How can we help provide lasting healing for clients who have had narratives of oppression imposed upon them, and who have come to believe that they are “less than?” In this webinar replay, renowned Narrative Therapist, Travis Heath, joins Psychotherapy.net Editor, Lawrence Rubin, to demonstrate how to move clients beyond these painful and destructive narratives by elevating them to the level of experts in their own lives, uncovering their strengths of moral character, and helping them build counter-stories that are grounded in hope, power, and agency.
You’ll be challenged to question the traditionally limiting notions of multiculturalism and consider the counter-belief that therapy can and should be an act of rebellion, both for clinician and client. Heath will teach you to invite a spirit of adventure into your own work by moving away from a narrow focus on the client’s internal state, to how they have been impacted by larger systems, especially those of oppression and discrimination.
By creating a foundation for understanding his reimagined approach to Narrative Therapy, Heath then brings these principles to life through demonstrations with clients impacted by problems associated with racism and living in oppressive systems. Each of the clients Heath works with in this webinar have experienced racism, but they have also found unique ways of standing up to it.
- A successful professional woman of South Asian descent, Vinodha, grew up with a deep sense of rootlessness and ‘otherness.’ By exploring her valued character traits and asking her to share stories of strength, Heath invites Vinodha to re-story her narrative so she may fully embrace her strength and resilience.
- A retired African American teacher, Beverly, grew up bullied and marginalized during the height of segregation. By inviting Beverly to share her core values and using her own language of standing up to racism, Heath provides her with the opportunity to build a counter-story that highlights the power of her credo, “to thine own self be true.”
- A former competitive athlete of Indian and Trinidadian descent, Ian, struggled against racism on and off the rugby pitch. By focusing on Ian’s strengths of character and creative questioning, Heath helps him to begin re-storying his journey towards authenticity as one of perseverance, resilience, and service.
Join Heath and Rubin as they field questions from a truly global audience of colleagues in this dynamic learning experience, and come away with exciting new ideas and effective tools you can immediately apply to your own work to help clients stand up to the dominant social stories about who they should be, and live richer lives that align with their core values.
