group work
Posted by Dulwich on Nov 23, 2016 in | 0 comments
Showing all 10 results
-
Navigating relationships when our children are in out-of-home care: A narrative group and community project for parents whose lives are affected by child protection intervention and the removal of their children— Lauren Graham
$9.90This article describes a group work process designed to both privilege and document the skills and knowledges of parents whose children are in out-of-home care as a result of statutory intervention. The group focused on salvaging preferred territories of identity. It was designed to enable the contribution of participants by linking their narratives with those of other parents facing similar circumstances, and providing opportunities to inform the work of a local organisation developing practices for family inclusion. As part of this group project, parents were able to identify steps they need to take to redress the actions and ideas that led to child removal, and, in doing so, to develop their practices for caring for and protecting children.
-
Reconstructing Life Journeys: Group Work with Young Women Who Experience Mental Illness— Little Lit Siu-wai
$9.90This article describes creative work with a group of young women who have been suffering from mental illness for several years. The work conveyed here builds upon the metaphor of a journey of life (see McPhie & Chaffey 1998) and adapts this to a Hong Kong context.
-
When Your Child is Diagnosed with Schizophrenia: The Skills and Knowledges of Parents— Amanda Worrall
$9.90This article documents work with a group of parents in Central Australia who have a son or daughter who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The first part of the article collects some of the parents’ reflections on the effects of schizophrenia on their lives and their ways of responding to them, while the second part is a collective document produced with the group about their skills and knowledges. This group work has led to the production of a larger booklet for the wider community, as well as networking and partnering with local community mental health organisations, and advocacy and lobbying of politicians and health services.
-
Group Work with Women Who Have Experienced Violence— Jacqui Morse & Alice Morgan
$9.90In working with women who have experienced violence in heterosexual relationships, groups provide the opportunity for linking lives around shared themes, values and commitments. The work described in this paper utilises narrative practices to highlight the context of women’s lives, to centre women’s knowledge, to locate responsibility, to accentuate alternative and preferred descriptions of identity, and to build connections between women. Specific attention is also paid to deconstruct dominant gender discourses.
-
Conversations in Groups with Women About Their Experiences of Using Anger, Abuse and Violence— Julie Sach
$9.90This paper considers gendered constructions of anger and how women’s experiences of using anger, abuse and violence may be shaped by these. It also examines the contribution of difficult life experiences like trauma and abuse in shaping women’s anger responses. The article describes an evolving approach to group work with women that seeks to address some of these complexities.
Free article:
Talking About Women’s Violence: An editor’s note
-
How we deal with ‘way out thoughts’: A living document … Ways of talking with young people about suicidal thoughts— David Newman
$9.90In this paper, I describe some of the ways that I use the written word, in the form of ‘living documents’, to enable the sharing of stories and know-how about the ways young people deal with suicidal thoughts, or what are also termed ‘way out thoughts’ or ‘die thoughts’. These explorations take place in my work with young people in a psychiatric unit. I share here an example of a one-to-one conversation and also describe how I collect and use stories in a group work or collective context. The young people I speak with have let me know that such conversations and shared documents are important to them.
-
Questions of Agency: Explorations of the Meanings of Sexualised Coercion, Gender, and Participation in Group Sessions— Bodil Pedersen
$9.90The view that participating in psychosocial support groups can be helpful to women exposed to gendered violence such as rape and attempted rape, has much support. Drawing on a ‘subject theory’ approach and an empirical project, this article discusses some aspects of group practices. Which aspects of participation in groups may be helpful and which problematic? And what may we learn from working with groups? The discussion takes in such general questions as the position of professional counsellors and other participants, pathologisation, and the possible transfer of experience from one context to another, as well as more specific aspects of the meanings of victimisation, gender, sexualised coercion, and group participation.
-
Responding to children in situations of family violence: Narrative therapy group work with children— Jocelyn Lee
$9.90This paper discusses a practice innovation: a two-day, one-night group work process conducted with children who lived in households that use violence. The author developed the ‘My Happy Ending’ group work using narrative therapy principles and practices to respond to children in situations of family violence. The children were clients consulting with social workers or counsellors within the social service agency the author works in, Tampines Family Service Center in Singapore. As part of the practice innovation, the author created an original group work curriculum, consisting of the performance and narration of an original fictional story, and several play- and art-based activities. The purpose was to decrease the influence of family violence in the children’s lives and to increase their personal agency in dealing with it, using key narrative therapy practices. These narrative practices included externalisation of the problem, using metaphors, increasing people’s sense of personal agency, scaffolding preferred stories and identities, de-constructing discourses, outsider-witnessing, definitional ceremonies and creating collective documents. Narrative therapy practices were found to be helpful for enhancing children’s sense of agency and diminishing the influence of past and ongoing experiences of family violence and other difficulties faced in their daily lives.
-
Narrative family therapy and group work for families living with acquired brain injury— Franca Butera-Prinzi, Nella Charles and Karen Story
$9.90Acquired brain injury profoundly challenges the identity of the affected person and family relationships. Narrative practices offer valuable therapeutic tools to assist families to face the enormous task of adjusting to an acquired disability. The integration of family therapy and group work provides multiple avenues for families to have their experiences validated and to support reconnection with strengths, values and goals. It is from this more empowered position that families can find ways to live their lives to the fullest, in spite of the difficulties.
-
Journeys of Freedoms: Responding to the Effects of Domestic Violence— Kath Muller
$9.90This paper outlines a community training project which sought to walk alongside women on their journeys to reclaim their lives from the effects of domestic violence. The community training project enabled connections between women, provided a context for externalising and re-authoring conversations, and allowed women to bear witness to each others’ stories of resistance and survival in the face of violence and abuse. A journey metaphor was used throughout the ten weekly gatherings of women. Following the project, having named shared concerns, the women went on to explore shared social action.
Listening to Tileah I was provoked to contemplate my own use of language when working with clients. I enjoy the narrative model of practice and I am aware that for some there is definitely stigma attached to the process of counselling or therapy. I have only had one experience of working with an Indigenous person as a client and I will be sure to look at my use of language. I like the idea of it just being a yarn, it takes the pressure and onus off of the client to do something.
Hello:
This is Andrea from Toronto.
I found particularly helpful the discussion in the FAQ around the use of metaphors of conflict and combat. I expect to be working in healthcare settings with critically ill patients and their loved ones (mostly children and parents), and I anticipate hearing them use these kinds of combative metaphors during our conversations. I also anticipate meeting many people who are mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted from “fighting” these problems. I appreciated the comments in the FAQ about combative metaphors, and the suggestions around exploring other kinds of metaphors which may be less conflict-laden and draining on their emotional resources. Thanks again for making this material available!
I have started to use collaboration with clients when I am asked to write a report. I ask clients what they see as the areas of change and challenge of which they want others to be aware. I also at times share my report with the client first to be sure it accurately reflects their experience. In this way they are both acknowledging their ongoing journey and being acknowledged for the work they have done.
Mike here, in London. I too was interested in “We were unwittingly adjusting people to poverty or other forms of injustice by addressing their symptoms, without affecting broader social and structural change.” It’s a really difficult question. I was involved for about 10 years in working with people suffering from homelessness. Sue Mann’s story really rang true for me. One thing I was involved in was a choir for marginalised people, literally helping them find their voices. That, I felt, was useful, and collaborative. But I have always been suspicious of things like distributing left-over sandwiches to people sleeping rough on the street, as if that made it OK for them to be there as long as we give them some stale sandwiches. Or giving them tents or sleeping bags. What message does it send? Even though it may be well-meaning.
Hi, I’m Mike. I work as a couples counsellor in London, England. My main training was 50% psychodynamic and 50% systemic. Narrative work was touched on briefly, for one module, and I am looking forward to learning more. Couples certainly do bring stories, often rather thin stories. “My partner is selfish.” Or “My partner had an affair”. Full stop. That’s all there is to know. Even in happy couples, people seem to get shaped into rather thin roles: this partner is the one who’s good with people, that partner is the one who’s good with money, this one cooks, that one drives. If the relationship ends, they may discover, actually *I* also can drive, cook, manage my money, make friends, I am a complete person.
I think it will be an important part of my practice to investigate with clients which elements of our systems (social, cultural, political, economic) that are contributing to or mitigating their problems and suffering. I was particularly struck by the following sentence from the Just Therapy article: “We were unwittingly adjusting people to poverty or other forms of injustice by addressing their symptoms, without affecting broader social and structural change.” I think it is incumbent upon those of us in helping professions to work with the people we are helping to begin addressing the systemic issues that are contributing to (or creating) their problems. Otherwise, we may fall into this trap of “adjusting people to injustice.”
Hello! My name is Andrea and I am a Masters student in a spiritual care program located in Toronto.
After reviewing this chapter, I’m reflecting upon the question that was raised: “how do we respond to grief when that grief has been caused by injustice?” and thinking about it in the context of working with seriously ill children and their families in a hospital/hospice setting. Patients and families in that setting also face grief that has been caused by injustice (in the form of incurable illness), and I see how the narrative metaphor can be used to help those families begin to reclaim their own lives in the face of tremendous loss caused by uncontrollable circumstances. I can see how the Articles of the Narrative Therapy Charter of Story-Telling Rights would be tremendously helpful when working with patients and families as a framework for telling and receiving their stories about their lives and their problems.
For me, the material in this chapter also raises the question of how we can help to facilitate healing in a world where systems are seemingly becoming more unjust and creating deep suffering. My initial thought is that we continue to listen to each other’s stories with deep compassion, and the teachings of this course will help to provide us with new ideas and skills on how to do this.
Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk was incredible. The one line where she said “a single story creates a stereotype. And the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete”. This blew my mind. I am ashamed to have ever participated in the single story belief of anyone let alone whole cultures, communities and countries , continents and so on. I know that moving forward I will endeavour to hear more stories and to encourage others to tell their story. I am about to run a photovoice narrative project to do just this, give a whole community the opportunity to change their stereotype.
“Narrative therapy doesn’t believe in a ‘whole self’ which needs to be integrated but rather that our identities are made up of many stories, and that these stories are constantly changing.”
I like this, I find it very compatible with my beliefs as a Buddhist. In Buddhism, as I understand it, mistaken beliefs about a solid, fixed “self” are the source of our suffering.
I work with couples using EFT for couples, and in that approach, there is a big emphasis on externalising the problem as “the cycle that you get trapped in”, and encouraging couples to come up with their own name for it.
Thank you for this. I am a counsellor, and trying to make as much as possible of my notes “in quotes”, that is, writing down things that the clients said. And not my own opinions.
hello
I the ED of a Friendship Center in Terrace, BC where were mostly target the indigenous population in our city of 12,000. I found your video interesting and something that we may want to try. Havee you been able to to do any follow ups studies to gage the long term effect of your program?
Regards
Cal Albright
ED
Kermode Friendship Center
http://www.keremodefriendship.ca
Terrace, BC
Canada
Hi Cal, thanks for the interest. At this point the only followup has been through conversations with with people who return to volunteer on additional walks or engage with our other programs.
However, a group of fourth year medical students at a local university have offered to run a pre and post measured study / report in 2020 as part of their studies which should be interesting.
Let me know if you would like more information.
CD
Thank you for this overview of Narrative Therapy. I am returning to practice after some time away, and these reminders are timely and appreciated.
Hi Chris
I really enjoyed watching your video about Narrative Walks. My project is based in Blaenau Gwent, in South Wales, Uk. I’m wondering whether I might use such an approach in my work with our Youth Service, who support young people between the ages of 11 and 25. Have you any thoughts on this? Are there any resources available, either free or to purchase?
Best wishes
Paul
Hi Paul, m
Much of my early attempts of the program were with the 15-20 year old age bracket and I found it worked really well. When I recently had an opportunity to run the program again with this age bracket – I extended the finish time so that could spend more time at the stop points and have a fire at the last resting place to talk about our intentions after the walk. This meant that we used head torches for the 2km which added a bit of a sense of theatre to the day. It was pretty cool.
If you email me on hello@embarkpsych.com I can send you the manual. Or ask any other questions via this page so others might share in the answers.
CD