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Narrative Therapy Centre |
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Of Toronto |
Friday January 29th 2010Family Service Toronto Building 355 Church Street (north of Gerrard Street) TORONTO, Ontario
With Ruth Pluznick and Natasha Kis-Sines |
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Ruth Pluznick M.S.W., R.S.W. is Director of Clinical Services at Oolagen Community Services, a children’s mental health centre in Toronto, where she continues to promote narrative ideas and practices in the residential, school and individual and family counseling programs. Ruth is recognized as one of the first trainers in narrative therapy in Toronto and has provided training to hospitals, school boards and community agencies. Natasha Kis-Sines is a member of the narrative social work team at Oolagen Community Services, a publicly-funded children's mental health centre in Toronto, Canada. She works with young people and families from diverse communities and is deeply committed to principles of social justice. |
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Growing up with Parents with Mental Health Difficulties
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Nearly one in five Canadians experience mental health difficulties, yet stigma invites stories of ‘failure’ and negative identity conclusions for persons experiencing these difficulties. In 2007, the Dulwich Centre in Adelaide, Australia invited narrative practitioners around the world to participate in a project intended to gather stories about families where a parent had mental health difficulties. Specifically, the Dulwich Centre was seeking stories to counter the dominant problem-saturated accounts of lives in these families; in their words, they were looking for stories which ‘re-graded’, not ‘de-graded’ parents.
Ruth and Natasha , in partnership with the Dulwich Centre in Adelaide Australia, are developing narrative ideas and practices for working with families in Toronto where a parent has mental health difficulties. In this workshop Ruth and Natasha will demonstrate key narrative ideas and practices that have been influential in the project. For example, the workshop will:
· explore the narrative metaphor and how stories shape us · illustrate the narrative practice of externalization as a means of countering the problem-dominated story · introduce re-authoring conversations to develop alternative, more hopeful storylines in families where parent has mental health difficulties · develop rich storylines of love and care through re-membering practices and “intentional states” enquiry · provide opportunties to explore the significance of collective practices, particularly the role of young people and parents as ‘experience consultants’
Videotaped conversations and transcripts of interviews with young people and their parents/caregivers will be used to illustrate ideas and practices. Workshop participants will also be given opportunities to practice skill development through guided experiential exercises.
This workshop is appropriate for all levels of narrative competency as well as any person who works with individuals, families or communities from marginalized populations. |
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Natasha and Ruth |
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