Narrative Therapy Charter of Story-Telling Rights by David Denborough
G’day and welcome to this Friday Afternoon on-line launch of the Narrative Therapy Charter of Story-Telling Rights. David Denborough works at Dulwich Centre and Dulwich Centre Foundation and this Charter is part of a broader project in relation to ‘narrative justice’ that Dulwich Centre Foundation International is currently engaged with:
* When meeting with people whose problems are the result of human rights abuses and injustices, how can we ensure we do not separate healing from justice?
This Charter proposes a framework for considering storytelling rights. We hope it will spark discussions about the rights of people who have experienced trauma/social suffering in relation to how their stories are told and received. We invite you to discuss this Charter with us, with friends, with colleagues, in your organisation and elsewhere. You may like to endorse this Charter or offer suggestions, changes, and or additions. Welcome to this Friday Afternoon discussion!
Further reading:
A human rights approach to psychotherapy by Khader Rasras
A framework for receiving and documenting testimonies of trauma by David Denborough
The Narrative Therapy Charter of Story-Telling Rights has been inspired and challenged by the work of the:
* Just Therapy Team from New Zealand
* Reclaiming our stories, reclaiming our lives project
* Ibuka: the national genocide survivors association of Rwanda
* Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture in Ramallah, Palestine
The Charter is based on narrative principles of responding to trauma (see Michael White, 2004; or Trauma: Narrative responses to traumatic experience).
For discussions about human rights discourse see:
Gustavo Esteva & Madhu Suri Prakah (1998) Grassroots Post-Modernism: remaking the soil of cultures. London: Zed Books.
For information about narrative therapy responses to trauma see:
Michael White (2004) ‘Working with people who are suffering the consequences of multiple trauma: A narrative perspective.’ International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 1:45-76. Reprinted in the book Trauma: Narrative responses to traumatic experience.
