This three-volume video series offers viewers a rare opportunity to sit in session alongside Travis Heath, PhD as he guides his clients through the creative and collaborative process of re-storying. By crafting questions grounded in solidarity, curiosity, and with an acute sensitivity to their racial and cultural histories, Heath prepares viewers at all levels to appreciate the many nuances of working with clients with non-dominant identities.

Heath’s clinical demonstrations focus on three unique individuals whose histories, challenges, and stories of courage and resilience are as varied as the complex and intriguing circumstances of their lives.

In Volume 1, we meet Vinodha, a successful professional woman of Indian descent who grew up in several different countries, the result of which is a deep sense of rootlessness and marginalization. While others perceive her as strong, warm, and self-reliant, she struggles to identify and express deep and vulnerable feelings and needs, especially for connection. This conflict has made it difficult for her to feel truly “seen,” to express her preferred identity, and to live fully in a gratifying self-story. Through her work with Heath, Vinodha comes to appreciate how her strong sense of morality and spirituality have filled the gap left by her marginalized upbringing, forming the foundation of her preferred identity.

In Volume 2, we sit in on a session with Beverly, a retired African American woman who comes to Heath with no particular identified or presenting problem. Beverly has historically prided herself on intelligence, resourcefulness, and professional and interpersonal success. Yet the increasingly intimate conversation with Heath reveals the story of a person who has stood up to racism by being true to herself, even at the expense of feeling apart from others. While she has experienced what a traditional therapist might consider depression, Heath, instead, is more interested in the counter- stories that she has used to create a narrative of well-being and fulfillment.

In Volume 3, we learn about Ian, who is of Indian and Trinidadian descent, and who spent his formative years in Britain under the palpable weight of racism. Like Beverly, he presents with no ostensible problem. On an early-life trajectory to becoming a professional athlete, he sustained a severe injury and subsequent illness which robbed him of his dream. While using rugby as a way of feeling connected to others and gaining a foothold in a struggle against systemic racism, he became depressed and entertained self-destructive thoughts. Heath focuses on the strength of Ian’s character, and the courage he inherited from his ancestors, and uses incisive and creative questions to help Ian re-story his journey towards authenticity as one of perseverance, resilience, and service.

Learn the benefits of:

Conducting “wonderfulness interviews,” exercises at trying to discover who people are at their core. Rather than asking a new client the traditional question “what brings you here?” these interviews identify clients’ strengths of moral character (the root of who they really are) and the values they hold.

• Learn who the client is, their preferred identity, and what resources they have put up against the challenges in their life
• Mitigate pre-conceived notions or pre-existing psychiatric labels that may color how they get to know the clients
• Clients learn that living in accordance with their core values promote good mental health

Privileging the client’s own language. Stories are the foundation of how we understand ourselves and our world, and language is at the heart of stories. By using the client's own words to dig deeper into the stories, their experiences are validated and clients are recognized as the experts in the own lives.

• Questions, observations, and subtle plays on words can help mold powerful counter-stories
• Seeing their own word in clinical notes rather than psychiatric language empowers clients 

Watch how Heath uses these approaches to learn about his clients and help them co-author new and representative stories. He opens his initial sessions using questions that ask clients to identify their core values. With Vinodha, Beverly and Ian, he quickly gets to the heart of who they are and what brings them into the room.

Throughout the sessions key elements such as Heath’s creative use of language, unconventional use of session notes, and open authenticity are called out and elaborated upon through rich discussions and voiceover commentaries. You’ll discover a spirit of practice that you can use to help ensure your own core values are showing up in your work with clients.