Journal Potuguese Release - February 2024 - Flipbook - Page 5
4
moment. Later, in 2006, Michael was in Salvador (Bahia) and Porto Alegre (Rio
Grande do Sul), a great contribution for us Brazilians, thanks to Maria Angela
Teixeira in Salvador and Consuelo Brun in Porto Alegre.
Upon returning from Porto Alegre, I started an Open and Continuous Study Group
on narrative therapy in 2006, in São Paulo, through INTERFACI, the institute I
coordinate.
Another relevant event for the development of Narrative Therapy in Brazil was
the presence of David Epston, in 2007, for two workshops, one organized in
Salvador (Bahia) by Maria Ângela Teixeira and the other in Campinas, a city close
to São Paulo (SP), under the responsibility of the Institute of Family and
Community Therapy, ITFCCAMP. A remarkable singularity of these two workshops
was the way David guided us “inside the interview” in a creative and inspiring
narrative practice. David's creativity in his dialogical listening awakened our
curiosity about possibilities of questions that could invite “magic”, the “elf
questions” as he called them in one of the workshops we were able to attend.
David shared a video of a session with 14-year-old Sebastian, whose family and
school had resigned. I had already watched this video in Oslo, year 2000, and had
been enchanted by it. A history of outbursts of anger, scenes of violence,
countless episodes of behavior incompatible with a life in society, had led this boy
to boarding in a mental health institution. Leaving aside the problem stories,
David asked the boy one of his “elf questions”: “What do you think your therapist
answered when I asked him, 'What do you respect most about Sebastian?' What
do you think he told me?” After much thought, the boy managed to say something
unprecedented, especially for someone with the stories that were built about
him. Sebastian replied that his therapist saw him as a good boy. The conversation
that followed brought dignity and freedom back to this institutionalized boy. This
therapeutic work is a masterpiece for me, every time I see it, it invites me to a
renewing sense of hope.
One of the great supporters of narrative practices in Brazil is Maria Ângela
Teixeira. She’s always been a passionate practitioner who organized countless
courses and workshops, inviting several narrative therapists, from the pioneers to
the most recent, so that we could develop our skills. From Michael White and
David Epston’s visit to Salvador (Bahia) to the presence of Shona Russel, Mark
Hayward, John Winslade, David Newman, David Denborough, among others, in
many of the events she promoted. Maria Ângela was the main organizer of the
Editors’ Note
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, February 2024 Release
www.journalnft.com