UK. Along with Marilyn O'Neil, Gaye recently recorded the (free to download) Friday Afternoons at Dulwich video, "Reconstructing identities and inviting preferred stories of self: Narrative practices in mental health settings and prisons."

Suggestions

Please click here to let us know your suggestions for additional training topics, presenters and guest visitors to Vermont.