12.10.09
the healing power of conversation
Want to heal? Tell your story.
“Narrative Medicine boosts our bodies and souls.”
That is the sub-title of this article in the September-October edition of UTNE Reader. “Narrative medicine,” it turns out, is closely related to the more broad category of narrative therapy, a discipline pioneered by Michael White and David Epstein in the 1980′s. Growing out of the constructivist school, the basic idea is that humans are storying creatures. We always locate ourselves in a larger fabric of meaning and relationships. When we fail to locate ourselves this way, we may feel alone and tend toward depression.
On the other hand, sometimes our stories close in on us and become destructive. Someone who has had many things go wrong may begin to identify themselves with the darkness in their story. The path of healing for them may re-storying their lives – beginning to notice the exceptions, the moments of light and hope – the alternate outcomes. The Gospel connections are clear – Jesus invites all of us to identify with God’s story, a story that contains both light and darkness but where the telos — the last word — is the good kingdom of God’s love and justice.
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Unrelated, have you heard about the 29to42 campaign? It’s an effort in Canada to change tax regulations for charitable donations in order to care for and transform our cities. You can sign the petition and get information HERE.
NextReformation » Borderland Churches III said,
December 14, 2009 at 12:52 pm
[...] One of the inevitable challenges, and this is true also within the framework of narrative therapy, is that our dominant image of who we are as a community may have little to do with God’s intention. Gary contrasts our need to theologize with the need for grounded reflection. God’s redemptive work in the world is not about creating theology, after all, but creating a living people, a new community, living in the shalom of the coming kingdom. “We get sidetracked into focusing on the activity of the church rather than its purpose,” and as a result we focus on models that will bring us success without asking deeper questions. Gary pushes us back to the questions, “who, what, how and why” of God’s purpose. [...]
Resonate » Blog Archive » Borderland Churches III - A growing missional friendship of Canadians exploring the Gospel in Canadian culture. said,
December 19, 2009 at 5:38 am
[...] One of the inevitable challenges, and this is true also within the framework of narrative therapy, is that our dominant image of who we are as a community may have little to do with God’s intention. Gary contrasts our need to theologize with the need for grounded reflection. God’s redemptive work in the world is not about creating theology, after all, but creating a living people, a new community, living in the shalom of the coming kingdom. “We get sidetracked into focusing on the activity of the church rather than its purpose,†and as a result we focus on models that will bring us success without asking deeper questions. Gary pushes us back to the questions, “who, what, how and why†of God’s purpose. [...]