Foundations and Fundamentals of Narrative Therapy Practice
Stephen Madigan, PhD

Stephen introduces participants to the four therapeutic practices at the heart of narrative therapy interviewing. Discussed through numerous clinical video examples demonstrating: 1) Relational Externalizing, 2) Relative Influence Questions 3) Unique Outcome Moments, 4) Double Listening. Stephen interacts with participant questions through 'slow showing' a variety of his video taped sessions with individuals, families, and couples while carefully pointing out the purpose, politic, intention, direction and ideology supporting these narrative therapy interview practices.

A Philosophical Framework for Thinking About Narrative Therapy Practice
Todd May, PhD

Without an intimate understanding of philosopher Michel Foucault's post-structural ideas it would be difficult for anyone to fully understand Michael White's construction and demonstration of narrative therapy practice. Resident VSNT philosopher professor Todd May guides participants into the political and ideological complexities of Foucault's theoretical framework and offers the learner the all important coherent link between theory and the narrative practice demonstrated during the first two days of training.

Todd's discussion unravels the conceptual complexities of non-individualism, essentialism, expert knowledge, the concept of power, and the intersection of practices, values, norms and normativity. The ongoing project for participants is to continually link together these vital theoretical ideas to our daily narrative therapy practices inside the therapy room.

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Therapeutic Letter Writing + Live Counter-Story Demonstration Interview
David Rock Nylund, PhD

Rock introduces Foundation participants to the historical roots, writing frameworks, unique practices and categories within the craft of therapeutic letter writing. During this training he will show the complexities of his letter writing practices working with trans youth and their families. He follows up the discussion with a superbly textured Live counter-story interview demonstration with a volunteer. Foundation participants are then invited into a Live practice experience and taught how to craft narrative therapy questions and writing therapeutic letters in response to the interview they have just witnessed.

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Foundations and Fundamentals of Narrative Therapy Practice
Stephen Madigan PhD

 Foundation participants are now beginning to have a solid working knowledge and understanding of Michel Foucault, therapeutic letter writing, and four therapeutic practices at the heart of narrative therapy interviewing. Stephen moves Sunday morning's discussion forward towards new understandings and skills related to the next set of important narrative practice understandings: 5) Re-membering conversations, 6) Re-authoring conversations, and 7) The counter-file method for taking in-session therapy notes. 

Narrative therapy informed Anti-anorexia/bulimia practice
Christine Dennstedt PhD

Approximately 30 million Americans live in relationship to disordered eating, and 70 million people world wide. Collectively, anorexia and bulimia have the highest death rates among all mental health issues. Consequently, a majority of therapists prefer not to work with anorexia and bulimia as they often defeat therapists and therapeutic teams. Christine has had a longtime committed therapeutic relationship with people struggling with disordered eating and wrote her doctoral dissertation on narrative therapy, disordered eating and substance misuse. Her plan is to guide participants through a narrative therapy informed, non-individualist, cultural and contextual therapeutic practice discussion through slides, stories, unaltered transcripts, and video tape sessions to demonstrate the complexities and creativity involved with an Anti-anorexia/bulimia narrative therapy practice.

Narrative Therapy with Couples and Children: Death, Grief and Loss,
Helene Grau, MA

The workshop teaches participants numerous practical skills and new relational narrative therapy understandings about working with grief, death, loss, communities of concern, and relational re-membering conversations. Participants are introduced to Helene’s ground breaking narrative therapy work with parents and families/communities who have experienced the death of a child. She guides participants through transcripts and videos with grieving couples that affords her narrative practice to re-connect and enliven the dead child. Helene's work outlines a therapeutic means to contest, challenge and change what parents, the child, and the community experience about loss and death. Numerous therapists in the field of grief, loss and narrative therapy refer to her work as "beautiful” , "dignifying", and “relationally elegant”.

Normativity, Race and Power Relations in the Practice of Therapy.
Harjeet Badwall PhD, and David Rock Nylund PhD 

Harjeet and Rock are Social Work Professors, who studied for years with Michael White, and hold a passionate interest in documenting, teaching and writing about structures of power, structural inequalities, the government of persons, and recruitment schemes supporting dominant normativity. Together they present a broad introduction to critical race, queer and trans theory, the work of Michel Foucault, and how their understanding of these theories translates into their University teaching, community work, narrative therapy practice and supervision. Through slides, session video and interactive discussion they highlight the contemporary issues concerning the politics of representation, the experience of racism among racialized workers, and transgender youth, masculinities, gender binaries and, more. 

Wonderfulness Interviewing with Children and Families

David Marsten, MSW

David teaches through 29 years of day in and day out direct narrative therapy practice experience working with children, youth, and families. Participants get a close up experience of old school and new school narrative practices through his demonstrations and discussions of multiple direct practice videos working with children, youth and families. These instructional skill based teaching videos act to highlight the beauty, skill and complexity of David's narrative therapy work. His workshop also involves an outline of his internationally acclaimed co-authored book Narrative Therapy in Wonderland (2017) and highlights his newest creative practice ideas involving narrative structure, darkening storied landscapes, and the idea of dramatization.

Gender-Violence and Trauma

Rosa Arteaga, MA

Through Rosa's work as the Clinical Director and Supervisor of a large multi-disciplinary team with a nonprofit anti-violence women’s organization, participants receive a close up intimate experience of her narrative therapy informed social justice/feminist inspired therapeutic practice. Participants learn how to interview and support girls and women of all ages and diverse backgrounds who are experiencing complex trauma and gender violence. Rosa guides participants well beyond current ideas about trauma and facilitates her teaching by taking the learner inside the complexities of gender violence through storytelling, session videos and her unaltered transcripts.

1/2 Day Followup

Stephen Madigan PhD, David Rock Nylund PhD

Rock & Stephen engage participants in a free-flowing interactive learning discussion regarding the therapeutic ideas and practices they encountered over the five-day Foundations certificate training. This is a time for participants to share what they learned, the specific ideas and practices that stood out, the post Foundations training experience with their with clients, and to raise any and all questions regarding the beauty, creativity, integrity and politic of narrative therapy practices.