1.50 CE Credits Available
Reimagining Multiculturalism: A Contemporary Narrative Approach, Volume 1 Vinodha
by Travis Heath
Do you want to know your clients beyond the constrictive labels of presenting problems, diagnoses and other traditional constructs of psychotherapy? Using a Narrative Therapy lens, Travis Heath will show you a culturally democratic approach to therapy that draws upon existing client strengths, traditions and other resources to foster deep understanding, insight and connection.
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Oftentimes traditional approaches to therapy focus heavily on listening and empathizing, and reinforce society's emphasis on all things self — self-care, self-reliance, self-expression, etc. For clients who have internalized culturally dominant stories about race, gender, and religion, therapy may perpetuate their sense of marginalization. Clinical educator and Narrative Therapy expert, Travis Heath, values empathy and listening, but believes therapists need to go beyond these passive skills and bring themselves fully into the room. Heath suggests an approach that casts off the shroud of therapeutic neutrality and invites conversations about ancestry, traditions, racism and other important themes often not meaningfully broached in therapy.

Heath believes that stories are how we make sense of our world and ourselves, and that by exploring clients' stories and the themes that exist just below the surface, therapists can help clients live a life that's in accordance with their own preferred identities. In this, the first in a groundbreaking three-volume series, we'll see Heath work with Vinodha, a successful single mom of Indian descent whose complicated past has left her feeling unseen and uprooted. By combining contemporary techniques such as exploring origin stories and strengths of moral character inquiries, with more traditional Narrative Therapy techniques, Heath demonstrates the power of stories to quickly get at the heart of who your client is and what brings them to the room. You’ll learn how to co-author powerful counter stories that connect clients to more than just their individual selves, and open pathways for new understanding.

This video is an invaluable resources to any mental healthcare provider looking to connect with their clients on a deeper level and, in turn, help their clients heal by connecting them to resources that exist deep within themselves. 

Learn to: 
  • Use strengths of moral character inquiries to quickly identify preferred identities and the challenges clients face
  • Trace the impact of themes such as colonialism and capitalism, often omitted from Eurocentric therapeutic practices 
  • Engage with curiosity and creativity to identify strengths, cultural heritage and other existing resources
  • Help cultivate counter stories that move clients closer to who they want to be
     

What therapists are saying…

“It is inspiring to watch Travis leading inquiries in to what he refers to as 'the foundations and strength of their moral character'. He eloquently demonstrates how he comes to know people as distinct from the Problems that challenge them. I believe this to be unique to Contemporary Narrative Therapy practice.”
— David Epston, Co-Originator of Narrative Therapy with Michael White
“This is an excellent resource to engage students in active learning of multiculturalism from a contemporary narrative approach. So often, the application component of learning is missing, yet with this resource there is a seamless facilitation of content (knowledge) and direct application (demonstration). Great resource!” 
—Tracey M. Duncan, PhD, Associate Professor of Counselor Education, Messiah University
“If you are tired of therapy as usual and its ever increasing scrutiny and adoration of all things self: self-love, self-compassion, self-worth, self-care, etc., look no further. In this video series, Dr. Travis Heath demonstrates how Contemporary Narrative Therapy can help people escape from the pathologizing ways of thinking and relating to themselves, their lives, and the lives of others. Additionally, Dr. Heath challenges common ideas and approaches to multiculturalism and expertly demonstrates the decolonizing aims of Narrative Therapy.”
—Thomas Carlson, PhD, Professor & Branch Director, Alliant International University-San Diego; Editor, Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy
“These interventions come at a time when “therapy” may need to be rescued from quick fixes, problem-solving, coaching, advising, validating, or helping clients according to inchoate conflations of what happens in therapeutic encounters. By focusing instead on ‘the pillars that make up who they (clients) truly are.’ Travis Heath’s reimagining multiculturalism through Contemporary Narrative Therapy techniques will be useful for educators and clinicians alike. This work brings back Carl Rogers’ unique sense of empathy in a rapidly changing world.”
—Carlos M. Del Rio, PhD, Associate Professor, Bellevue University
In Depth
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Disclosures
In Volume 1: Vinodha you'll be introduced to Vinodha, a successful, professional woman of Indian descent who grew up in several different countries left with a sense of rootlessness.
  • She and Heath explore alternative concepts of roots to co-author a powerful counter-story of feeling rooted.
  • Together they examine how Vinodha’s core values have been defined by her family of origin.
  • Heath asks Vinodha to share stories that call out her experiences with racism and colonialism in the academic institutions she attended.

Length of video: 1:28:29

English subtitles available

Group ISBN-10 #: 1-60124-723-0

Group ISBN-13 #: 978-1-60124-723-0

Travis Heath, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and has been in community practice for nearly two decades. His scholarship has included looking at shifting from a multicultural approach to counseling to one of cultural democracy that invites people to heal in mediums that are culturally near. Other writings have focused on the use of rap music in narrative therapy, working with persons entangled in the criminal injustice system in ways that maintain their dignity, narrative practice stories as pedagogy, and a co-created questioning practice called reunion questions. He is co-author, with David Epston and Tom Carlson, of the first book on Contemporary Narrative Therapy released in June 2022 entitled, “Reimagining Narrative Therapy Through Practice Stories and Autoethnography.” He has presented his work in 10 countries to date. 

Travis Heath was compensated for his/her/their contribution. None of his/her/their books or additional offerings are required for any of the Psychotherapy.net content. Should such materials be references, it is as an additional resource.

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Additionally, there is no commercial support for this activity. None of the planners or any employee at Psychotherapy.net who has worked on this educational activity has relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies.

CE credits: 1.5

Learning Objectives:

  • Apply a Narrative lens when working with clients from non-dominant backgrounds
  • Integrate the use of counter-story development and questioning into your clinical practice
  • Design treatment plans uniquely tailored to the needs of minoritized clients focusing on ancestry and racism

Bibliography available upon request

This course is offered for ASWB ACE credit for social workers. See complete list of CE approvals here

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