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In coming weeks and months in many different places, it will be impossible to conduct face-to-face therapy sessions or meetings.  Many people are going to need to explore online counselling / meetings. So … how are we going to be creative about this? 

We have included here videos and resources from practitioners who are experienced at using narrative practices through technology. We also look forward to your ideas! 

Broadcasting hope and local knowledge during the pandemic lockdown in Rwanda
An interview with Chaste Uwihoreye

In this interview, Chaste Uwihoreye describes how the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown in Rwanda have led him to combine a range of narrative practices with communication technology, social media, radio and television to reach people both individually and collectively. Click here to read the interview. 

Narrative approaches for a domestic abuse hotline by Ryo Lumsden

A recent Friday Afternoon video is by feminist narrative practitioner Ryo Lumsden from Japan who works on a domestic abuse phone hotline. 

Adding letters to telephone counselling: A narrative response to frequent callers
by Daniela Schon

In this Friday Afternoon video, Daniela Schon describes how therapeutic letter writing and other narrative practices can be implemented in a phone-based community counselling services in relation to work with regular and frequent callers.

Providing distance narrative counselling and support 
by Cassandra Taylor 

 Further ideas are provided in this video by narrative therapist Cassandra Taylor who works with Canteen to support young people with cancer.

Behind the (Virtual) Mirror: Online Live Supervision in Couple and Family Therapy

Narrative family therapy via zoom
by David Denborough  

Here are some initial ideas for ways of doing narrative therapy via zoom … we would love to hear your ideas and stories! 

• Could we invite family members far away (overseas) to join in a way that we wouldn’t usually be able to?
• Could we record the sessions and then people can have copies easily?

In our recent Masters block, which we had to completely transform and not do face-to-face, we asked people to prepare for the zoom meetings in a way we wouldn’t usually … participants needed to watch or read something first and come with questions.

• Could we do something similarly in therapy? Could family members read a document or letter from last session before the next one?
• Or could each family member send  you questions they want to ask the other family members … but these are sent to the therapist first to then orchestrate?

Or could we interview via zoom one family member and record this on zoom (very easy) and then share this with the other family members who then watch this interview and we interview them next time about this interview (without the first person present) … and then you record this and send this second recording back to the first person?

Or could we interview via zoom one family member and record this on zoom (very easy) and then share this with the other family members. For instance, could we interview an older member of the family – a grandparent perhaps – about how people of their generation have faced and endured hardships … and what they have learned and would like to pass onto future generations at this time … and then ‘broadcast’ this to the rest of the family?  

Could we ask people to go to a different place each time … each family member could choose the location that they sit? Even if it’s only a different location in their home?

Could people choose a different virtual zoom background? You can put a photo or video behind you so it appears you are in that scene … wherever the photo is. Each family member could choose a different one for different sessions and explain why … could represent a particular hope they have for the session?

Anyway, we would love to hear your ideas!

Please share with us examples of your non face-to-face narrative practice improvisations.  

Maybe we can get inspired by this zoom music clip!