Hearing voices – Re-Authoring Teaching

OCTOBER 20, 2019: A Narrative Therapy Approach following in Michael White’s Footsteps to those Who Hear Voices

Over the last several months with the support of the Mental Health Services. Aalborg University Hospital, Christoffer Haugaard and David Epston have been applying the same methodology e.g. co-researching that led to Maisel, Epston and Borden(2004): Biting the Hand that Starves You: Inspiring Resistance to Anorexia/Bulimia(New York, WWNorton). Responding to a request to invent a narrative therapy-inspired approach to the so-called 'chronic mentally ill', they prefer the term 'those who are spoken to by voices'. This approach takes up where Michael White left off in the 1990s with the 'power to our journeys' approach. The image is copyright by artist Magda Hertzberg.

Peggy Sax2023-04-22T18:17:53-04:00October 30th, 2018|Comments Off

June 16, 2019 Collab Salon: Different Species, Shared Stories

Daniel Angus will introduce us to PetSpace, 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.

Peggy Sax2021-06-26T06:49:28-04:00October 13th, 2018|3 Comments

December 2018 Collab Salon: Fields of kindness: An antidote to tyrannical devaluing

Somatic therapies and a resurgence of interest in affect are two significant trends in recent times. These movements invite narrative-oriented practitioners to pause and unpack what claims are being made and their implications. In exploring challenges and possibilities, we considered the dialogical features, affective tones, emotional depictions and embodied expressions of re-membering practices. The December 2018 Collab focused on a notion of relational fields in instituting new forms of everyday living, especially giving attention to expanding relational fields of kindness when tyrannical and devaluing voices seek to usurp a person’s voice and erase their knowing about their achievements.

Peggy Sax2019-12-29T07:03:24-05:00January 31st, 2018|Comments Off