What's New

Each year during Advent (the liturgical season 4 weeks prior to Christmas), I write a reflection on a theme that has emerged that year within the practice. This year’s title is, “The Secret Life of Songs”

My year end newsletter “Practice Notes”

William will be travelling to Shelburne, Vermont on June 6th and 7th to participate in a two day workshop hosted by Peggy Sax, author of Re-authoring Teaching: Creating a Collabatorium. David Epston, co-founder with Michael White of Narrative Therapy, and co-director of the Family Therapy Centre in Aukland New Zeland is the workshop leader David will focus on how to craft questions that help people more richly describe the most meaningful stories of their lives.

William was Master of Ceremonies for this one Day workshop featuring keynote speaker Tom Golden and hosted by Bereaved Families of Ontario Midwest Region. Mr. Golden is author of Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing. Douglas Bartholomew-Saunders presented, "The 'Goods' on Gay Men and Grief," and Joe Rich led a workshop entitled, "Fathering through the Lens of Loss".

Deerhurst Resort

William spoke at the North Simcoe Muskoka Palliative Care Network’s annual palliative care conference: “The Courage to Celebrate life.” William’s presentation was entitled, “I Will Re-Member You: Narrative Therapy and Grief.”

The Narrative Therapy practice of “re-membering” invites mourners  out of the dominant stream of saying “good-bye” into that place where they can continue to  say “hello”.  Believing that death ends a life and not a relationship, families explore how they desire their love to endure.

Also presenting are John Rice, Elana Waldman, Dr. Amy Clements-Cortes, PhD, MusM, MTA, Dr. Deb Harrold, MD, CCFP & Norma Connolly, RN, CHPCN(c) and Heather Logan Lane, BSc. Pharm. RPh.

For information:  http://www.palliativecarenetworknsm.ca/uFiles/FlyerNSMPCNMuskokaConf2011.pdf

Therapeutic Modalities in Grief and Trauma.  William and Margotte Kaczanowska, presented a workshop on Narrative Therapy at a one day conference hosted by King’s University College Thanatology Program, Friday May 13th. Along with the Narrative Therapy presentation there were workshops in:  Neurofeedback in grief, trauma, and anxiety, Internal Family Systems and grief, and Mindfulness and meditation with bereaved individuals.

Attendance was limited to 50. The Narrative Therapy workshop introduced participants to Narrative Re-membering practices by way of a live interview where William interviewed Margotte about a recent loss in her life. Three audience members participated as “outsider witnesses”. Members of the larger audience then shared their own experience and questions about the process. Several described the experience as “powerful” and “deeply moving”.

Therapeutic Modalities Brochure