A Journey into Narrative Therapy: Finding New Meanings from Old Stories
Course Overview:
Narrative therapy “ is about actually joining with people … based on their lived experience and … (their) alternative knowledges of life.
Michael White (2000) Reflections of Narrative Practice: Essays and Interviews
This dynamic, interactive 4 part course aims to build curiosity, confidence, competency and a community of learning in narrative therapy. Learn principles of narrative therapy and practical approaches using role plays, case examples and journal articles.
Kim will invite you to embrace the ‘Spirit of Adventure’ Michael White and David Epston spoke of in 1992 in their early writings from their ground breaking book, Experience, Contradiction, Narrative & Imagination.
Far more than ‘externalising’ a problem, and acknowledging ‘the person is the person, and the problem is the problem’, this course will cover how to hear about the ‘effects of problems’. We will explore questions like, “What gets in the way of who you want to be?” and “How have you counteracted the influence of the problem?”
We will consider therapeutic conversations about the way the dominant systems and structures in society impose expectations, pressures and implicit rules of how people ‘should’ behave according to social mores of gender, ethnicity and age.
Narrative therapy can often begin with the gathering of ‘counter-stories’ of when a person has been able to stay close to their values that guide their life, and to this end, we will discuss beginning intake with ‘the wonderfulness interview’.
These narrative practices include somatic and focusing ‘felt sense’ embodied emotion conversations.
You are invited on this journey of exploration to see what new possibilities might be helpful in your own practice.
You will have the opportunity to:
- Hold esteem and reverence for the client’s autonomy and insider knowledge of their lives
- Deeply listen to the way a client tells their story and understand how the telling shapes their life
- Support clients to externalise and name both their problems and their proposals for action
- Explore the problem’s effects and scaling these effects to help clients better understand where their agency has been influential to reduce the dominance of the problem
- Unpack intergenerational histories of connection, fears and pain
- Develop sensitivity to the shame of injustices and burdens of cultural expectations
- Foster curiosity around what is important to the client, and how they have stayed connected to their values, interests, life purposes and hopes under the oppression of the problem
- Use creative expressive practices to gather and document the client’s experiences, knowledges and meaning making
- Deconstruct your own assumptions about the role of a therapist and the ethics of who can determine what a person needs
- Challenge the practices and structures that dominate in our culture and exposing the toxic effects of power imbalance
Who Should Attend?
Counsellors, social workers, psychologists and others working in helping roles with children, young people and adults.
Workshop Facilitator
Presenter - Kim Billington, Narrative Therapist |
 | | Masters in Counselling, Masters in Narrative Therapy and Community Work, Bachelors in Education Kim is a registered supervisor and counsellor registered as a clinical supervisor with PACFA and ACA. Kim is passionate about training and supervision and is the author of two books for practitioners: A Counsellor’s Companion, for those working with children, and Counselling Conversations for those working with adult clients. Committed to passing forward her ever-evolving counselling skills and knowledge, Kim aims to support and inspire counselling practitioners to develop their own unique creative skills and explore new ways to connect with their clients to support healing and identity growth. As a dynamic course facilitator, Kim has been running training programs including, Playful Narrative Therapy since 2013 for Sydney Centre for Creative Change. She has been facilitating groups and workshops for over 25 years. |
Training Dates and Times
4 Weeks Commencing May 2025.
14th May 2025, 1pm - 3pm AEST
28th May 2025, 1pm - 3pm AEST
11th June 2025, 1pm - 3pm AEST
25th June 2025, 1pm - 3pm AEST
or
4 Weeks Commencing October 2025.
20th October 2025, 5:30pm - 7:30pm AEDT
3rd November 2025, 5:30pm - 7:30pm AEDT
17th November 2025, 5:30pm - 7:30pm AEDT
1st December 2025, 5:30pm - 7:30pm AEDT
Please note, this is a LIVE and INTERACTIVE training event. We don't record this.
Attending from interstate or internationally?
You can use this time converter to check the exact day and time of this training for your location.
Training Details
Included in the workshop price:
- Live online training
- 8 CPD points/hours
- Access to slides and link to create Certificate of Attendance emailed to you
- GST
Training Cost
SPECIAL Price $530
Work Paying?
Lucky you!
Send us an email requesting an invoice via the contact page with your name, the dates and name of course/courses you'd like to do and the name of your organisation who you want us to invoice and we will send you an organisational invoice and a registration form.
What people are saying about Kim's courses...
√..Warm engaging and knowledgeable presenter- Wonderful inspiration and resource with endless possibilities for application. Thank you
√..wonderful. Kim was well organised, articulate and very personable. She was able to create a "safe environment" that encouraged sharing.
√..very enjoyable. Highly recommended.
√..very interactive and fun! Loved it!
√..excellent! Kim was excellent and respectful and experienced and approachable.
√....very engaging and well prepared.
√...great - so enthusiastic! Loved it! The whole training was so insightful.
√...really enjoyed the gentle engaging approach. It was respectful and professional.
√...interactive and empowering.
