Working Narratively with David Epston

At the Mothers' Union, Tufton Street, London SW1

£149 for two days, £85.00 for indvidual days

Day One

This workshop will trace the history of a very novel approach to such serious problems. It is founded on a concern for a kind of enquiry that is respectful to all concerned but in particular young people so that everyone responds 'standing' on their own and their family's dignity.

Therapists/ Counsellors are invited to turn the by now well-established order of any meeting on its head. Here any meeting commences with a detailed enquiry into a young persons' "wonderfulnesses', many of which implicate their parents eg. "Do you mind either your Mum or Dad telling me what they would like me to know what is so wonderful about you?". These enquiries are set as preliminary to 'the trouble that is troubling you' on the grounds that 'we all need to know what you all can put against the trouble that is troubling you'. Examples will survey a wide range of such 'troubles'.

David will argue a case for and demonstrate that by example how such an enquiry can bring quite unexpectedly rapid and thrilling results.

The attendees as well as the interviewee will be enabled to 'look into' David's thinking thought for thought and even word for word. From moment to moment, David will 'situate' his practice, and attendees will be invited to query him in order to satisfy their curiosities. Responses to these questions usually lead to wide ranging discussions.

How will I learn to understand and do better?
At some stage, attendees will 'join' David in trying out similar practices privately and then 'compare notes' with particular aspects of the ongoing interview. In addition, if interviewees agree, they will also make themselves available to enquiries about their experience of any particular question or line of enquiry, adding another rich layer to any discussions.

The clear intention of this workshop format is to be generative of the learning of new formats of questions and lines of enquiry that excite the imagination, provoke curiosity, and go beyond that which has already been considered. Two themes will be addresses: firstly, what is a good question? and secondly, what lines of enquiry lead to the novel and previously unconsidered?

What will excite me?
This workshop format is an attempt to bring all present in to the 'thinking' behind the practice, at the same time as making the practice both visible and clear as a form of doing. The 'master' class- in which a senior practitioner or craftsperson works very closely with others to pass on the fruits of his/her craft- is the prototype for this format. It is hoped that everyone will get as close as they wish to the intimate practicalities of narrative therapy practice as exemplified by David. This workshop format can be as useful and stimulating for an a narrative therapy trainer/consultant as well as for a student recently engaged with the theory and ideas of narrative or indeed post-modern therapies.

Participants should have some familiarity with narrative therapy to fully participate in this somewhat unconventional day-long intensive training

David Epston is Co-Director of the Family Therapy Centre in Auckland, New Zealand and adjunct Professor at the School of Community Studies, UNITEC Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. In 1985, David Epston and Michael White were the innovators of a narrative psychology that employed a text metaphor for therapeutic discourse. Epston's work has been received enthusiastically in the US, as well as Canada, Europe, Asia and the South Pacific.

At the Mothers' Union, Tufton Street, London SW1

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