David Epston

The "grown-up talk" of therapy is likely to turn off children - especially if it focuses on their problematic behavior. The highly effective techniques of narrative therapy include children by respecting their unique language, stories, and views of the world.

This book describes a basic theory of collaborative narrative play, as well as verbal and nonverbal techniques that clear the way for stories of hope, possibility, and change. Compelling case examples, drawn from the authors' work, will appeal to parents and educators as well as therapists. (Available in Spanish, German, and Chinese) click

'Collaborative and Indigenous Mental Health Therapy: Taitohono: Stories of Maori Healing and Psychiatry’ was released several weeks ago by Routledge here in New Zealand. Launches were held in Gisborne, Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington(Lower Hutt and Porirua). There has been considerable interest in the release of this book a several NZ/Australian university programmes have pre-ordered copies for required reading for university courses. The unpublished manuscript had won the ‘best unpublished manuscript on body, mind and spirit’ awarded by the Ashton Wylie Foundation in 2014. It was then re-written to internationalise it first for Left Coast Press who was then taken over by Routledge. Prof Arthur Bochner, who recently released his co-authored(Carolyn Ellis) Evocative Autoethnography: Writing Lives and Telling Stories, is the series editor(Writing Lives: Ethnographic Narratives) and we are indebted to him for ushering this book in to publication.

White and Epston base their therapy on the assumption that people experience problems when the stories of their lives, as they or others have invented them, do not sufficiently represent their lived experience. Therapy then becomes a process of storying or restorying the lives and experiences of these people. In this way narrative comes to play a central role in therapy. Both authors share delightful examples of a storied therapy that privileges a person’s lived experience, inviting a reflexive posture and encouraging a sense of authorship and reauthorship of one’s experiences and relationships in the telling and retelling of one’s story.

The authors' decade-and-a-half collaboration with 'insiders' has yielded fresh answers to these life and death questions: How does a/b seduce and terrorize girls and women? Why is a/b successful in encouraging girls and women to unwittingly embrace their would-be murderer? How can such a murderer be exposed and thwarted? This book details a unique way of thinking and speaking about anorexia/bulimia. By having conversations with insiders in which the problem is viewed as an external influence rather than a part of the person, these therapists show how to bring the tactics of a/b into the open, expose its deceptions, break its spell, and encourage defiance of its tyrannical rule. These innovations enable insiders, professionals, and loved ones to unite against anorexia/bulimia rather than allowing a/b to pit a professional or loved one against an insider, and the insider against herself. Coercion is sidestepped in favor of practices that are collaborative, accountable and spirit-nurturing. The groundbreaking discoveries outlined in this book will provide new options, inspiration and hope, not only for those who suffer at anorexia's hands, but also for their loved ones and healthcare professionals.

Click HERE for a free copy of Down Under and HERE for Up Over. David Epston continues to be a considerable influence on many family therapists/systemic psychotherapists, as well as being one of the two creators of Narrative Therapy, the other being the late Michael White.

Part One, Down Under, contains previously published work from different periods of Epston's writing career. As always, each chapter reflects Epston's creativity, and at times those of his co-writers.

Part Two, Up Over, contains six examples of Epston’s current work, all of which are printed here for the first time, including inventive approaches to chronic bed-wetting, relationships between children and their estranged fathers, court reports, stealing, and sibling conflicts, as well as a long chapter on Anti-Anorexia, a subject close to Epston's heart.

'The papers in this book cover a range of subjects including: personal reminiscence; particular therapeutic practices; practical approaches to various problems; theoretical, political and philosophical considerations; structures and issues pertaining to training and supervision; processes of questioning in the co-authorship of preferred stories.'

'Ever wanted to catch up with David Epston over a cup of tea or coffee and talk through the most significant aspects of his work over the last six or so years? If so, this inspiring and thoughtful collection of practice-based papers is for you! Written in an engaging and entertaining style, the papers in this book trace the influences in David's recent work and explore in detail his therapeutic consultations. Specific sections address internalising/externalising conversations, celebrating specialness, letter writing and his approach with so-called anorexia/bulimia.'

Click HERE for a free copy. The papers included in 'Collected Papers' cover the period of 1981-1987 and as such demonstrate the transition from David's earlier practice to what has come to be known as 'narrative therapy'. It includes the first published paper(1986)- 'Writing Your History' of work in 1985 that is unequivocally narrative therapy.

Please apply to Jill Kelly at dejbftc@xtra.co.nz who will send you a copy by 'yousendit'.

How to apply the definitive postmodern therapeutic technique in a variety of situations, including treating alcoholics, counseling students, treating male sexual abuse survivors, and more. Written with scholarship, energy, practicality, and awareness.

Recognizing the power of children’s imaginations in narrative therapy.Therapists may marvel at children's imaginative triumphs, but how often do they recognize such talents as vital to the therapy hour? Should therapists reserve a space for make-believe only when nothing is at stake, or might it b...