Friday 5 July 2019
Robert van Hennik
You don’t need the weatherman to know which way the wind blows (B. Dylan)
In his plenary reading Robert will talk about collaborative inquiry practicing narrative therapy with families and communities. Robert presents stories of narrative family therapy practice. Family and community members inquire how externalized problems, often supported by operations and effects of power and control, influence their identity stories and collaboration as a team. Together they inquire how their worries and pain might be a testimony to what is precious to them and violated. They inquire how they respond or wish to respond as a collaborative community in order to live in harmony to what they give value to and what they intend for in their lives. Therapist, family and community members, co-researching, constitute a collaborative learning community. Participants appreciating local knowledges learn to improve collaboration through feedback, transcript-analysis and reflexive dialogue. Together they inquire how social interactions are maintained because of dominant discourses, pre-existing stories and actions and how social interactions can develop in the process of externalisation, reflexive dialogue and rich story development.
Robert van Hennik works as narrative & systemic therapist, supervisor and teacher in Euthopia, centre for systemic therapy and training in the Netherlands. Robert van Hennik studied at the University of Bedfordshire and is Professional Doctor in Systemic Practices.