Honoring Our Legacy: Remembering the Influence of Five Family Therapy Mentors
Honoring Our Legacy started in 2011 as a joint collaborative project between The Taos Institute and Reauthoring Teaching. We believe the best tribute we can give our mentors is to gather evidence that their ideas and practices have gained lives of their own even for people who never knew them. We will highlight specific contributions, in text and recordings, by five cherished family therapist mentors: Gianfranco Cecchin, Harry Goolishian, Tom Andersen, Lynn Hoffman and Michael White.
Our Princes are dying (and one queen) by Lynn Hoffman.
I could not bear to hear of Gianfranco’s death,
While trying to help some roadside travelers,
Or the death of his good friend, young Guido Boscolo.
I could not bear to hear of the death of Tom Andersen
Our beloved patron from the Arctic snows.
And I could not bear to hear of the death of Michael White,
Another angel here in human guise.Harry Goolishian, Steve de Shazer, Insoo Berg, had warned us, going first.
And there are some in the wings, waiting, that I have heard about,
Too many, too soon, too dear,
A mid-life massacre,
But living on in our immense regret.
I pay my grave respects to all of these,
And am reminded of John Webster’s “Dutchess of Malfi,”
In amending the deathless phrase that closed the play:
Cover their faces
Mine eyes dazzle,
They died young.
A poem in memory of just a few who gave so much to the field of Family Therapy…
Series Description
Each of the five mini-courses takes about two hours and includes audio, video, and text. Anyone can start at any time. Sign up for individual mini-courses, or for the entire series. The “round table conversation” is a bonus for those who sign up for the entire series.
Registration always open!
- Regular: $40 USD per mini course and $200 for the entire series (6th as a bonus)
- Student or Fixed Income: $30 USD per mini course or $150 for the entire series
- Optional CE credit certificate for the entire series: $40 USD
Remembering Gianfranco Cecchin
Gianfranco Cecchin, along with Boscolo, Prata and Selvini Palazzoli, were the originators of the Milan Systemic School of Family Therapy: His writings and presentations helped clarify concepts such as hypothesizing, circular questioning, positive connotation, and crafting interventions. He is best known for his curiosity and irreverence, and a deep-seated prejudice against prejudice.
If you have already registered, access course here:
Remembering Harry Goolishian
Harry Goolishian – along with Harlene Anderson – is known for developing the “collaborative language systems” approach to collaborative therapies. Their interest in language and the principle of not-knowing provide a challenging voice in the human services fields.
If you have already registered, access course here:
Remembering Tom Andersen
Tom Andersen was Professor of Social Psychiatry at the Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromso, Norway, and was the initiator of Reflective Processes in therapeutic practices. He is the author of The Reflecting Team: Dialogues and Dialogues about Dialogues, 1991, and Death Talk: Conversations with Children and Families, 1997. Tom died in the spring of 2007.
If you have already registered, access course here:
Remembering Lynn Hoffman
Whenever something important was going on in the development of family therapy, Lynn Hoffman was there — so she can tell the history of family therapy as seen from the inside over the past fifty years.Lynn’s thinking has also influenced the evolution of the field. Lynn is a scholar. She regularly writes blogs on Giles Deleuze, Whitman and Spinoza, among others. She brings us the world of Bahktin, Wittgenstein and Lyotard. She has worked with many of the masters in family therapy before settling into the world of conversational/dialogic therapies with colleagues Harry Goolishian, Harlene Anderson and Tom Andersen while deeply respecting the work of Michael White.
If you have already registered, access course here:
Remembering Michael White
Michael White had a profound impact on many lives, and on the development of key concepts of narrative practice. His ideas, practices and presence live on in our lives and work. It is still hard to believe he is no longer here, and that we won’t suddenly hear that he will soon be presenting a workshop at a nearby town. From 1983- January 2008, Michael was the co-director of The Dulwich Centre, an independent centre in Adelaide, Australia involved in narrative therapy, community work, training, publishing, supporting practitioners in different parts of the world, and co-hosting international conferences. In 2008 he established a new centre that soon became, “Narrative Practices Adelaide.”
If you have already registered, access course here:
Roundtable Conversation
How are the legacies of these five family therapy mentors influencing is in the 21st century? We gather together a group of teachers and practitioners to share some of the ripple effects and hopes for the future.
If you have already registered, access course here:
When you purchase each mini course
- You will receive an email with the link to the correct page for beginning the course
- Each page of the minicourse has space at the bottom for comments.
- Please contact us to inquire about a group rate, a scholarship reduced fee or a live webinar.
If you have already registered, access course here:
CE Certificate
Psychologists can earn 2 APA approved Continuing Education credit for each minicourse through Alliant International University or 10 CEs for the entire series. Simply pass the quiz at the end of the course, and email your confirmation to [email protected]. We will send you the certificate of completion.
Watch our Introduction!
Lesson Descriptions
Lesson One: What is Narrative Therapy?
We begin by reviewing several excellent brief descriptions of narrative therapy, and the Why Narrative Therapy? Youtube Project. After reviewing some important distinctions between narrative practice and other approaches, we honor the legacy of Michael White (Australia) and David Epston (New Zealand), the founders of Narrative therapy. Included are some special added remembrances of Michael who died in April of 2008.
Guided by: Peggy Sax, with a focus on the works of Michael White, David Epston, Maggie Carey and Shona Russell
Michael White
David Epston
Maggie Carey
Shona Russell
Lesson Two: Who are our intellectual ancestors?
We situate narrative practice as a development not only within the field of family therapy but rooted in postmodern approaches, post-structrualist philosophy, literary theory and anthropology.
Guided by: Peggy Sax, with a focus on the works of Tom Andersen, Harlene Anderson and Chris Beels
Michel Foucault
Jaques Derrida
Tom Andersen
Harlene Anderson
Chris Beels
Rob Hall
Lesson Three: Three Key Concepts
Here we briefly explore three key ideas influencing narrative therapy: the role of questions, the narrative metaphor, and intentional understandings of identity.
Guided by: Peggy Sax, with a focus on the works of Shona Russell, Maggie Carey, Rachel Hare-Mustin, Jill Freedman, Gene Combs, Chimananda Adichie, and Michael White
Rachel Hare-Mustin
Chimamanda Adichie
Jill Freedman & Gene Combs
Michael White
Lesson Four: Four Key Ethical Considerations
We briefly explore four key ethics guiding a narrative approach: relational ethics, the decentered-influential therapeutic posture, staying close to people as center of their own lives, and reckoning with power.
Guided by: Peggy Sax, with a focus on the works of Sheila McNamee, Michael White, Shona Russell, Maggie Carey and Rob Hall
Sheila McNamee- Michael White
Shona Russell- Maggie Carey
Rob Hall
Lesson Five: Practices That Engage with Problems
Narrative Therapy is well known as a way of working that separates the person from the problem. We will look closely at dividing practices to engage with problems in ways that do not promote shame or blame of the families or children.
Guided by: Peggy Sax, with a focus on the works of Michael White, David Epston, Karl Tomm, Maggie Carey and Shona Russell
- Michael White
David Epston
Karl Tomm- Maggie Carey
- Shona Russell
Lesson Six: Creating Audiences, Seeking Solidarity & Building Community
Narrative practitioners often seek to incorporate audiences in efforts such as letter-writing campaigns, outsider witness practices, reflecting teamwork, Tree of Life gatherings, reclaiming community, and other community rituals.
With a focus on the works of Peggy Sax, David Epston, Lynn Hoffman, Michael White and The Collab
- David Epston
Lynn Hoffman & Michael White
Rosa & Martha
The Collab Salon