“The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem”. – Michael White
This formative statement is a core principle for narrative-oriented therapists. Something becomes “a problem” when it gets in the way of a person’s life, visions, and hopes. How we approach the problem shapes how we look at it, what we will find, and how we might act in response.
A client may come to you in the grip of a problem-saturated story about themselves or some aspect of their life. Narrative therapy approaches invoke curiosity about the meaning of the problem to them, how this informs their thoughts and actions, and ways in which these are, or are not, helpful.
As an alternative to defining the person according to the problem or locating the problem within the person, a narrative-oriented therapist is guided by ‘positioning’ theory which suggests we come to know and experience ourselves through relationships located within specific histories, cultures, and political systems.
Informed by this orientation, therapist and client work collaboratively to co-research, deconstruct and reauthor the problem-saturated story. This can help the client to reclaim their life from the effects of a problem, and to discover or find their way back to preferred identity conclusions.
This in turn can open hopeful possibilities which honour valued relationships and treasured aspects of their history and culture.
This workshop includes illustrative examples, practical exercises, case study reflections, journal articles, handouts, and ample presenter-attendee dialogue.
Objectives
Learning objectives of this training:
“This workshop introduces effective therapeutic practices for walking alongside clients as they explore what strengthens, nourishes and enlivens … a respectful way of being in relationship that can be transformative for both of us." Merle Conyer
How will you benefit from attending this training?
“The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem”. – Michael White
This formative statement is a core principle for narrative-oriented therapists. Something becomes “a problem” when it gets in the way of a person’s life, visions, and hopes. How we approach the problem shapes how we look at it, what we will find, and how we might act in response.
A client may come to you in the grip of a problem-saturated story about themselves or some aspect of their life. Narrative therapy approaches invoke curiosity about the meaning of the problem to them, how this informs their thoughts and actions, and ways in which these are, or are not, helpful.
As an alternative to defining the person according to the problem or locating the problem within the person, a narrative-oriented therapist is guided by ‘positioning’ theory which suggests we come to know and experience ourselves through relationships located within specific histories, cultures, and political systems.
Informed by this orientation, therapist and client work collaboratively to co-research, deconstruct and reauthor the problem-saturated story. This can help the client to reclaim their life from the effects of a problem, and to discover or find their way back to preferred identity conclusions.
This in turn can open hopeful possibilities which honour valued relationships and treasured aspects of their history and culture.
This workshop includes illustrative examples, practical exercises, case study reflections, journal articles, handouts, and ample presenter-attendee dialogue.
Objectives
Learning objectives of this training:
“This workshop introduces effective therapeutic practices for walking alongside clients as they explore what strengthens, nourishes and enlivens … a respectful way of being in relationship that can be transformative for both of us." Merle Conyer
How will you benefit from attending this training?
“The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem”. – Michael White
This formative statement is a core principle for narrative-oriented therapists. Something becomes “a problem” when it gets in the way of a person’s life, visions, and hopes. How we approach the problem shapes how we look at it, what we will find, and how we might act in response.
A client may come to you in the grip of a problem-saturated story about themselves or some aspect of their life. Narrative therapy approaches invoke curiosity about the meaning of the problem to them, how this informs their thoughts and actions, and ways in which these are, or are not, helpful.
As an alternative to defining the person according to the problem or locating the problem within the person, a narrative-oriented therapist is guided by ‘positioning’ theory which suggests we come to know and experience ourselves through relationships located within specific histories, cultures, and political systems.
Informed by this orientation, therapist and client work collaboratively to co-research, deconstruct and reauthor the problem-saturated story. This can help the client to reclaim their life from the effects of a problem, and to discover or find their way back to preferred identity conclusions.
This in turn can open hopeful possibilities which honour valued relationships and treasured aspects of their history and culture.
This workshop includes illustrative examples, practical exercises, case study reflections, journal articles, handouts, and ample presenter-attendee dialogue.
Objectives
Learning objectives of this training:
“This workshop introduces effective therapeutic practices for walking alongside clients as they explore what strengthens, nourishes and enlivens … a respectful way of being in relationship that can be transformative for both of us." Merle Conyer
How will you benefit from attending this training?
“The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem”. – Michael White
This formative statement is a core principle for narrative-oriented therapists. Something becomes “a problem” when it gets in the way of a person’s life, visions, and hopes. How we approach the problem shapes how we look at it, what we will find, and how we might act in response.
A client may come to you in the grip of a problem-saturated story about themselves or some aspect of their life. Narrative therapy approaches invoke curiosity about the meaning of the problem to them, how this informs their thoughts and actions, and ways in which these are, or are not, helpful.
As an alternative to defining the person according to the problem or locating the problem within the person, a narrative-oriented therapist is guided by ‘positioning’ theory which suggests we come to know and experience ourselves through relationships located within specific histories, cultures, and political systems.
Informed by this orientation, therapist and client work collaboratively to co-research, deconstruct and reauthor the problem-saturated story. This can help the client to reclaim their life from the effects of a problem, and to discover or find their way back to preferred identity conclusions.
This in turn can open hopeful possibilities which honour valued relationships and treasured aspects of their history and culture.
This workshop includes illustrative examples, practical exercises, case study reflections, journal articles, handouts, and ample presenter-attendee dialogue.
Objectives
Learning objectives of this training:
“This workshop introduces effective therapeutic practices for walking alongside clients as they explore what strengthens, nourishes and enlivens … a respectful way of being in relationship that can be transformative for both of us." Merle Conyer
How will you benefit from attending this training?
When a short folk tale is told in the sacred space of therapy, the story hero can become a blueprint for identity insight and development. Clients are often confronting serious, and what feels like insurmountable problems. Like the central character of many stories, our clients can experience strong feelings of fear, anger, loss and despair. The survival, success and resolution for the hero keeps alive the client’s hopes and revitalizes their own quest.
Story listening provides a safe emotional work-out: focus and imagination are activated, breathing slows down, and the nervous system is calmed as the story concludes. Story metaphors enable ideas to bypass the ‘logical watchdog’ of the conscious brain. Although a story enters the mind like the Trojan Horse, the listener’s imagination is far from passive.
Some examples of research and therapeutic change from this method will also be presented. These include the benefits of story therapy to manage pain and distress, instill a calm response and foster inspiration.
Story Medicine has many distinct aspects that will be covered in this interactive presentation: the art of selecting and telling the story, the open-ended implicit messages woven into the story, the listener’s emotional connections to the characters, the ‘turning over’ of the story in their mind, and sometimes the magical ‘ah-ha’ of a new understanding of how to address a problem.
The last stage of the method includes the use of questions shaped by Narrative Therapy and the Hero Journey map initially created by Joseph Campbell to make sense of the archetypal journey from problem to resolution, and renewed identity through suffering and being supported by helpers along the way.
There will be an opportunity to practice telling a very short story with a small group in breakout rooms, and then use the provided questions to unpack the therapeutic changes from the listener’s point of view. A discussion about this practical experience and how client changes might be explored will conclude the presentation.
A selection of three stories will be provided and a link to the Hero Journey Map.
Experiential learning activities include:
Objectives
Learning objectives of this training:
“The story denies universal defeat and so gives us a glimpse of ultimate joy." J.R.R. Tolkien.
How will you benefit from attending this training?
When a short folk tale is told in the sacred space of therapy, the story hero can become a blueprint for identity insight and development. Clients are often confronting serious, and what feels like insurmountable problems. Like the central character of many stories, our clients can experience strong feelings of fear, anger, loss and despair. The survival, success and resolution for the hero keeps alive the client’s hopes and revitalizes their own quest.
Story listening provides a safe emotional work-out: focus and imagination are activated, breathing slows down, and the nervous system is calmed as the story concludes. Story metaphors enable ideas to bypass the ‘logical watchdog’ of the conscious brain. Although a story enters the mind like the Trojan Horse, the listener’s imagination is far from passive.
Some examples of research and therapeutic change from this method will also be presented. These include the benefits of story therapy to manage pain and distress, instill a calm response and foster inspiration.
Story Medicine has many distinct aspects that will be covered in this interactive presentation: the art of selecting and telling the story, the open-ended implicit messages woven into the story, the listener’s emotional connections to the characters, the ‘turning over’ of the story in their mind, and sometimes the magical ‘ah-ha’ of a new understanding of how to address a problem.
The last stage of the method includes the use of questions shaped by Narrative Therapy and the Hero Journey map initially created by Joseph Campbell to make sense of the archetypal journey from problem to resolution, and renewed identity through suffering and being supported by helpers along the way.
There will be an opportunity to practice telling a very short story with a small group in breakout rooms, and then use the provided questions to unpack the therapeutic changes from the listener’s point of view. A discussion about this practical experience and how client changes might be explored will conclude the presentation.
A selection of three stories will be provided and a link to the Hero Journey Map.
Experiential learning activities include:
Objectives
Learning objectives of this training:
“The story denies universal defeat and so gives us a glimpse of ultimate joy." J.R.R. Tolkien.
How will you benefit from attending this training?
When a short folk tale is told in the sacred space of therapy, the story hero can become a blueprint for identity insight and development. Clients are often confronting serious, and what feels like insurmountable problems. Like the central character of many stories, our clients can experience strong feelings of fear, anger, loss and despair. The survival, success and resolution for the hero keeps alive the client’s hopes and revitalizes their own quest.
Story listening provides a safe emotional work-out: focus and imagination are activated, breathing slows down, and the nervous system is calmed as the story concludes. Story metaphors enable ideas to bypass the ‘logical watchdog’ of the conscious brain. Although a story enters the mind like the Trojan Horse, the listener’s imagination is far from passive.
Some examples of research and therapeutic change from this method will also be presented. These include the benefits of story therapy to manage pain and distress, instill a calm response and foster inspiration.
Story Medicine has many distinct aspects that will be covered in this interactive presentation: the art of selecting and telling the story, the open-ended implicit messages woven into the story, the listener’s emotional connections to the characters, the ‘turning over’ of the story in their mind, and sometimes the magical ‘ah-ha’ of a new understanding of how to address a problem.
The last stage of the method includes the use of questions shaped by Narrative Therapy and the Hero Journey map initially created by Joseph Campbell to make sense of the archetypal journey from problem to resolution, and renewed identity through suffering and being supported by helpers along the way.
There will be an opportunity to practice telling a very short story with a small group in breakout rooms, and then use the provided questions to unpack the therapeutic changes from the listener’s point of view. A discussion about this practical experience and how client changes might be explored will conclude the presentation.
A selection of three stories will be provided and a link to the Hero Journey Map.
Experiential learning activities include:
Objectives
Learning objectives of this training:
“The story denies universal defeat and so gives us a glimpse of ultimate joy." J.R.R. Tolkien.
How will you benefit from attending this training?
When a short folk tale is told in the sacred space of therapy, the story hero can become a blueprint for identity insight and development. Clients are often confronting serious, and what feels like insurmountable problems. Like the central character of many stories, our clients can experience strong feelings of fear, anger, loss and despair. The survival, success and resolution for the hero keeps alive the client’s hopes and revitalizes their own quest.
Story listening provides a safe emotional work-out: focus and imagination are activated, breathing slows down, and the nervous system is calmed as the story concludes. Story metaphors enable ideas to bypass the ‘logical watchdog’ of the conscious brain. Although a story enters the mind like the Trojan Horse, the listener’s imagination is far from passive.
Some examples of research and therapeutic change from this method will also be presented. These include the benefits of story therapy to manage pain and distress, instill a calm response and foster inspiration.
Story Medicine has many distinct aspects that will be covered in this interactive presentation: the art of selecting and telling the story, the open-ended implicit messages woven into the story, the listener’s emotional connections to the characters, the ‘turning over’ of the story in their mind, and sometimes the magical ‘ah-ha’ of a new understanding of how to address a problem.
The last stage of the method includes the use of questions shaped by Narrative Therapy and the Hero Journey map initially created by Joseph Campbell to make sense of the archetypal journey from problem to resolution, and renewed identity through suffering and being supported by helpers along the way.
There will be an opportunity to practice telling a very short story with a small group in breakout rooms, and then use the provided questions to unpack the therapeutic changes from the listener’s point of view. A discussion about this practical experience and how client changes might be explored will conclude the presentation.
A selection of three stories will be provided and a link to the Hero Journey Map.
Experiential learning activities include:
Objectives
Learning objectives of this training:
“The story denies universal defeat and so gives us a glimpse of ultimate joy." J.R.R. Tolkien.
How will you benefit from attending this training?
Traumatic life experiences can be devastating and they inevitably shape who you are. Such events can also become a powerful force that awakens you to an undercurrent of your own aliveness. Trauma recovery involves learning to trust in your capacity for new growth. In order to grow, we must make use of our suffering in order to find our happiness.
Within these pages, you will find an invitation to see yourself as the hero or heroine of your own life journey. A hero’s journey involves walking into the darkness on a quest for wholeness. This interactive format calls for journaling and self-reflection, with practices that guide you beyond the pain of your past and help you discover a sense of meaning and purpose in your life. Successful navigation of a hero’s journey provides opportunities to discover that you are more powerful than you had previously realized.
Written by Dr. Arielle Schwartz, bestselling author of The Complex PTSD Workbook, this healing guide provides a step-by-step approach to trauma recovery that integrates:
“Part of getting to know yourself is to unknow yourself – to let go of the limiting stories you’ve told yourself about who you are so that you can live your life, and not the stories you’ve been telling yourself about your life.”
Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
When Maybe You Should Talk to Someone was released into the world, it became an instant New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon, with readers across the globe finding their truth in the powerful stories Lori Gottlieb shared from inside her therapy room. As millions highlighted and underlined page after page, a movement took shape and they asked for more: Can you take these lessons and create for us a guide as transformative as the book itself?
Lori decided to do just that. In this empowering, one-of-a-kind workbook, Lori offers a step-by-step process for becoming the author of your own life by giving it a thorough edit. Using eye-opening concepts, thought-provoking exercises, compelling writing prompts, and real examples from the patients in the original book, Lori has created an easy-to-follow guide through the journey of becoming our own editors, examining aspects of our narratives that hold us back, and discovering the ways in which changing our stories can change our lives.
An experience, a meditation, and a practical toolkit combined into one, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: The Workbook is the companion readers have been asking for: a revolutionary method for understanding which stories to keep and which to revise so that we can create our own personal masterpieces. By the end of this “unknowing,” you will be surprised, inspired, and most of all, liberated.