International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work
2024 Issue One
Welcome to this issue of International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work.
As narrative practitioners, how can we respond to the injustice we see in the world? How might we bear witness to people’s acts of resistance, no matter how small? And how might we highlight and nurture the diverse and skilful ways that people and communities enact their knowledges of survival and healing? How can we be allies as people do whatever they can to hold on to their dignity, kinships and lives?
The articles, videos and audio notes in this issue are a testimony to ways we can stand alongside each other as some of us endure immense adversity. It includes contributions from Australia, Rwanda, Somalia, Türkiye, Canada, China and the UK.
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Song
“It’s a sausage, not a scone”: A recipe for getting through hard times in response to the suicide of a loved one – Beth and Ben Shannahan
Ben Shannahan began meeting with Beth and her family soon after Beth’s older sister Amberly ended her own life. Their conversations lead to Beth writing
Peer-Reviewed Papers
Departing from stigma and secrecy and elevating stories of agency: Narrative practice in the voices of sex workers — Kaur Serendipity
This paper explores the use of narrative therapy and community work to respond to the complexities surrounding women’s experiences in the sex industry. It offers
Safety and solidarity: Using collective documents to share sex workers’ insider knowledges — Julia Sharp
Western culture and Western health care systems have created places of sexual health care that are highly individualised, privatised and professionalised. For people engaged in
Psychosocial support initiatives in the aftermath of the 2023 earthquake: A university-led community approach — Mehmet Dinç and Canahmet Boz
This article discusses the response of a university psychology department to the devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye on 6 February 2023, resulting in significant loss
Standing upright against trauma and hardship: Checklists of innovative moments of social and psychological resistance – Muhammed Furkan Cinisli
Trauma represents a profound and emotionally intense experience within the human condition. Beyond its evident impacts on both the physiological and psychological dimensions of an
An Episode of Your Life: Rich narrative engagement with episodic stories — Julie Stewart, Tiffany Sostar, Ian Myhra, Sonia Hoffmann and Jyotsna Uppal
This article describes a new practice map, an “Episode of Your Life”, which adapts existing narrative “… of life” practices to an episodic story from
The Rainbow of Life: A collective narrative practice with young LGBTQIA+ people with a health condition – James McParland and Jaymie Huckridge
This article describes the use of narrative practices for LGBTQIA+ young people with a health condition. It presents a collective narrative practice: the Rainbow of
The effort and intricacies of generating experience-near language – David Newman
In this paper I explore Clifford Geertz’s distinction between experience-near and experience-distant language. In the process, I draw from mad studies and mental health service
Imagination and metaphor in narrative therapy and collective practice — John Stubley
In this paper I explore the use of metaphors in the creation of externalised problem narratives for individuals and larger collectives, as well as in
A search for justice using AI-assisted image creation — Lucy Van Sambeek
As artificial intelligence becomes pervasive, therapists might be left wondering about its implications for narrative practice. This paper explores an unexpected discovery about the power
Reviews
Recovering assemblages: Unfolding sociomaterial relations of drug use and recovery by Aysel Sultan (2022), reviewed by Tom Strong
Recovering assemblages: Unfolding sociomaterial relations of drug use and recovery by Aysel Sultan (2022), Palgrave Macmillan. Reviewed by Tom Strong
Featured Videos
Indigenous storyWORK as research by Tileah Drahm-Bulter
In times of hardship, talking directly about painful or traumatic experiences, overwhelming emotions, or problematic actions with children, young people or families can be difficult.
How we deal with Autistic burnout by KJ Wiseheart
In this video, KJ introduces the accompanying collective document “How we deal with Autistic burnout: A living document created by Autistic adults for Autistic adults”.
Games and narrative practice by Noor Kulow
In this presentation to the International Narrative Therapy and Community Work Conference in Rwanda, Noor Kulow introduces a range of narrative practices that have been
Feminist insider research by Marnie Sather
In this presentation, made at the launch of the Narrative Practice Research Network, Marnie Sather introduces some of the possibilities and complexities of feminist insider
Audio
Caring for trans community – Tiffany Sostar
This audio practice note and the collective document it describes are part of “narrative projects in support of trans lives”, and are the first to
On critical thinking by Mary Heath, read by Mary Heath
In this audio recording of a favourite paper from the journal’s archives, Mary Heath sets out a personal history of her journey toward becoming a
Narrative therapy, Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese medicine: An interview with Ming Li, Mandarin translation read by Ming Li and Qianyun Yang
In this audio translation of a paper from the journal’s archives, David Denborough interviews Ming Li, a narrative practitioner in Beijing, China, with an interest
Multimedia
My album, by Chaste Uwihoreye, Jean Marie Zivugukuri and Emmanuel Kigundu
My Album is a poignant collection of artworks by children and adolescents engaged in “Mobile Arts for Peace” (MAP) clubs across multiple schools in Rwanda.
