Co-Centering: Exploring centered, decentered, and “co-centered” therapeutic postures in influential conversations

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People’s bodies are involved in subtle and not so subtle ways in therapeutic conversations. Practitioners navigate waves of being touched by clients’ stories, moments of concern for their suffering, and dedication to fostering preferred identities, while clients respond to shifts in practitioners’ affective presence.  Michael White and David Epston did not only ask skillful questions, they also embodied kind and attentive ways of being which have seldom been described in the literature. The discrete expressions of affective stirrings in both practitioners and clients’ are important aspects of experience which can support or derail therapeutic work.  We may know narrative questions very well but when they are asked at times incongruent with clients’ experiences, these questions may not have the intended influential and dignifying effects.

This workshop will explore the importance of a decentered approach and new practices associated with co-centering (Beaudoin & Monk, 2024). Developed and tested in trainings over the last few years, the concept of co-centering has helped many people new to narrative ideas and also experienced practitioners, adjust to the constant ebb and flow of affective expressions taking place in relational dyads. Co-centering involves three levels of awareness which influence how practitioners can intentionally scaffold the affective conversational space to one where therapeutic movement and embodied possibilities emerge. “A co-centered therapeutic posture allows decentered practices to be influential” (p. 69). Using clinical videotapes, interviews of trainees who have been helped by the concept of co-centering, and practice exercises, we will propose ways for practitioners to embody decentered and affective dimensions in their work. When incorporated thoughtfully, therapeutic posture can provide a canvas for the dance of nonverbal and verbal expressions of clients and practitioners to evolve into fruitful re-authoring journeys.

This workshop is the third workshop and fourth event in the Narrative Practices & Emotions series with Marie-Nathalie and Gerald Monk. Register for the entire series or this single event.