Papers by David Denborough
The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 2014
In this interview, Bagele Chilisa, introduces key themes relating to Indigenous research methodol... more In this interview, Bagele Chilisa, introduces key themes relating to Indigenous research methodologies and the ways in which Indigenous scholars are transforming understandings of research and knowledge creation. Professor Chilisa also offers messages of suppor t to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars.
PhD, 2011
Building on the thinking and practice foundations of narrative therapy (White & Epston, 1... more Building on the thinking and practice foundations of narrative therapy (White & Epston, 1989, 1990; White, 1989a; Epston 1989a), collective narrative practice (Denborough, 2008) is concerned with responding to groups and communities who have experienced significant social suffering in contexts in which ‘therapy’ may not be culturally resonant. This thesis forges five new forms of collective narrative practice: * narrative practice as folk cultural practice * narrative practice as conflict dissolution / social-historical healing * narrative practice as cross-cultural invention * narrative practice as performance * narrative practice as social action / diverse economic ‘development’ It does so by providing diverse and original studies from Australia, Canada, Bosnia, Rwanda and Uganda and theorising these in relation to the fields of narrative therapy, collaborative ethnography, performance ethnography and development studies. This thesis also provides an intellectual and relational history of collective narrative practice and places both narrative therapy and collective narrative practice within a broader social-historical context. Collective narrative practice is an emerging field. By providing this field an historical foundation, new studies of diverse practice across four continents, and five new theoretical conceptions of practice, this thesis provides a range of new options to assist practitioners in eliciting and richly describing local skills and knowledges in communities that are responding to hardship.
Dulwich Centre Journal, 1999
The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 2005
The following support package has been developed to try to provide assistance to men who have bee... more The following support package has been developed to try to provide assistance to men who have been raped or sexually assaulted in prison. It has been developed by the Preventing Prisoner Rape Project. This project, based at Dulwich Centre in Adelaide, Australia, is hoping to: raise awareness about the issue of rape in prisons; reach out and support prison rape survivors; support those workers both inside and outside prisons who are trying to deal with the issue of sexual violence in detention; and bring about appropriate law reform and changes to prison administration in order to prevent prisoner rape. This package relates to men's experience. In the near future we hope to be able to develop a similar package for female survivors of prisoner rape. While currently in written form, we hope to make CDs and tapes of this information and distribute these within prisons. We would value your feedback as this is a continuing project.
Dulwich Centre Journal, 2001
Journal of Systemic Therapies, 2018
The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 2014
An interview with John McLeodJohn McLeod is Emeritus Professor of Counselling at the University o... more An interview with John McLeodJohn McLeod is Emeritus Professor of Counselling at the University of Abertay Dundee. He is committed to promoting the relevance of research as a means of informing therapy practice and improving the quality of services that are available to clients. His enthusiastic search for finding ways to make research interesting and accessible for practitioners has resulted in a teaching award from the students at his own university and an award for exceptional contribution to research from the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. His writing has influenced a generation of trainees in the field of counselling and psychotherapy, and his books are widely adopted on training programs across the world. John McLeod can be contacted c/o [email protected] interviewer was David Denborough.In this interview, John McLeod invites and encouarges narrative therapists to engage more rigorously with counselling and psychotherapy research; acknowledge a ...
The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 2012
This paper describes how the Team of Life narrative methodology can make it possible for young me... more This paper describes how the Team of Life narrative methodology can make it possible for young men to speak about what is important to them, what they have protected, held onto, despite the hardships they have seen. This way of working also makes it possible for young men to speak about identity in a collective manner, to celebrate 'goals' that their 'teams' have already scored, and to make plans and preparations for the future. This way of working utilises sporting metaphors which are powerfully resonant within masculine culture and yet, significantly, provides possibilities for supporting and acknowledging alternative masculinities.
« L'approche narrative collective », dont la traduction en francais etait attendue depuis lon... more « L'approche narrative collective », dont la traduction en francais etait attendue depuis longtemps, est un ouvrage d’une richesse incroyable. Oriente vers l’intervention concrete aupres des communautes, il ouvre d’immenses possibilites pour tous les praticiens de la relation d’aide, qu’ils soient travailleurs sociaux, therapeutes, coachs en entreprise… ou musiciens. En proposant des outils simples et concrets qui favorisent l’accompagnement des communautes dans la decouverte des savoirs, des principes de vie et des recits qui leur permettent de guerir des problemes socialement construits, David Denborough propose ici un veritable changement de paradigme pour la therapie sociale. Ces outils sont illustres par l’experience de l’auteur. « L'approche narrative collective » est appelee a devenir, dans les pays francophones, un ouvrage de reference pour tous ceux qui s’interessent a l’approche narrative, comme c’est deja le cas en Australie et dans la communaute internationale.
The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 2011
Are there ways of engaging with histories, collective narrative documentation and definitional ce... more Are there ways of engaging with histories, collective narrative documentation and definitional ceremonies that can contribute to social-historical healing? This paper describes the use of collective narrative practices to generate opportunities for resonance between the storylines of people from different sides of an historic conflict. By telling the story of a workshop that took place in Srebrenica, Bosnia, this piece introduces new concepts to the field of narrative practice and includes two collective narrative documents.
The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 2004
A three-day gathering on Robben Island, South Africa, organised by the Institute for the Healing ... more A three-day gathering on Robben Island, South Africa, organised by the Institute for the Healing of Memories and the Desmond Tutu Peace Centre, brought participants together from many different parts of the world to share stories and ideas about the healing of memories and ways to address histories of trauma. This paper describes some of the principles and practices of healing which shaped this meeting. It describes the structure of story-telling and reflection that occurred, and includes a number of stories, reflections and the lyrics of songs to convey the experience.
Mit 22 Abbildungen und 2 Tabellen Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Di... more Mit 22 Abbildungen und 2 Tabellen Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.
Journal of Systemic Therapies, 2018
This article is to be included as a chapter in a forthcoming book, Men's Ways of Being (Westview ... more This article is to be included as a chapter in a forthcoming book, Men's Ways of Being (Westview Press).
In recent years, the field of ‘trauma work’ has grown exponentially and the increased interest in... more In recent years, the field of ‘trauma work’ has grown exponentially and the increased interest in these matters offers many possibilities. This wide-ranging, thoughtful and practice-based book provides clear explanations about how to use narrative ideas to respond to adults, couples and/or children who have endured traumatic experience. Key themes include: * ways of ensuring that children (and adults) are not re-traumatised during counselling; * ‘double listening’ – to listen not only to the story of trauma but also to the story of how the person has responded to the experiences they have endured; * new approaches to ‘trauma de-briefing’; * ways to unearth and acknowledge the values, skills and knowledge of those who have experienced multiple traumas; * creative methods for responding to workers’ experience; and * ideas for taking care not to replicate forms of psychological colonization when understandings about trauma work are ‘exported’ across cultures.
The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 2012
Collective narrative practice is an emerging field. Building on the thinking and practice foundat... more Collective narrative practice is an emerging field. Building on the thinking and practice foundations of narrative therapy, collective narrative practice seeks to respond to groups and communities who have experienced significant social suffering in contexts in which 'therapy' may not be culturally resonant. This paper tells a story of this emerging field. It describes the author's journey through the intellectual history of six key aspects of narrative therapy as well as richly describing a range of social projects and partnerships. In doing so, this paper provides an historical foundation to the emerging field of collective narrative practice.
This paper seeks to provide a framework for receiving and documenting the testimonies of those wh... more This paper seeks to provide a framework for receiving and documenting the testimonies of those who have been subjected to trauma, violence and abuse. It is a framework designed to make it possible to receive and document testimonies in ways that are not re-traumatising and that, in fact, contribute to redressing the effects of trauma in a person's life. The testimonies that are created can then be used for broader purposes.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 2012
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Papers by David Denborough
What do you do as a white Australian when you are invited by Aboriginal friends and colleagues to connect with and honour your ancestry?
These questions become even more complicated when you know your family participated in colonial violence and dispossession. The author’s great-great-grandfather was Samuel Griffith, one of the ‘founding fathers’ of Australian Federation. He was a Premier of Queensland, the first Chief Justice of Australia and intimately involved in drafting the Australian Constitution. Other ancestors of the author participated in the Frontier Wars in North Queensland to claim, ‘settle’ and defend their occupation of Aboriginal lands.
This book is a series of letters written to these ancestors.
Unsettling Histories also includes contributions from Aboriginal Australians and Australian South Sea Islanders about the ways their ancestors are entwined with the complex histories of Australia’s colonisation.
Created through cross-cultural friendships and partnerships, Unsettling Histories engages with the past to enable action in the present.
Can they spark and sustain social action?
In response to these questions, this book offers stories from Australia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Turkey, Kurdistan, Myanmar, Spain, and West Papua. Along the way, David Denborough brings new thinking tools to the field of narrative practice by drawing on the writings of feminist economists, narrative media scholars, social movement theorists and others. This book introduces new concepts concepts such as 'unexpected solidarities' and expands on existing concepts such as 'enabling people to speak through us not just to us'. It also traces histories - of collective narrative practice in general and the Tree of Life narrative approach in particular - to assist practitioners in diverse contexts to continue to invent, diversify and democratise the field of narrative practice.
* ways of ensuring that children (and adults) are not re-traumatised during counselling;
* ‘double listening’ – to listen not only to the story of trauma but also to the story of how the person has responded to the experiences they have endured;
* new approaches to ‘trauma de-briefing’;
* ways to unearth and acknowledge the values, skills and knowledge of those who have experienced multiple traumas;
* creative methods for responding to workers’ experience; and
* ideas for taking care not to replicate forms of psychological colonization when understandings about trauma work are ‘exported’ across cultures.