Defining Stories

Kelly has a mesmerising force with which she engages with the world and although her conversation with us might be called a story of survival, it more like a story about thriving, or continuing to thrive. When the upcoming horizon in your life story looks rose-coloured because you’ve made it through a separation, you’ve found a new life-partner and you are starting to feel like you’ve found your s...

Clare is looking back on a life-changing event from over 25years ago. Bravely, all those years ago she activated the plan to migrate to new country. Not to the other side of the world, just down towards the end of the continent of Africa. How hard could it be, right? Inspired to build a better life for her children and to findnew opportunities for her and her partner’s career, Clare drove the migr...

Adolescence can be brutal.  Finding our path out of the hellscape of the teenage years is no easy feat. Adolescence is so difficult because it’s a time of   such profound change without full control over what is happening inside of us and around us nor is there clarity about how this will all turn out. It’s a liminal space – that bridge between who you were and who you’re becoming. What Oscar shar...

Phoebe is a master in the art of possibility. What makes her so masterful is this beguiling ability to just get involved in things with no expectation of an outcome other than she will learn something and quench her curiosity. She somewhat bravely leaps into things knowing she has an artillery of great skills and experiences at her disposal along with an ardent belief that she can work out problem...

Reinvention stories are a common theme in literature. Jane Eyre refuses to let her difficult past define her, ultimately creating a life of dignity and self-respect. In The Great Gatsby we witness Jay Gatsby’s transformation highlighting both the allure and illusion of self-reinvention, questioning whether we can truly escape our past. Dickens gives us the ultimate reinvention story in Great Expec...

The call to adventure is the pivotal moment that propels us out of our ordinary world, forcing us to face challenges and grow. It’s a universal metaphor for the transformative journeys we all face in life. Do we have to be brave and strong to have an adventure? Do we have to be curious and determined? Do we need to be searching for more meaning in our lives? Do we have to believe innately in our a...

Allison is one of those unique people who can talk about seriously difficult and heavy content and can hold it lightly, seeing the humour in its complexity and the beauty in its heartbreak. It’s a wonderful ability to hold opposing forces together at the same time. Just one of her many superpowers. Perhaps this skill comes from being raised in a family that could love anyone into existence which i...

In narrative practice, the stories people tell about their lives shape how they experience themselves and the world. Two prominent types of life narratives— contamination stories  and  redemption stories —play a crucial role in the meaning people ascribe to their experiences. From a narrative practice perspective, contamination and redemption stories are not fixed; they are fluid and subject to re...

The humanitarian, Rosalynn Carter said with profound wisdom ‘there are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers.' Our guest on this episode of Defining Stories has experience of being in all four categories of caregiving. From her story you will learn that Alison is in...

“It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.” [Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind ]. In narrative practice, identity is seen as fluid and continually constructed through the stories people tell about themselves. At times in our lives, we can believe that a particular part...

Samantha is indeed a marvellous woman who has not only created an inspiring deck of cards called Marvellous Women , but has achieved significant transformations throughout her life story. Samantha shares her empowerment story in this episode of Defining Stories . You’ll hear about how she retired an old story and belief system that allowed her to think that others knew better than her. As a young...

Our episode this month is a fascinating conversation with Shona who also has a background in narrative practice. The theme explored in this conversation focuses on our ability to deconstruct our life stories so we can create new meaning.     In narrative practice, deconstructing stories is a technique used to analyse and break down dominant narratives that shape our identity and experiences. The g...

In this episode we meet Kerri who generously shares the story of a time in her life when a problem story became overwhelmingly significant. Problem stories are narratives that dominate our self-perception and worldview. They can cause us to focus predominantly on the issues, difficulties, and negative experiences associated with the problem. These stories can significantly impact our mental health...

In this episode, Michelle and I chat about some of the principles that underpin narrative practice and why it can be useful to think of your life as a story. We explore the difference between a life history and a life story and how the meanings we attach to our memories can change our perception of events and the definitions we make about ourselves. We share how there is power in making problem st...