Building on Michael White’s Legacy

Welcome to our first community project! As the Founder of Re-authoring Teaching, I’ll be your host and virtual guide through this shared endeavor to build upon the legacy of Michael White. Some of us will walk through this project together through Facebook, courses, training programs, and/or study groups. Everyone is also welcome to join us at your own pace. While we’ve gotten it started, we need your help to make this dream come true.  Please join us!     – Peggy Sax

In April 2008, we lost one of the founders of Narrative therapy. Michael White was a brilliant mind, a skillful interviewer, a cherished mentor, and a dear friend. Re-authoring Teaching partnered with Narrative Initiatives San Diego (NISD) to offer Building on the Legacy of Michael White: A Decade of Narrative Developments on Coronado Island, San Diego. Now this Community Project will be housed permanently on our website, gathering the collective influence of Michael White into an online resource that paints a picture of his legacy through many voices, perspectives, and mediums. We begin with a song by Michael Castelli in tribute to a mentor he never meet in person, yet whose ideas and practices are a source of ongoing inspiration.

I’d like to welcome you to this community project and to give you a cooks tour of what we’ve created, and how you can contribute.

We envision the first section, Looking Back, as the virtual equivalent of sitting around a communal table, sharing remembrances and stories. Did you have the opportunity to be interviewed by Michael or to attend his presentation(s)? What are other ways you experience his influence? What influence have Michael and his work had on you, your work, your life? In what ways do you honor his memory? In what ways are you in dialogue with Michael’s work? Here you’ll find space for tributes; Poems, Letters & Reflections; Presentations & Notes.

Initiatives Honoring Michael’s Intentions – the second section- focuses on seven of Michael’s intentions, and the initiatives that have grown over the past decade: Children, Trauma and Its Consequences; Addressing Men’s Violence toward their partners; Building Counseling Services in a Range of Contexts; Supporting Aboriginal, Indigenous and Community Workers; Continuing the Spirit of Inquiry; Developing Training Opportunities; and Establishing Networks of Providers.

Re-imagining Narrative Therapy– our third section- begins with histories for the future by David Epston – imagining future directions if only he and Michael had been able to continue their work together. We chose several emergent themes: Re-inventing Narrative Therapy Elsewhere; Jazz, Improvisation & Narrative Practice; Working with Communities & Organizations and Narrative & the Body. The project ends with a focus on Next Generations: Higher Education, Creating a Teaching Collaboratory, Innovations in Preparing the Next Generation; and Featured Voices.

This is an excellent opportunity for individuals, consultation/study groups, classes, and training programs to join in our global community project. Look below for our emerging Michael Legacy Webpage and for our contribution form! Please send us your contributions to each section: reflections, presentation notes, letters, art, poems, interviews; news from your Narrative initiatives; additions for envisioning the future of narrative therapy. We will do our best to include a range of your offerings. Please remember to honor confidentiality and to ensure permission.