Show Notes
For the first episode, Will Sherwin, LMFT compiled a list of quotations that have been helpful in his work. He discussed these quotations with BANTR co-organizer and co-instructor, Julia Wallace, LCSW, a narrative therapist in private practice in San Francisco. For more information on Julia Wallace go to juliawallace.com Quotations: 1) “People are profoundly influenced by the discourses around them.” — AATBS Study Guide for 2010 MFT licensing exam. 2) ” …the postmodern argument is not against the various schools of therapy, only against their posture of authoritative truth.” — Kenneth Gergen 3) “Therapy tends to privilege the individual rather than the set of relationships in which that individual lives.” — Kenneth Gergen 4) “Where there is power, there is resistance.” — Michel Foucault 5) “The narrative approach is characterized by an unshakable belief in the incomplete nature of all oppressions.” — John Winslade and Lorraine Hedtke, Narrative Therapy in Practice: The archaeology of hope. 6) “All of us are weirdly-abled.” — Stephen Madigan and David Epston 7) What is the theory of change from this narrative perspective? One of my responses would be that the rich development of a subordinate storyline provides a foundation for people to address the problems and predicaments of their life. It makes it possible to engage in actions that are healing in response to the traumas of their past. It is this rich story development that provides that foundation. People become aware of some actions they could take that would be more in harmony with what they’re learning about what’s important to them, about what they give value to, and about what they intend for their life. It’s through this rich story development that some of these other conclusions become more visible and become more influential in the shaping life. There’s quite a focus on establishing a context in which people are able to give voice to what it is they do give value to that’s been continuous through their live; that’s represented in a range of responses to their predicaments. And what it is that people intend for their lives. It’s the rich development of these conclusions about one’s intentions and what one gives value to that provides a wonderful foundation for people to proceed with their life. Suddenly people become aware of a whole range of options that would be in harmony with what they give value to and what they intend for their life. — Michael White, Trauma and Narrative Therapy Part 1, 27 min. 8) “. . . restoring the dignity and honor of young people and their families.” “. . . shame, indignity, and dishonor dissolve in rich stories.” — David Epston
Recorded in Summer 2014
More from BANTR: A Narrative Therapy Podcast
In this episode, Will Sherwin asked Navid Zamani, Mike Giancola, and Tom to each share two questions they've found helpful in their psychotherapy practice. We discussed each of them at a camping site in Cuyamaca State Park near San Diego during Will's bachelor camping trip weekend before he got married in August 2022.
On this episode Will Sherwin talks with Dr. Danielle Drake from the San Francisco Bay Area. Danielle performs two of her spoken word poems, we discuss African-centered psychologies, her journey to becoming a clinical psychologist, song lyrics evocative of therapeutic principles, teaching narrative and expressive arts practices at CIIS, sky-diving and more! Danielle is on the core faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies’ Expressive Arts Program in San Francisco, CA. She is also a PhD. candidate at the Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara. Her dissertation is entitled, “Spirituality and Creativity Among Culturally Empowered African-Americans: A Legacy of Empowered Community Liberation.” Danielle Drake can be reached at [email protected] and she would love to hear your reflections. Show Notes: [35:19} “The challenge mindset” from the book: The Triumph of the Soul: Cultural and Psychological Aspects of African American Music by Ferdinand Jones, Arthur C. Jones, ed.
On this episode Will Sherwin and Scott Ralston talk with Art Fisher and Nancy MacDonald, co-founders of the Nova Scotia Trauma-Informed Network and Directors of the Family Service Agencies of Western and Eastern Nova Scotia respectively. We discuss honoring people’s response-skills to violence, thinking critically about the language of trauma-informed care, the social determinants of health, “going rogue” and more. Art Fisher can be reached at [email protected] Nancy MacDonald can be reached [email protected]
On this episode Will Sherwin talked with contributors of Painted Brain: Kazuki Takizawa, James Giaquinto, Tristan Scremin, Naomi Barrett, and Angela Tuckerman. Painted Brain is a Los Angeles-based organization that creates lasting community-based solutions to mental health challenges and the impact of social injustice through arts, advocacy, and enterprise.
Travis Heath and Will Sherwin sat down at ReauthoringTeaching.com’s 2017 Narrative Camp to discuss Travis’s work using hip hop and narrative therapy, subverting the systems of academia, police murder of young people of color in the United States, and more. Dr. Travis Heath is a psychologist in private practice, associate professor of psychology at MSU Denver and has served as a team consultant in the NBA. He can be reached at [email protected]