Photography provided by The Wandering Angel
ACKNOWLEDGING, WELCOMING AND CELEBRATING DIVERSITY
Narrative Therapists have a strong commitment to ensuring our counselling service can respond to the diverse contexts of people’s lives. The approach that we use in counselling is mindful of how societal ideas about family, sexualities, genders, age, class, and cultural background significantly influence people’s experiences of life. The approach is also vitally interested in the unique skills and knowledge developed by each person in the course of living their own life, in their own context, and in their own ways.
Narrative therapy
The approach to counselling used here focuses on the stories of people’s lives and involves finding ways in which people can change their relationships to whatever problem or difficulty they are facing. This approach is known as ‘narrative therapy’. It is an approach that can be used in relation to any difficulties that a person may be struggling with. This approach to counselling often makes use of supportive letters and documents that can be referred to in between counselling sessions. It also often involves linking people with others who will be helpful and supportive along the way.
If you would like to know more about narrative therapy, feel free to ask your counsellor or look at the books listed here. There is also a lot of information on the internet. You can simply search for ‘narrative therapy’. You can also take a free course here: http://dulwichcentre.com.au/courses/what-is-narrative-practice-a-free-course/ that offers a AUD$77 for certification module at the end of it.
“I would owe my piqued interest in social work to Elizabeth as she exhibited the ways in which she used her position as a social worker to give a voice to the marginalised and always respected the decisions of her clients. ”