Dear reader,
Summer is here and we’re delighted to bring you the final journal issue for this year!
A number of these papers break new ground in the field of narrative therapy.
Over the years we have had many requests for papers that tell the story of narrative therapy practice with families over an extended number of sessions. The first paper in this collection, ‘A child’s voice: Narrative family therapy’ provides just such an example. Other papers in this section provide practice examples of working with Tourette Syndrome and with vocal tics. To our knowledge these are the first papers published on these topics.
The second section of this issue focuses on the use of narrative practices in creative community work initiatives in Brazil and Zimbabwe. ‘Community therapy’ is an influential way of working in Brazil. We are delighted to publish here a paper by Adalberto Barreto and Marilene Grandesso entitled ‘Community therapy: A participatory response to psychic misery’. This paper introduces community therapy to the narrative therapy field. It also describes the ways in which narrative practices are being used within community therapy. In the lead up to the 10th International Narrative Therapy and Community Work Conference that is to be held in Salvador, Brazil, in July next year, we believe this paper will prove influential. We look forward to hearing readers’ responses and to seeing how different versions of narrative community therapy may develop in different cultural contexts.
We hope that Sipelile Kaseke’s work in using collective externalising conversations about sexual abuse in Zimbabwe will be of relevance to readers who are working with groups and communities, and/or those trying to respond to sexual abuse.
The final section of this issue includes two rigorous narrative therapy practice papers. The first expands upon the possibilities of therapeutic letter writing. The second describes work with parents who are struggling with raising their children. It contains the insider knowledge of parents in these situations in ways that we are sure will be resonant to many.
Once again, this is a diverse collection.
Over the course of this year we have published in this journal papers from Australia, Israel, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Canada, USA, China, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, UK.
In the pipeline we also have papers from Pakistan, Belgium, Denmark, Rwanda, Palestine, Singapore and elsewhere.
As this year comes to a close, we would like to thank you for your continuing support. And please remember, if there is a topic you would like to read papers on, or if you have ideas about writing up your own work, please do not hesitate to be in touch!
Warm regards,
Cheryl White
