Therapeutic Influences
Michael White | Narrative Therapy
Narrative therapy was developed during the 1970s and 1980s, largely by Australian social worker Michael White and David Epston of New Zealand, and it was influenced by the work of philosopher Michel Foucault.
Narrative therapy is a form of psychotherapy that seeks to help patients identify their values and the skills associated with them. It provides the patient with knowledge of their ability to live these values so they can effectively confront current and future problems.
The therapist seeks to help the patient co-author a new narrative about themselves by investigating the history of those values. Narrative therapy claims to be a social justice approach to therapeutic conversations, seeking to challenge dominant discourses that it claims shape people's lives in destructive ways. Narrative therapy has come to be associated with collaborative as well as person-centered therapy.
Key therapeutic ideas developed by Michael White include 'externalizing the problem', commonly summarised as 'the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem'; 're-authoring' the dominant stories of people's lives; and the idea of 'double-listening' to accounts of trauma: not only the accounts of trauma itself, but how people have responded to trauma.
Narrative Therapy as an ethical foundation
Terri Delaney utilizes Narrative Therapy ideas and approaches as the ethical foundation for her work. Narrative Therapy is a respectful and collaborative set of therapy practices which recognize that people use stories to make meaning of their lives and to construct their identities. She has an Advanced Certificate in Narrative Therapy (a 5 year study program) and she studied for more seven years with John Stillman, LICSW at Caspersen Therapy Center. John was a member of the first diplomate program taught by Michael White at the Dulwich Centre in Adelaide, Australia, and is an international narrative therapy trainer. Terri also had the privilege of personally training with Michael White. Despite Michael’s untimely death at the age of 59, his work continues to be an inspiration!
Terri Delaney’s Training History
Trained from 2007 – 2014
5 year Certificate in Narrative Therapy studying with John Stillman, LICSW
Completed 24 training hours with Michael White
Completed 24 hours with David Epstein
Completed 120+ hours with John Stillman, LICSW