Honoring David’s Legacy

Peggy Sax

David Epston is a prolific writer and collaborator. Many of his writings are freely available, thanks to his generosity. Have a look at The David Epston Webpage. Also, we’ve included an Honoring David’s legacy topic in the first section of the course, Narrative Therapy: Foundations & Key Concepts.

Over time, we hope this forum will grow. I’m particularly looking forward to engaging Collab members in test piloting courses in the upcoming “Where the buses don’t run” series. And/or let us know if you attend any of David’s workshops, ok?

Don Mcgillivray

Hi Peggy,

I just love David’s youthful energy, curiousity, an untainted imagination. It is so infectious.

I have been with David in two workshops he did in Edmonton one on his book Playful Appraoches to Serious Problems and the other on Asking Good Questions. Both of which were enriching however, with so many other participants I wanted a more up and close relationship with David.

Well, in June 2013 I was one of 9 participants joining with David and Stephen Madigan in a 4 day Vancouver workshop entitled Asking Good Questions.

David’s naturally engaging ways embraced me in just the way I had always desired. He did not disappoint. I will always remember and cherish the way we sat together and had a conversation. I learned so much of how important a good question is to creating and having some unimagineable conversations. I had the opportunity to interact, try out, be transparent, make mistakes, embrace a confidence that self-doubt was desperately trying to hid from me and grow in creative ways.

I left this incredible experience and began practicing and practicing with the persons I work with using these skills and knowledges in a re- newed creative way!

David invited me to continue the conversations via email and I felt so priviledged when I began this type of interaction. I was awestruck at how such a man surrounded by “busyness” took the time to converse. He sent me resources, suggestions, and a personal photo which enveloped me in a closeness that I had only imagined now it became real.

David introduced me to you Peggy and your website I am so grateful!( What about thoses coincidences eh!)

I continue to read David’s work with great enthusiasm. His ways with words and how he uses language especially when writing a letter are just, well, “fantastic”!!!

May the journey continue in unimaginable ways!!!

Peggy Sax

Don, I had forgotten that I met you through David. I must remember to thank him for that.

I share your enthusiasm for David’s contributions. For years, I’ve been trying to persuade him to join me in making online courses. About a year ago something happened- he said, “Let’s do it!” Ever since then, we’ve been working (along with Kay Ingamells) on constructing the foundation for the series, “Where the buses don’t run yet.” We’ve got excellent interviews, transcriptions, and recordings…Now that we have launched the new Collab, and first course, we are several steps closer. As soon as I can, I’ll tell more…in the meantime, keep you in suspense.

Peggy

Jo Viljoen

Dear Peggy and David

Working my way systematically through this course I am delighted to meet up with David again. He is the one person who made Narrative Practice come alive for me. I will never forget how desperate I was, one night in the small hours, how frightened for the life of a client, that I sat in front of a blinking computer screen and wrote a letter to Narrative Approaches, asking for help. My client was trapped in a cycle of anorexia/bulimia/self destruction/suicide and I was trapped in professional knowledges that didn’t stretch to encompass her experiences. I had just started my journey in studying Narrative Therapy, was working in a specialist psychiatric clinic from which she had recently been discharged. I am not sure what I expected when I sent that email, perhaps, thing back over the years, I just wanted someone out there to hear my call for assistance, comfort, advice, anything, just a way forward.

Nobody was more surprised than me when I received an email in response to my cry for help from David Epston. I must be honest, that single mail saved my professional life and saved my client’s life as a whole, as it lead to an exploratory email campaign between the three of us. That process taught me to see things so differently, to ask questions I would never have dreamt asking before, taught me words I had never come across and more than that, encouraged my client to celebrate her life and not to keep getting stuck in the problem saturated stories that anorexia/bulimia/self destruction and psychiatric specialist knowledges had concocted for her life.

It was not plain sailing by any means. But I felt comforted by the safety net I felt in his conversations and questions, I could venture out and use my imagination and more than that could encourage her to use her imagination and lived experiences outside of the problem story to construct a life of her own choosing. We documented some of this journey in my thesis, which David kindly featured onhttps://www.narrativeapproaches.com under the section hosting academic resources. It is called “Living with Fire”, if anyone should be interested in visiting that experience. The best news is that my client, known as Grace, is living a full life, she is still married to her husband, she has recently become a granny, she is travelling extensively and looks happy with her life. I’m sure the problem still tries to harness her considerable talents from time to time to try and get her back in its clutches, but judging from the pix on Facebook and her comments, it appears as if she won this round, which started fifteen years ago.

David also introduced me to you, Peggy. I am so grateful for this introduction, because although we have never had occasion to meet face to face, we have been in contact for the better part of ten or twelve years (I forget how long).

So yes, I too honour David’s legacy, and do my very best to honour it in every conversation I have.

Jo Viljoen

Peggy Sax

Jo, this is beautiful! YES David has a way of making narrative practice come alive! I remember when he first connected the two of us- could that have been a dozen years ago?

David is on a well-deserved vacation right now, only checking email occasionally. I sent him a copy of your words. I know he will be very touched. I am too. I can’t believe we have actually never met in person (although of course I met your son when he spent a winter in Vermont).

Warmly,
Peggy