Children First in collaboration with Dulwich Centre Foundation present
Diploma in Narrative Therapy and Community Work
In narrative therapy, we engage with people by visibilising the dominant problem story and inviting their agency to explore richer preferred counter stories. Narrative therapy is a respectful, non-blaming, non-pathologizing approach to working with people which centers people as the experts in their own lives. It also believes that people have many skills, competencies, and abilities that will assist them to reduce the influence of problems in their lives and move forward towards their preferred future.
Thank you for your interest in the Diploma in Narrative Therapy and Community Work. Please note that the registrations for 2023-24 are now closed.
THE FACULTY
General Information about the faculty, Dulwich Centre and Children First
Dulwich Centre Foundation
Dulwich Centre Foundation in Adelaide, Australia, is one of the key “homes” of narrative practice that was started by Michael White in 1983. The center is involved in narrative approaches to therapy and community work, training, publishing, supporting practitioners in different parts of the world, and co—hosting international conferences.
Children First
Children First (CF) is a Child and Youth Mental Health Institute in Delhi & and Gurugram, India, and through a trans-disciplinary approach, they provide therapy, community work, and training.
Dulwich Centre Training Faculty and the faculty at Children First will work as a collective in this course.
The Online Course
The course will begin in May 2025 followed by 6 more teaching blocks in the year ahead (total 7 teaching blocks). In total, there will be 17 days of direct training. All the teaching blocks will be held online or in person. Supervision feedback will be provided on these written reflections throughout the year.
Overall, it will be a skills-based course in narrative approaches to therapy and community work. In this way, it will be quite specific and rigorous. And will be most helpful for psychologists, therapists, counsellors, teachers, mental health social workers, and psychiatrists. There will be an opportunity to be part of the Narrative Collective after the completion of the one year course.
KEY ASPECTS OF THE COURSE
Overall structure
This program will consist of:
- There will be 6 online supervision sessions of 3 hours each.
- Project work – for Diploma students.
- There will be a requirement to read continuously and submit written reflections on how the participants are using narrative ideas in their practice.
- Video/audio recordings of the session – for Diploma students only.
The participants can opt for either of the two courses:
- One Year Program in Narrative Therapy & Community Work
- Diploma in Narrative Therapy & Community Work- The course work and the duration are the same as described for the one-year course. Additionally, those who successfully complete the Diploma will then be eligible for recognition of prior learning for one subject (i.e., they will be exempted from one subject out of 3 subjects) of the Master of Narrative Therapy and Community Work from the University of Melbourne (more details later)
Diploma participants will get additional training and supervision:
- Participants will submit two recordings of 15 minutes of their practice, with transcription and analysis, and receive supervision.
- Write a 5000-word project about how the participants have used narrative practice in their work over the years. The aim of this project is to support practitioners to be able to strengthen and be more skilled in using the narrative ideas and practices in their own context creatively.
- The Diploma participants will be exempted from one subject (out of 3) if they want to pursue Masters in Narrative Therapy & Community Work from University of Melbourne (cost would be readjusted accordingly). Note : Please note that depending on the faculty’s availability individual supervision can be arranged if the participants are struggling with a particular idea or concept. Do note that there will be a separate payment for this.
TRAINING DATES
| Dates (final dates after July to be decided) | Faculty after July to be decided |
|---|---|
| May 2025 – 8th, 9th & 10th | 10 am to 5 pm |
| July 2024 – 3 days – 3rd, 4th & 5th | 10 am to 5 pm |
| September 2024 – 2 days – 19th, 20th | 10 am to 5 pm |
| December 2024 – 3 days – 4th, 5th & 6th | To be decided |
| March 2026 – 2 days – 6th & 7th | To be decided |
| March 2026 – 30th | 10 am to 5 pm |
| April 2026 – 16th, 17th & 18th | To be decided |
| Supervision | |
|---|---|
| Online practice supervision afternoon / evening with the Faculty | 2025 – May, June, July, November 2026 – January, February |
| 10 written reflections supervised | Supervised by peer tutors |
| Diploma students receive additional supervision for the recordings and project | By Maya Sen |
COURSE FEES
One Year Programme in Narrative Therapy
- Rs 52,500– with first Early Bird Discount – Valid till 28 th March 2025
- Rs 62,500 thereafter
Diploma in Narrative Therapy and Community Work
- Rs 77,500– with first Early Bird Discount – Valid till 28th March 2025
- Rs 87,500 thereafter
As the training group is small the registrations will close as soon as we reach the required number on a first come first serve basis
For more information or for queries, please email us at training@childrenfirstindia.com & shelja.sen@childrenfirstindia.com.
COORDINATORS OF THE COURSE
Cheryl White
Cheryl White is the Director of Dulwich Centre and the founder of Dulwich Centre Publications where she works as publisher, editor, teacher, training co- ordinator, conference host, and initiator of projects. Cheryl is the author/co- editor of various books, including A memory book for the field of narrative practice and Conversations about gender, culture, violence & narrative practice: Stories of hope and complexity from women of many cultures.
David Denborough
David Denborough works as a community worker, teacher and writer/editor for Dulwich Centre. He is particularly interested in cross-cultural partnerships which limit the chances of psychological colonization and create possibilities for cross-cultural inventions, such as the Team of Life Narrative Approach and Tree of Life (with Ncazelo Ncube-Mlilo).
Shelja Sen
Shelja Sen is a narrative therapist, writer and co—founder of Children First Institute of Child & Adolescent Mental Health, New Delhi, India. Her latest book is entitled Reclaim Your Life. Shelja is a TED speaker and a columnist with Indian Express. She has been working as a narrative practitioner and teacher for over 20 years in the UK and India. She is a curator of the unique skills, expertise, and know—how of children and youth she has the honour of working with. Shelja is a Tutor at Masters in Narrative Therapy and Community Work at University of Melbourne and international faculty at Dulwich Centre, Australia. She is the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Narrative Therapy & Community Work.
Jonaki Arora
Jonaki Arora (Masters in Narrative Therapy & Community Work from the Melbourne University) is psychologist, Narrative Therapist and the head of Mental Health Services at Children First India. She has been practicing and teaching narrative therapy for over seven years. Jonaki uses narrative ideas and principles in her work with adolescents and young people by honouring their stories and experiences.
Maya Sen
Maya Sen is a mental health social worker and a narrative therapist based in Kolkata, West Bengal. She works primarily with young people within the context of child protection. The focus of her work has been highlighting contextual factors that sustain problems in people’s lives and storying responses to hardship. Through the use of narrative practices, she hopes to bring considerations of social justice into her mental health work. Along with this she has been associated with Kolkata Sanved – an N.G.O that uses Dance Movement Therapy to bring about social change-for the last three years and is currently Assistant Program Manager. She has also been involved in Kolkata Sanved’s various academic programs as faculty and has taught modules on mental health and counseling. She has completed the Masters in Narrative Therapy and Community work program run by the Dulwich Centre in collaboration with the University of Melbourne and is tutoring on the same program.
Faculty details
Shelja Sen
Shelja Sen is a narrative therapist, writer, co-founder of Children First. Shelja is a TED speaker and a columnist Indian Express, and author of three critically acclaimed books – All You Need is Love, Imagine and Reclaim Your Life. She is Clinical Tutor at the University of Melbourne and international faculty at Dulwich Centre Foundation, Adelaide, Australia. She is a curator of the unique skills, expertise and know-how of children and youth she has the honour of working with.
David Newman
David Newman lives and works in Sydney. He works part time in a psychiatric unit for young people and has an independent counselling practice through Charing Cross Narrative Therapy Centre. David has recently taught in Turkey, Hong Kong and Palestine. He is currently passionate about working with those who are struggling with suicidal experience, narrative approaches to mental health work and the possibilities of group work. He is the author of the influential paper ‘Rescuing the said from the saying of it: Living documentation in narrative therapy’.
Carolyn Markey
Carolyn Markey has practiced as a Narrative Therapist with children and families since the early 90s. Trained and supervised by Michael White, she is a senior faculty teaching member at the Dulwich Centre. Over the years she has developed collaborative ways to share and teach therapeutic skills with fun rigour and creativity. Carolyn has worked in schools non govt organizations particularly with children and families affected by and perpetrating violence and other unjust traumatic events. Currently she works as a team leader of 2 therapeutic teams at Relationships Australia, supporting and super-‐vising counsellors working with children affected by homelessness.
Chris Dolman
Chris Dolman values and enjoys working with individuals, couples, children, and families who are responding to a broad range of problems and concerns in their lives and relationships. Chris works both in private practice and for a non-government organisation. In addition to having considerable experience in working with people facing issues of violence and abuse, he has worked with people around family separation, parenting, grief, addictions, mental health concerns, and relationship matters.
Jonaki Arora
Jonaki is a psychologist and the head of Mental Health Services at Children First India. She has been practising and teaching narrative therapy for over six years. Jonaki uses narrative ideas and principles in her work with adolescents and young people by honouring their stories and experiences.
Loretta Pederson
Loretta Pederson works with families in Sydney at a non-government organization. She also works in private practice and is a supervisor for tutors for the master’s students in Narrative therapy and community work at the University of Melbourne. She is a part of the teaching faculty of The Dulwich Centre, teaching in Australia and overseas. This work has taken her to Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Turkey and Qatar.
Sabine Vermeire
Sabine Vermeire is a Systemic Therapist and a Narrative Practitioner. She is a member of staff at the Interactie-Academie, a training center for systemic psychotherapy and counseling in Antwerp (Belgium), she works as a trainer, psychotherapist, and supervisor in systemic, narrative and collaborative therapy. She is experienced in working with children, youngsters, and families in challenging contexts like attachment problems, violence, abuse, psychiatric problems, and trauma. She is also the author of Unravelling Trauma and Weaving Resilience with Systemic and Narrative Therapy: Playful Collaborations with Children, Families and Networks.
Peer Tutor Details
Maya Sen
Mental Health Social Worker, Narrative Therapist, Intl Faculty at the Dulwich Centre
Jonaki Arora
Psychologist, Narrative Therapist, Head of Mental Health Services
Ankita Khanna
Psychologist, Narrative and Arts-Based Therapist
Sandra Jose
Counselling Psychologist, Narrative and Arts-Based Therapist,Coordinator of Mental Health Services
Rinsakchon Ramshan
Psychologist and Narrative Practitioner
Priya Ahluwalia
Psychologist
Sanjana Mishra
Psychologist and Narrative Practitioner
Soumya Jagatdeb
Psychologist and Narrative Practitioner
Thwisha Bajpai
Psychologist and Narrative Practitioner