Registration now open!

When you purchase the course

• You will receive an email with the link to the correct page for beginning the course and the (optional) Course Conversation Forum.
• Each lesson and topic also has space at the bottom for comments.
• Contact us if you would like a Study-Buddy – a partner with whom to move through the course.
• When a group of 6 or more signs up, we can offer a live webinar.
• 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:

Course Objectives

Participants will:

1. Articulate an understanding of heterosexism and its marginalizing effects on LGBTQ-identified individuals;
2. Explore the underlying assumptions and beginning practices of strength-based narrative therapy in nurturing preferred LGBTQ identities;
3. Demonstrate an ability to reflect on the broader political, psychological and sociological issues impacting many LGBTQ persons through reading, videos, online webinar and online quiz.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the inherent assumptions of narrative therapy approaches to psychotherapy.
5. Develop emerging skills as clinicians engaged in narrative therapy practice with marginalized individuals and families.
6. Synthesize the assumptions and practices of narrative therapy through a lens of LGBTQ awareness and social justice action.

Watch our Introduction!

Here is a brief introduction by Charley Lang:

Lesson Descriptions

Lesson One: Situating Ourselves with a Narrative Stance

Lesson Description: We start by questioning the dominant idea that there are only two genders and that sex should always be congruent with gender, addressing the concept of fluid sexualities and sexual orientations. We identify numerous assumptions that ground us in the work as narrative practitioners, and deconstruct the marginalizing concept of “normal”. The lesson ends with a real-life narrative conversation charting the history of personal empowerment in the face of adversities common to many queer-identified individuals.

Guided by: Charley Lang, with a focus on the works of Mary Heath, Julie Tilsen, David Nylund and Peggy Sax

Lesson Two: Whose Life Is It Anyway?

Lesson Description: This lesson clarifies the use of externalizing language when working with LGBTQ clients, providing a real-life case example of narrative practices in action, addressing a gay man as the expert on his own life. We then venture into a group therapy context, providing numerous examples of narrative questions that help construct empowering experiences of community. We end with an award-winning film that documents remarkable community resourcefulness in the face of devastating challenges and loss.

Guided by: Charley Lang with a focus on the works of Chris Behan and Eric Schiff

Lesson Three: A Queer Umbrella for All

Lesson Description: We begin by addressing the challenges of LGBTQ individuals faced with the marginalizing effects of religion, and the ways that many have found to re-connect with a sense of spirituality. Next, we explore the challenges faced by parents and their LGBTQ teens, followed by the award-winning film documenting the first gay & lesbian prom in America. We finish with an exercise engaging the narrative practices of deconstructing heterosexism.

Guided by Charley Lang, with  a focus on the works of Charles Jasper and Susan Saltzburg

Lesson Four: Voices from the Margins

Lesson Description: This lesson gives voice to unique experiences of transgender and bisexual individuals, followed by an exercise emphasizing the importance of resourcefulness in the face of sexual identity oppression. We end with an award-winning film, documenting the experiences of gay and lesbian law enforcement officers from across the United States.

Guided by Charley Lang, with a focus on the works of Jesse Green and Kathy Labriola