Doing Brief Narrative Therapy
Generating hope, possibility and purpose
Practices that can be applied to any workplace
Half-day Workshop

Presenter:Jim Duvall M.Ed., R.S.W.
Date:Friday, March 24, 2017(1 to 4:30 pm)
Fee:$45 – Special Promotional Offer!
Early Bird Rate: n/a
Student rate: $35
Venue:20 Legas Drive, Galveston TX 77551

The art and skills of a useful, time-sensitive therapeutic conversation can be elusive to even the most experienced mental health professionals. What is different about a liberating conversation that introduces hope, possibility and purpose from a conversation that shuts down hope, limits possibilities and looses a sense of purpose. What are the relational aspects of a constructive therapeutic relationship? What kinds of questions produce energy and experience in conversation? How can we work with people in the telling that fits more with their preferred outcomes and a robust sense of personal agency? What are the key aspects of a productive and moving therapeutic conversation? How can we give people the help they need, when they need it? 

This workshop will provide an introduction to the guiding assumptions, principles and practices of time sensitive therapy within a narratively informed backdrop. The idea of providing therapy briefly challenges many commonly held beliefs about what therapy is, what people want from it, and how long it needs to take.

Working briefly, as explored in this session, is more about the creation of a profound connection with people than simply an awareness of time. The approach to therapy that is described here is ethically driven and emphasizes making the most of the time you have.

The therapist and person consulting them come together in a non-hierarchically arranged, collaborative relationship that brings forth their skills and abilities and creates movement in their life. To work briefly is to refocus and shift one’s assumptions and practices of therapy.

Participants will be introduced to:

• Ways of using critically reflective practices to re-examine your assumptions about people and how they change
• The relational posture of the therapist and people who consult them that contributes to a constructive partnership
• Way to reconsider the overall place of therapy in people’s lives (i.e. whether the aim is for help through a difficult transition or a permanent cure)
• How to invite people into a therapeutic conversation in a way that identifies their abilities and preferences.
• Questions that generate experience and invite a change orientation.
• Ways to take these skills into your practice immediately