First Course in Series!
Where the Buses Don’t Run Yet: Counterstorying, Wonderfulness Enquiries, Witnessing Practices & Possibilities from the Future
Exploring Interviews with Sebastian, Joel/Viola, and Jane/Tim
What lies at the heart of Narrative Practice artistry? What makes a good question and story, and how does it ‘counter’ problematic narratives? David Epston, co-founder of Narrative Therapy, has engaged with these questions for 15+ years, most recently through The Apprenticeship in the Artistry of Narrative Practice Program with Kay Ingamells and Tom Carlson. This course illuminates their innovative teaching methods using transcripts from three different interviews as David and Kay demonstrate practices including internalized other questioning. counter-storying, playful approaches, “haunting from the future,” and letter-writing.
Each session reviews recorded interviews with transcripts, focusing on questions and reflections. Relevant papers accompany sessions. This series serves as a gateway to The Apprenticeship for those seeking intensive training.
First Interview: explores the art of narrative inquiry through David’s initial interview and seven-year follow-up with Sebastian, with Kay’s commentary.
Second Interview: Joel, 16, has met with his counselor 8 times. He has irregular school attendance and panic attacks. His family migrated from South Africa when he was 12. His father has a history of drug addiction and violence against Joel’s mother and Joel. Joel has also assaulted his mother. His parents are considering divorce. Despite bleak prospects, he aspires to become a veterinarian.
Third Interview: Jane and her partner had 4 children; two died from neglect. Their remaining children were removed by Child Protection Services. Her son was rejected at 11 placements before being placed with Jane’s brother, who unexpectedly returned him after 8 years without preparation. Child Protection Services provided weekly surveillance for 2 years until Jane and Tim bonded as mother and son, and Tim stopped “weirding people out.”
Our Presenters
David Epston
David Epston (Auckland, New Zealand) David Espton, co-founder of narrative therapy alongside Michael white, brings a sense of wonder, adventure and innovation to his conversations and collaborations. What makes a good question? What guides inquiry in narrative therapy? What are some narrative lines of inquiry? The collaboration between David and Michael began in the late 1970s, as continued for many years. David’s best known publications are White and Epston(1990), Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends; Freeman, Epston and Lobovits(1997),Playful Approaches to Serious Problems: Narrative Therapy with Children and their Families and Maisel, Epston and Borden(2004), Biting The Hand That Starves You: Inspiring Resistance to Anorexia/Bulimia, Narrative Therapy in Wonderland.
Kay Ingamells M.S.W
Kay Ingamells M.S.W., (Auckland, New Zealand) has been working with individuals, children, young people and families since 1990. Kay began her career working with troubled young people and children in residential care and in specialist agencies, then spent nine years working in child and adolescent mental health. For the past ten years she has lectured in narrative therapy in higher education at undergraduate and post-graduate level and has been running a private therapy and counselling practice for children, families, young people and adults. For the last 12 years she has been supervised by the co-inventor of Narrative Therapy, David Epston, and has taught alongside David for the last 5 years. Kay has published several articles. She is currently writing and presenting about her apprenticeship with David Epston. She also provides one-on-one and group training called ‘Training Through Transcripts’, to narrative practitioners committed to bringing David’s practices into their own work.