⭐Brand-New Workshop and Brand-New Presenter!⭐

Everyone Has a Story: Using the Hero’s Journey and Narrative Therapy to Reframe the Struggle of Mental Illness

Presented by: Dreya Blume, LCSW

When: Thursday, August 15th, 2024 | 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Pacific Time

Where: Live on Zoom. You will receive your Zoom link/invitation the week of the workshop

Continuing Education Credit Hours: 6 CEs| $165.00

Many of our clients have a difficult time finding meaning and hope as they grapple with their mental health issues. Yes, it is important to validate the pain our clients are experiencing. But what if, at the same time, this “problem” was also an opportunity for growth? For a positive change? To connect more deeply to one’s authentic self?

Whether one likes it or not, the onset of mental health symptoms forces a person to ask themselves: What am I to do now? One path leads to symptom reduction or elimination. The symptoms are bad and must be removed. The other path offers the Jungian question: How are these symptoms messengers from the soul? What do they want me to pay attention to? What do they want me to change in my life?

As clinicians, we can accompany our clients on this second path by introducing them to narrative therapy: Our lives are composed of chapters, each with a beginning, middle, and end. We can learn how to move from being a victim to a protagonist in those chapters, leading us to the Hero’s Journey. This concept- that a person experiences a change that thrusts them out of their everyday life into a great challenge they must grapple with- is timeless and remains at the heart of every great story. But why can’t our clients – “just regular people” – become the heroes of their own lives? The good news is, they can!

This training will provide you with an overview of narrative therapy and the Hero’s Journey so you can assist clients in viewing their distress from a different, more empowering perspective. You will learn to guide clients through exploring their own story and the role that their mental health issues play – and will play – in it as the chapters in their lives unfold. You can help clients discover that something “bad” that happens can also have the potential to lead to positive growth and a new, more resilient sense of self.

The training will be interactive and experiential. Please be sure to have a notebook on hand.

Objectives

• Identify the main components of narrative therapy.
• Become familiar with the structure of the Hero’s Journey.
• Identify different ways of viewing the meanings of mental health symptoms.
•Discuss how narrative therapy and the Hero’s Journey can help clients see their mental health issues from a more empowering perspective.
• Practice activities and exercises related to narrative therapy that can be shared with clients.
• Explore ways clients can reframe their suffering as an opportunity for growth.