Problem stories are not equal. Some stories dirty and mar persons’ identities and these stories seem to have a particularly gripping effect in their lives. In the face of such marring and gripping problems stories, not just any story will do. We need to tell stories in our work that powerfully counter the damaging effects of gripping problem stories through practices that seek out the restorative power of beauty. Sanni and Tom will share some of the recent developments in their work that seek to restore the beauty and dignity of persons lives through the use of poetry, art, and performance. In this Collab Salon, we will seek to answer the question, “If not just any story will do, how do we learn to tell poetically well told stories that place beauty at the heart of the matter? In addition to teaching some of the theoretical and philosophical ideas that have been inspiring of us, we will also engage participants in a live teaching interview to show what goes into preparing to tell a poetic story on behalf of the people that we work with. 

Eminent scholars such as Makungu Akinyela and marcela polanco have written about an anti-colonial approach to narrative therapy. Join Travis Heath as he presents: "While this philosophy has traveled with me for some time, I wasn't certain how it was actually translating to practice. This was a rather distressful discovery for me. What good was a spirit that ran along side my practice but wasn’t making its way into the work? Over the last several months I have been spending much time trying to cultivate anti-colonial narrative questions. I will share my initial attempts at an anti-colonial narrative practice by showing questions within practice stories."

Wonderfulness Enquiries (with children or Virtue Enquiries (with adults) have not only become the centrepiece of my  first sessions since David Epston introduced me to them a number of years ago, they have become the entire context for my practice. If you would like to learn how to bring the wonder of wonderfulness interviews into your work with anyone,  do join us! 

Through our Re-woman project we are hoping to empower women to live in their preferred ways. In Russia the ideas are strong that "we are different from the West, as women had equal opportunities throughout the Soviet times". However, stats and practices are showing this is not the case. Through our meetings and interviews with women we are deconstructing the ideas around leadership and exploring the ways to lead. 

Chris Darmody ( Perth, Australia) will present Narrative Walks -a hope-based, depathologising outdoor program that was developed to engage with populations that may not be drawn to conventional methods of therapy. This structured day program encourages participants to explore 15 narrative therapy questions, and to engage in a number of other activities during a 20 kilometre walk through the bush. The program invites different perspectives on problem stories, and offers walking as a narrative metaphor. Chris will outline his own hopes for the future development of Narrative Walks as a program transferable to many people and lands.

Daniel Angus will introduce us to PetSafe, The Headspace Primary Care and Youth Early Psychosis Program in Western Sydney, which has developed an innovative interspecies mental health program that offers a narrative informed therapy partnering with a variety of dogs, cats, horses and parrots as well as with humans. Young people registered in this program have learned how to support animals who are experiencing mental or physical health problems and in turn they learn about themselves by reflecting on their experience as an animal helper. Helping dogs experiencing anxiety or parrots who self harm have led to a variety of outcomes including the development of interspecies coping strategies, friendships among participants and reduced mental health symptoms for human helpers and animals. Working on a forthcoming book on interspecies communication, Jenny Freeman will respond to Dan's presentation as well as share a tale from her manuscript.

The Ummeed Team will discuss using narrative practices when working with young people experiencing developmental disabilities and their families. Using examples from practice we will share how we are adapting the ideas with young people who have diverse ways of expressing themselves in preferred identity development, navigating various systems of power in preferred ways and in making possible family-centred care, where caregivers and children become partners in the journey of therapy.

Shona and Sarah will discuss key principles of their work in supervision that fit with bringing the politics of experience into supervision. These key principles include 1) positioning knowledge as discourse: using the skills of deconstruction and transparency; 2) co-constructed knowledges: valuing perspectives of supervisees and clients; 3) the use of questions verses directives, 4) valuing expansive conversations, and 5) promoting discursive agency.  Using these principles as a guide, Shona and Sarah will invite us to explore the politics of knowledge and power and consider ways to cultivate a social justice ethic in supervisory experience.

Following in the footsteps of Marcela Polanco's project to 'decolonize' what would appear to be commonplace 'cut and paste' MacDonalizations of narrative therapy in other languages, cultures and social circumstances, David and I have embarked on the journey of co-creating 'wasei' (remade-in-Japan) Narrative Therapy. So far we have attempted three workshops in Osaka and Tokyo(2017) and Osaka(2018). Along the way, we have found wonderful Japanese allies who also stand for 'language justice' and 'knowledge fair trade' (Polanco, 2016) and can provide us with honest feedback and continuous support. Although we as a team have traveled a good distance on a winding road, we still have a long way ahead of us to learn how to practice such a fair or 'kobinai' attitude ('kobinai' means the attitude of the less dominant who don't put themselves down or exalt the dominant, which is in this context Euro-American languages and cultures). This 'kobinai' attitude would be necessary for 'knowledge fair trade' to take root and thrive in Japan. Regardless, we would love to share some of our discoveries so far in the hope that it will encourage others in similar circumstances to re-imagine Narrative Therapy in their own local contexts.