1. Revised program for Toronto International Summer School of Narrative Practice now available – secure your place now!

The program for the Toronto International Summer School of Narrative Practice (July 7–9) has been recently revised. Please click here to have a peek! We’re delighted with how this has come together. Come and enjoy the Canadian summer! Keynotes will include new ways of speaking with those dealing with suicidal thoughts, innovative approaches to respond to and prevent violence, an inspiring project in relation experiences of families in which a parent has a mental health struggle, and ways of strengthening relationships across the generations. Come a few days early and enjoy welcoming events, bike rides, the queer dinner, and join the summer school choir!  Experienced international narrative therapists will be offering practice-based workshops to ensure that all those who attend are able to apply narrative ways of working in their own contexts, while representatives of the Tamil community will launch a new Kite of Life publication! Yes, believe it or not, narrative practice and kite-flying can be combined! Special one-day workshops on Re-storying grief through re-membering practices, Responding to hardship, and Working with violence are to be held just before the summer school. To register, please email: dulwich@dulwichcentre.com.au We hope to see you in Toronto in July.

2. New developments and advanced training in narrative responses to trauma

We're very pleased to announce that a new publication in relation to narrative responses to trauma is now available. Working with memory in the shadow of genocide documents the inspiring work of the counsellors of Ibuka – the national genocide association in Rwanda. It outlines the key narrative principles that are informing their work and details stories of how these responses to trauma are making a difference in the lives of survivors. The final section of this publication considers a range of new concepts in relation to narrative responses to trauma. These include considerations of multiple storylines of memory, personal memory/social memory, sharing the 'problem of memory', the national project of memory, and ensuring the survival of ideals. This publication will be relevant to counselors, therapists and community workers who are responding to individuals and communities who have experienced trauma and/or social suffering. To purchase, click here.  

If you are interested in receiving advanced training in relation to responding to trauma, we are going to hold a special event in Rwanda in conjunction with our colleagues from Ibuka – the national genocide survivors' association. This seven day event will be held from November 7–13. An international faculty including Jill Freedman, David Denborough, Cheryl White, Gene Combs, and David Newman will offer training for narrative therapists to stretch their skills in relation to responding to trauma. There will also be opportunities to engage with the work of Ibuka’s trauma counsellors. If you have already undertaken training in narrative therapy and you would be interested in attending this five-day event, please contact us c/o dulwich@dulwichcentre.com.au

3. Progress on Michael White's unpublished papers

There has been considerable progress on the manuscript of the book of Michael White's unpublished papers. In a few weeks time this manuscript will be finalised and W. W. Norton will begin the production process. The book will consist of eleven previously unpublished chapters by Michael on topics as wide-ranging as subverting the operations of modern power, anorexia, working with men who have perpetrated violence, the significance of personal and community ethics, externalising and responsibility, narrative responses to traumatic experience, engagements with suicide, and couples therapy. The book will also include a preface from Jill Freedman, an introduction from David Epston, and an editor's note from David Denborough. Significantly, its epilogue contains the perspectives of narrative therapists from many different parts of the world in relation to ways in which the legacies of Michael's ideas and practices are being carried forth. This epilogue has been written by Cheryl White. Now it's just a matter of deciding upon the title!

4. International Graduate Diploma in Narrative Therapy and Community Work 2011–2012

Are you interested in being a part of the next International Graduate Diploma in Narrative Therapy and Community Work? This is the most rigorous practice-based training program available in narrative therapy and community work practice. We’re now accepting expressions of interest for our 2011–2012 program! This course consists of six one-week intensive training workshops (3 blocks of two-weeks);  consultation of audio and/or video tapes of participants work to assist in engaging with the micro-maps of narrative practice; regular structured online reading and writing program; online forums to stay in touch with participants; personal contact with faculty at regular times throughout the year; a context to create a written project on an area of one's work of a standard suitable to publish in an international journal; and a context to create an oral presentation on an aspect of one's work of a standard suitable to present at an international conference!

This practice-based program is designed for practitioners from a range of countries. Previous participants have come from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, New Zealand, Israel, USA, Canada, UK, Hong Kong, Iceland, Finland, Ireland, and Australia. This program will be taught by an international Dulwich Centre Faculty including Jill Freedman, David Epston, Lorraine Hedtke, Carolyn Markey, John Winslade, Sekneh Beckett, David Denborough, David Newman, Cheryl White, Jane Hutton, Sue Mitchell, Angel Yuen, and Chris Dolman. Guest teachers are sometimes also invited to give short workshops. Cheryl White is the coordinator of this program.

For more information, see: www.dulwichcentre.com.au/international-training-program.html To express your interest, please write to dulwich@dulwichcentre.com.au

5. Diverse Australia Program – documenting the skills and knowledges of young Australians of Muslim heritage

As we announced in the previous Dulwich Centre Email News, the Dulwich Centre Foundation has recently received funding from the Australian Federal Government as part of the ‘National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security’. The project will focus on eliciting and documenting the skills and knowledges of young Muslim Australians in ways that these can then be shared with young people from other communities. This project has just begun with an initial workshop taking place in Bankstown, Sydney. If you work with young people of Muslim heritage and you would be interested in being connected with this project, please email us c/o dulwich@dulwichcentre.com.au To view the government media release in relation to this project, click here.

6. Recent developments in international training programs/workshops

Since the last Email News, representatives of Dulwich Centre have offered workshops in Greece, Singapore, and Hong Kong. And we are pleased to announce that a one-week intensive workshop will take place in Beijing, China, in the last week of August. We are also currently organising for events to take place in Turkey and Iran. And the second year of the Graduate Certificate in Narrative Therapy Program in Singapore will commence in October. It is a busy time! if you would like to know more about any of these upcoming workshops, or if you are interested in establishing an ongoing narrative therapy training program in your context, please contact us.

7. Tree of Life event in London: Stories lived and stories told

On the 23rd of June, a community event that raises awareness about the narrative therapy-inspired Tree of Life approach will bring together those with existing experience/knowledge of its use and those with an interest in better utilising and honouring the expertise of individuals and local communities. David Denborough from the Dulwich Centre Foundation will be attending this event and there will be interviews and presentations by a range of groups who are engaged with the Tree of Life in the UK. For more information, or to book a place, please contact Cerdic Hall at Cerdic.hall@eastlondon.nhs.uk or 07852590142.

8. FREE workshop: The Kite of Life – Responding to intergenerational conflict

Due to funding that we have received, the Dulwich Centre Foundation is delighted to be able to offer a free workshop to those working with migrant/refugee communities. This workshop will focus on innovative ways in which narrative practices can be used to address intergenerational conflict in migrant/refugee communities. It will also feature the ‘Kite of Life’ – a collective narrative methodology developed in partnership with representatives of the Tamil community of Toronto, Canada. This workshop will take place on 11 August 2010. For more information, or to register, please email dulwich@dulwichcentre.com.au

9. Collective narrative practice workshop in Srebrenica, Bosnia

In early April, Dulwich Centre Foundation International offered a five-day workshop in Srebrenica, Bosnia, which was organised through the Belgian organisation, Crea Thera. Photographs from this trip can be seen on the Dulwich Centre Foundation page on Facebook. Two collective narrative documents were created during this week. In coming months, we will be publishing these as well as descriptions of how narrative ideas can be used in relation to peace-building initiatives.

10. Call for presentations for Brazil 10th International Narrative Therapy and Community Work Conference: July 2011

We are now inviting practitioners who are interested in sharing their work at the 10th International Narrative Therapy and Community Work Conference to get in contact with us. This conference is to be held in July 2011 in Salvador, Brazil. We are so looking forward to it! For information about the call for papers, click here. We hope to see you in Brazil in 2011!

11. An emerging field of practice: narrative development work

We are now in the midst of finalising a new publication and video footage in relation to an emerging field of practice: narrative development work. The Mt Elgon Self-Help Community Project in rural Uganda is using narrative ideas to spark and sustain local social and economic development projects. We are very excited about the possibilities of this work. The publication will also include previously unpublished notes from a workshop taught by Michael White in Uganda in 2006. Stay tuned for more information!

12. Dulwich Centre narrative therapy intensives and online training for 2010

If you are interested in knowing more about narrative therapy practices and applying these in your work, one of the best places to start is with a 5-day intensive in narrative therapy. Dates for Level One and Level Two intensives for 2010 are now available. Due to demand, we have recently added another Level One workshop in September 2010. For more information about training at Dulwich Centre please see our training calendar.  2010 will also see the launch of a series of online courses in narrative therapy. Stay tuned for further information!

13. Subscriptions to this FREE Dulwich Centre Email News

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