Working with Metaphors Archives - ...metaphorically speaking

“Coming From a Place of Not Knowing” with Alanna Audus

November 21, 2018

by metaphor with No Comment Burnout Challenges and struggles Colonisation Culturally Fit Social Workers Culturally sensitive therapeutic tools Decolonising social work practice Ethics and values Healing from Trauma Metaphors Narrative therapy Narrative work with Aboriginal communities NT Emergency Intervention Podcast Remote social work Self Care Social Work with Indigenous communities Social Work with passion Starting out in Indigenous social work Working with Metaphors

There is something to be said about social workers who are graciously willing to tell their story, just 12 months after diving into their remote social work experience. Still in the midst of a giant learning curve, Alanna Audus joins me on Talk the Walk to share the ups, downs and delicious highlights of her beginnings in Alice Springs. Alanna is a newcomer to narrative therapy and is delighted with the way her somewhat ‘kooky’ conversations with people are beginning to shape their lives for the better. She works as a generalist and victims of crime counsellor for CatholicCare NT with some of the most marginalised Aboriginal people in Australia.

This conversation is as delightful as it is authentic. So be warned, Alanna’s heartfelt generosity may inspire you to pack up your city life and go bush.

On episode 27, we explore:

What led Alanna to pack up all her belongings and head to Alice Springs
What it’s really like starting out in social work with no prior experience working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Alanna’s unique story which has influenced her passion and drive for social justice
A ‘fly on the wall’ account of Alanna’s approach to counselling, starting out in narrative therapy
Why relationships are at the heart of Alanna’s practice and feeling okay about not knowing
The rich conversations that transpire working with metaphors
Methods of narrative documentation such as letter writing which record people’s processes of acknowledgement and achievement, and what difference this makes to clients
Struggles and challenges Alanna has faced in her first year in a remote community and the notion of ‘doing therapy on yourself everyday’
The influence of nature and the raw environment on Alanna’s self care, allowing her to do high intensity social work
Reflections on resilience in ourselves and our clients
The people, institutions and the influence of radical politics that have shaped Alanna’s social work practice framework and life
Reflections on the NT Emergency Intervention more than a decade on, a continuation of ongoing oppression and disempowerment which began with colonisation
Words of wisdom for other social workers considering the move from big city to remote outback and avoiding burnout
A sparkling moment from Alanna’s last week

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Things to follow up after the episode

Contact Alanna on alanna.audus(at)gmail(dot)com

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The Influence of Narrative Therapy in my Work with Aboriginal Communities

August 16, 2018

by metaphor with No Comment Collective Narrative Timelines Community Development Community Work Counselling Cross Cultural practice Culturally sensitive therapeutic tools Metaphors Narrative therapy Narrative work with Aboriginal communities Practice tools Reflective social work practice Social Work with Indigenous communities The Tree of LIfe Working with Children Working with Families Working with Metaphors

I was first introduced to Narrative Therapy in 2006 after graduating with my social work degree in Brisbane. But it wasn’t until a few years later in Darwin that the penny dropped on how this approach might actually sit comfortably alongside the worldviews and cultural perspectives of Aboriginal people whom I was working with. A one week intensive at the Dulwich Centre in Adelaide introducing me to Collective and Community practices from a narrative approach was the start of a journey of sharing these ideas with my Aboriginal colleagues and ‘having a go’ to see what works.

The following reflections show how my practice approach has been influenced by narrative therapy ideas.

Double Listening

The problems that affect the lives of Aboriginal people can often be presented in a way that is disabling or weighing them down heavily; for example, domestic violence that has gone on for many years or issues associated with poverty that affect people’s stress levels. This negative story can come to dominate people’s lives so that it is the only one they come to believe about themselves and other people tell about them.
However, people have many story lines running through their lives. Perhaps they have simply lost touch with the things that are important to them and they give meaning to? In a process of ‘double listening’, we are continually looking for doors into the alternative story, as the problem-dominant story is one that Aboriginal people can fall back into again and again.

Externalising

An externalised problem in play doh.

The person labelled as ‘angry’ or ‘naughty’ by others can sometimes internalise this view about themselves. The process of externalising helps us to “separate the problem from the person”. A lot of my counselling work has involved externalising the feelings of children who have been labelled by their communities or families as angry, naughty, bad, lost, lonely, no-hoper, mad and stupid. Through exploring the “strong story” using things like drawing, painting, clay, puppets and story writing children come to see that ‘the problem’ they are experiencing does not reside inside themselves, but is external to them, possibly as a result of someone else’s problem behaviour in the family. Children have such amazing imaginations when it comes to naming the problem and can articulate the ‘monster’, ‘devil’ or ‘alien’ as no longer having hold over their lives.

Eunice and Elaine share their ‘strong story’ of going to school.

Resistance

Aboriginal people who have experienced trauma are often overwhelmed by feelings of shame, thinking somehow they are to blame for their problems or perhaps they invited it. However, no‐one is a passive recipient to trauma. Even in the most difficult of circumstances when it was not possible to avoid the trauma, people still take positive steps to stand up against it, resist it or protect themselves from its effects (Yuen 2009). However small these steps might be, they indicate people are responding because it challenges their values and who they are. What is it they hold precious in their life that they would respond in this way? What is it they strongly believe in, that has been threatened? By exploring and thickening the strengths, skills, values and abilities that help them through difficult times, Aboriginal people reclaim strong stories of hope and resilience and move towards healing. The narrative approach gives Aboriginal people a safer place to stand to explore their experience without having to re-tell any traumatic details.

Collective Narrative Documentation

The Tiwi developed their own Ripples of Life story.

Narrative practice is interested in linking the individual experience to the collective; our individual problems are instead viewed as social issues. When listening to Aboriginal people’s experience of trauma, we are not only listening for individual accounts of how people responded to hard times and developing a rich narrative together, but looking for opportunities to link their life to some sort of collective experience. In this way, people speak through us, not just to us (Denborough 2008). Some of the children I worked with wanted to share their stories of living with violence or bullying with children from other communities. I became the deliverer of special messages between children who willingly offered up their stories if it meant it would help someone else. They often reflected “I am not alone in this” or “My experience is helping someone else”.
When people have an opportunity to anonymously share their stories with a broader audience, like another community, they gain a sense of contribution to the lives of another who may also be experiencing hard times. In my work with Tiwi at Family Healing Bush Camps, community members were invited to share what skills, knowledge and abilities they used to get through difficult issues such as family and domestic violence, substance misuse in the family and having their children taken by welfare. A written collective document was given back to the participants to share with other communities. Such documents can be powerful methods of generating a social movement towards change, healing whole communities of people who share stories with each other.

Tree of Life

Tree Of Life

Collective methodologies such as the Tree of Life and Team of Life have shown to be extremely effective at allowing children and young people who have experienced trauma or significant loss to speak about their skills and knowledge in the comfort and security of peers. These metaphors offer Aboriginal people safe ways of exploring the difficult events of life like “the storm which hit our family” or “having to defend oneself from attack”. Family members and Elders who act as outsider witnesses to children’s experience are valuable players in validating these stories. The artwork generated from this group-work can also be shared as a collective document of children’s resilience, knowledge, hopes and dreams with other groups around the world.

Collective Narrative Timelines

Collective Narrative Timelines are also a well documented narrative practice for using with groups. I used this methodology during groupwork with Aboriginal women to help them reflect on their own childhood experiences and how these memories have impacted on their own parenting. Collective narrative timelines are great for the beginning of groups to help participants develop a connection very quickly around a shared theme, while also acknowledging the diversity of experience in the room. You can read about my process of using Collective Narrative Timelines in a previous blog.

For more resources and ideas on narrative practice with Indigenous communities, explore our Direct Practice and Professional Development Libraries.

References:

Denborough 2008, Collective Narrative Therapy: Responding to individuals, groups and communities who have experienced trauma.

Yuen, A. 2009, Less pain, more gain: Explorations of responses versus effects when working with the consequences of trauma.

How Did Metaphors Become a Part of My Therapeutic Framework?

August 9, 2018

by metaphor with No Comment Art therapy Challenges and struggles Counselling Culturally sensitive therapeutic tools Expressive therapies Healing from Trauma Metaphors Narrative therapy Practice tools Social Work with Indigenous communities The Life of Tree Working with Children Working with Metaphors

One of my very first learnings all those years ago in counselling work with Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory was their tendency to talk in round-a-bout ways. At first I found this frustrating. You could not ask a direct question and get a direct answer. It will usually be silence or a head nod (which does not necessarily mean yes, but a polite acknowledgement)! So I had to find ways that clients would be comfortable to share their experience safely in ways which suited their communication style and integrated their traumatic experience. After trying the methodologies I’d learnt from narrative therapy and getting such a good response, it dawned on me that working with metaphors was common sense. Aboriginal people have been communicating in metaphorical ways since time began, through their dreaming stories and ancestors. This way of working just fits! Whether it has been in individual counselling or groupwork with women and children or in training and mentoring with Aboriginal workers, concepts or ideas are much easier to communicate through metaphorical stories, verbal or visual.

My first exposure to working with metaphors was at the Dulwich Centre. “The Tree of Life” methodology was inspired by the work of Ncazelo Ncube of REPSSI (Zimbabwe/South Africa) to respond to children affected by HIV/AIDS. I’ve used this and its sister method “The Team of Life” with children in the Tiwi Islands with great success, training local Aboriginal women to facilitate the activity. The tree metaphor gives children a safe place to stand to explore challenges and problems in their lives without re-traumatising them. I also noticed how the adults supporting the children, started talking about their own lives using trees.

“Trees can teach us a lot about how to live. Our traditional way of life is about caring for each other and growing strong families. Now there are storms destroying our families and hurting our children. We can see it’s not a healthy life for our people”. – Elaine Tiparui, Bathurst Island.

Picture: Ian Morris. This image has been used to talk about the role of the whole family/community to grow up strong kids (Grandparents are the old growth trees in the background, Uncles/Aunties and parents in middle, teenagers as younger trees and babies/toddlers the little seedlings in front).

I went on to work collaboratively with the women of Tiwi Islands and NE Arnhemland to develop a new tool using the tree metaphor to invite women into a conversation about violence and its affect on children’s development. “It Takes a Forest to raise a tree: Healing Our Children from the Storms in their Lives” is my first resource produced in community, with community, for community.

As my counselling work progressed, I found that narrative therapy still relied on people being able to verbally express a story. Neuroscience tells us that the impact of trauma on the brain means that people are simply unable to talk about what happened to them, even if they wanted to! Many of the children, I’ve worked with were still very much non-verbal and I’ve come to rely more and more on art as a method of communicating and integrating traumatic experience. Working alongside Aboriginal Child and Family Support Workers using their own languages, we discovered ways for children to document their stories of abuse, violence and neglect using methods like drawing, clay, collage and mask making. Not surprisingly these stories were communicated through aliens, imaginary friends, monsters, dreaming animals, body parts and other such creatures apart from themselves. To offer other alternative ways in to children’s stories, I also went on to write ‘The Life of Tree’, a therapeutic picture book, designed to help Aboriginal children speak up about their trauma experience. Metaphors work in the most magical way to bring healing!

…metaphorically speaking will continue to experiment with playful and effective therapeutic tools using metaphors in our direct work with clients and in the resources we produce in the future.
You can read more about how we are integrating use of metaphors with other therapeutic modalities on our page ‘How We Work’.
You can also find further resources on using metaphors in counselling and trauma work in our Professional Development Library.

‘The Magic of Metaphors: Engaging women at risk to prevent trauma in young children’

August 1, 2018

by metaphor with One Comment Community Development Community Work Cross Cultural practice Domestic and family violence Healing from Trauma Healing Our Children Metaphors Narrative work with Aboriginal communities Preventing the cycle of trauma Prevention of Trauma Project Implementation Reflective social work practice Remote social work SNAICC Conference Social work blog Social Work Practice Framework Social Work with Indigenous communities Social Work with passion Trauma-informed practice Two way learning Violence and Abuse Working with Metaphors Working with Women

This was the topic of a presentation I gave at the SNAICC Conference in Canberra in September, 2017. Thanks to some spontaneous video recording and retrieval work from another social worker sitting in the audience that day, I’ve finally been able to edit this together.

This presentation occurred as I came to the end of my contract with Relationships Australia NT, as Co-Ordinator of the Healing Our Children project. It was the culmination of about six years work; most of which was in the development phase working on an idea raised by concerned Elders on the Tiwi Islands, plus a further two and a half years to roll out a pilot program in remote communities on the Tiwi Islands, Katherine and Palmerston.

As a Co-founder of the project, I am proud of this work and what we have been able to create. I am incredibly grateful for the time I spent learning together with the women of the Tiwi Islands and NE Arnhemland about ways we can respond to domestic and family violence to protect children and prevent trauma.

This was a fantastic project because it was developed in community with community using the knowledge, wisdom and stories of Aboriginal people’s lived experience. It did not come from outside or abroad. Programs like this are not cheap to develop and involve a lot of sweat and tears, time and patience. We did it all on a shoestring!

I decided not to continue on in the role as Co-Ordinator because as much as I had invested in this project and believed wholeheartedly in what we set out to achieve, it was underfunded. I was employed for two days per week to support and mentor a team of local people in several communities. Unfortunately, the extension of funding beyond 2018 then reduced, rather than capitalised on the investment and success we had already made during this trial. This was disappointing, as the women and communities had invested so much of their energy and time voluntarily, on an issue they were passionate about addressing. It means that the local people employed in the project (which is one of the biggest aims of the funding) receive only casual wages and service delivery is sporadic at best.

We can do better than this.

My point is that I want to see projects like this properly funded, especially ones that are developed by communities for their own people. So they are sustainable and have every chance of enacting real change and closing the gap!

Everything that I brought to this project through my social work practice framework is represented in some form in this presentation. This includes strong values and a commitment to social justice, self determination and empowerment for Aboriginal people. This video may appeal to social workers interested in anti-oppressive practice, narrative community work or using metaphors in therapeutic work.

This presentation covers:

Background to the ‘Healing Our Children’ project
The culturally safe project model
Shared values that underpinned the project
Metaphors and how we came to use them in our training, therapeutic groupwork, resource development and evaluation
The healing potential and therapeutic benefit of using metaphors in trauma work
How the resource kit “It Takes a Forest to Raise a Tree” was developed
How metaphors assisted us in safe dialogue with women who had children living at home with violence

Please note: Due to our video camera running out of batteries half way through, we have edited together the two parts of this presentation.

My hope is that ‘Healing Our Children’ moves beyond surviving, to thriving!
Support, follow and learn more here.

‘Healing Our Children’ project at Relationships Australia NT

‘Healing Our Children’ Facebook page

Me and some of my fellow Guides at our training intensive in the Yarra Ranges.

“Why I love Trees”: My Journey of Nature Connection

March 21, 2018

by metaphor with No Comment Bush therapy Disease and illness Eco-social work Ecotherapy Forest bathing Hashimoto's disease Healing with nature Health and wellbeing Mental health Metaphors Mindfulness My personal journey Nature and Forest Therapy Shinrin Yoku Social and emotional wellbeing Spiritual practices The Tree of LIfe Working with Metaphors

Today is ‘International Day of Forests’. It is also the last day of my six month practicum of training with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. Very soon I will be a Certified Guide. In the last week I’ve been reflecting on this journey and how this all come about.

I think it all starts back in my childhood when I spent most hours outside on the farm in country Victoria. I have fond memories of the vege garden, looking after animals, bike riding on country roads and driving the tractor for dad. I didn’t spend much time inside, preferring to generally wander the paddocks amusing myself, kicking field mushrooms or throwing cow pats like discuses. I used to spend hours lying on a big branch in an old gum tree, making up stories in my head about the creatures that lived there. Nature was my playground.

I’ve always loved playing in trees.

As you do, I left home at 21 thinking there was something better. I got married young, had a family, bought my first house, travelled overseas and moved to a big city to get a degree and pursue a career. It was about accumulating lots of stuff. But Brisbane got crowded and I yearned to get back to a quieter life, so went back to Darwin 11 years ago with my beautiful family in tow.

I was drawn into bushwalking, taking up invitations to hike with friends in Kakadu. I heard about permaculture and joined a community garden. I also had the privilege of being out on country with Aboriginal Elders on the Tiwi Islands and an outstation in NE Arnhemland, where I felt, smelt, sensed and heard stories about their human-nature spiritual connection.

Hiking the Jatbula Trail near Katherine in 2017.

I can now appreciate how lucky I was to have been so close to nature as a child, as I find myself coming back around to many of the practices that kept me grounded and healthy.

Over the years while practising social work on the Tiwi Islands, I came to learn about narrative therapy and a groupwork methodology called the Tree of Life. After sharing these ideas with some of the Tiwi Elders, I came to realise the power of the tree metaphor in helping Aboriginal people tell their problem stories in ways that were non-shaming and safe, as well as strong stories about healing from the ‘storms’ of their lives, working together like a forest. I discovered that yarning about problems using nature metaphors helps to integrate trauma experiences without retraumatising people. We used these ways of yarning in counselling, groupwork and family healing bush camps. I also write a children’s therapeutic book called ‘The Life of Tree’ to help Aboriginal kids open up about their experience of violence in families.

Trees have become important metaphors in my work too.

In 2013, I caught an early diagnosis of thyroid disease and was told I would eventually have to go on medication. Not accepting this fate, I turned to natural medicine for answers – taking supplements to make up for our mineral-depleted soils, cutting out foods that were contributing to my body’s autoimmune response, quitting my job to de-stress, joining the ‘slow living’ movement, and taking up meditation (although I struggled to make this a daily practice). By 2016 I had no evidence that Hashimotos disease had ever been part of my life. Once again, nature had shown me the way.

In the background, I had a growing sense of unease, helplessness and despair at the state of the planet. I mulled about the future my children would have to deal with and noticed the global trends in increased anxiety, depression and suicide in young people coping with the pressure of modern, domesticated life. I read about ‘nature deficit disorder’ as a result of children’s technology use and the detrimental affect excessive screen time was having on their development. Something has to change and quickly. The earth does not have the luxury of time if we are to repair the damage we’ve done, and at what cost to our own physical and mental health?

Fast forward to April 2017 when I find myself in the wild West of Tasmania. My girlfriend had to pull out of our planned trip at the last minute because of her mum’s terminal illness. I’d never travelled on my own before, and I was constantly thinking about my safety out in the wilderness walking alone. But by the end of my holiday, I had come to enjoy my own company so much, that it took me a while to be around people again. I was also in awe of the beautiful old growth forests that boasted trees that were more than four hundred years old. Nature has always been important to my own growth, health and wellbeing. But this experience took me to a level of nature connection and a sense of freedom, that I’d never experienced before. I wanted more. It was shortly after this that I heard about Nature and Forest Therapy (NFT) and decided to train as a Guide in September 2017.

Learning how to be on my own in nature in Tasmania’s wild West.

I experienced an amazing week-long intensive immersed in the Yarra Ranges engaging in mindful walks in nature every day. NFT is inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku or forest bathing. While learning the skills of helping others slow down using intentional invitations to connect with nature and ignite the senses, I learnt how to slow myself down even more. Believe me, it is intensive. Practising mindfulness every day takes discipline and practice when you are the kind of person that always has multiple projects on the go and a mind that never rests. After a week, I just wanted to run or go for a long hike. No more slow! But seriously. This is the practice that is going to sustain my health and wellbeing long into the future. And there are a lot of scientific studies coming out now to prove it. For me, it’s about finding the balance between living and working in the ‘real world’ and engaging with the ‘natural world’. As Richard Louv says “The more connected to technology we become, the more nature we need to achieve a natural balance.”

Me and my fellow Guides during our training intensive in the Yarra Ranges.

Over the past six months I’ve learnt a lot about myself – about my ‘edges’ and how to dissolve irrational fears; about how to let go of agendas and trust nature will lead the way; what it means to live out your life according to your values and beliefs even when the chips are down; what it feels like to be part of a community of like-minded folk who also care about the planet and each other; the relief of discovering the beauty in humanity; and finding hope again after experiencing the resilience of nature. I have a long way to go but I’m feeling much more connected to the more-than-human world than ever before. On one of my recent Nature and Forest Therapy walks someone said ‘I’ve been practising mindfulness meditation for years, but I’ve never experienced anything like this before.’ I know right? I’ve been there. And now as an NFT Guide, I get to witness the personal profound insights others gain on my three hour slow wanders in nature. I’m also buoyed by the possibility of people being inspired to take action against climate change and in their personal daily habits, because of their renewed sense of connection and care for the planet. NFT has the power to do this too!

Guiding a Nature and Forest Therapy walk in Nambucca State Forest.

As I come to the end of my practicum I feel incredibly grateful for the support of my mentors, friends and family, the resources that allow me to follow my heart and dreams, and the start I had in life back on the farm that sowed the seeds of nature connection.

Happy ‘International Day of Forests’ to you. Do your body, mind and spirit a favour. Get outside, play, explore, skip, make art using nature’s treasures, gaze at water, climb a tree. Don’t think about it too much. Follow your instincts. And when the forest speaks to you….listen.

Giving Aboriginal Children a Voice – Part II

February 26, 2017

by metaphor with 4 Comments Children's voices Culturally sensitive therapeutic tools Healing Our Children My personal journey Narrative therapy Narrative work with Aboriginal communities Practice tools Strengths-based practice The Life of Tree Trauma-informed practice Violence and Abuse Working with Children Working with Metaphors

Bloopers captured in time on our crowdfunding campaign video

This blog goes out on the cusp of the release of my first children’s therapeutic picture book. Nerves aside, it’s been an exciting but hectic week as Christine and I prepare for media interviews. We’ve also been busy creating a crowdfunding campaign to get the community on board with our hopes for the book. We are new to all this stuff, so of course there have been many laughs along the way (hence the blooper snapshot captured here while filming our campaign video). If you really want to know what all the fuss is about, then maybe this Q&A might provide some answers.

What is the book about?

There are two characters in the book, a little boy called Jack and his friend Tree, who lives with his family (or other trees) in the bush. I think the blurb on the back cover is a good summary of what happens in this story.

“Tree is living a peaceful life in the bush until a wild storm comes along and damages his environment. His friend, Jack is worried that Tree won’t recover and be able to play with him again. When Jack also lives through a wild storm in his home, he comes to realise just how strong they both really are. Jack has strong cultural roots, just like Tree that brings hope and healing to his whole family.”

This story is really exploring the ‘storms of life’ that children go through and how this impacts on them. It’s also a story of healing which comes through connection, culture and the support of family and community.

How did this story come to me?

The story was just slowing coming together in the back of my mind, mulling away there for a long time. Then one day, I think I was in a day dream state and the idea just popped into my head. I then went away and wrote it fairly quickly. Often ideas come to me in my dreams day or night.

Book Cover

What are the aims of the book? What are my intentions in writing it?

I think the book reflects what I am trying to do in my counselling work with children. First, it’s about helping them find their voice and give words to the ‘problem story’ of their lives. It’s also about making visible the ‘strong story’ of their lives – what is it that is keeping them going, stay safe and be happy.

I am hoping that the adults in children’s lives will use this book to give voice to the strong story of children’s lives and perhaps even document this. This could include the skills, abilities, beliefs, values and knowledge the child has in coping and keeping themselves safe.

‘The Life of Tree’ is another resource that people can add to their tool box in their conversations with children.

Who is the book for? Who would be interested in reading it?

This book is intended to be read by an adult to Aboriginal children who have been affected by trauma.

This book will appeal to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people care for, live or work with children who’ve experienced trauma such as domestic and family violence. So this can include family members and foster carers as well as professionals such as counsellors, social workers, support workers or case workers.

What inspired me to write the book?

My biggest motivation is to help children tell their stories. One of the greatest challenges I’ve faced in my work with Aboriginal children, apart from the obvious cultural and gender barriers is gaining enough trust, for children to feel that it is OK to talk about the really tough stuff. And that what they are feeling is normal. Kids do feel sad and angry about violence in their families. And it’s shame and fear that really hold them back from speaking up and healing from their experience. So in order to gain trust we need to create a safe space for the conversation.

Another motivation is to provide a culturally safe tool for professionals. ‘The Life of Tree’ uses images and themes that children can connect to because it reflects their own cultural traditions and beliefs. Christine has done an amazing job bringing her artistic talents to this story. I haven’t really found any other resources like this out there.

Of course, my favourite part is the use of metaphors because this has worked in other areas of my practice. I’ve been practicing narrative therapy in my work with children for 8 years, with groups of children in remote communities as well as in individual counselling. I have witnessed how the use of metaphors is effective in connecting with people and creating a safe space for conversation about difficulties in their lives. Asking direct questions isn’t always going to work, but people seem to spontaneously want to share their own story, if they hear a story that is similar to theirs.

What initially got me interested in this topic?

10 years ago I arrived in the Northern Territory virtually green from university. The first 6 months working out bush as a drug and alcohol counsellor, I drank lots of tea and did a lot of listening. I later moved into children’s counselling and I was hearing lots of stories from women Elders about their concerns for their children and grandchildren. I guess, I’ve always been listening for ways I might be able to meet an expressed need – that’s what community development is all about. If there is some way I can walk alongside communities to find solutions to the problems in their communities, then there is a place for me there. Along the journey I’ve found myself more and more in the healing space, finding ways of bring healing to people’s lives.

When is the book being released? How can people buy it?

The book was released on Wednesday 1^st March 2017. You can access further information and a Sneak Peak of pages from the book from my online Shop. There you’ll also find a downloadable Order Form.

What about people who can’t afford to buy the book?

We are officially launching a crowd-funding campaign on Tuesday to raise money to send free books to communities. Christine and I would like to put donated books into all the women’s refuges in remote communities of the NT, WA and Queensland. We are both aware that the support for children coming into remote safe houses is pretty limited. ‘The Life of Tree’ is one way, that Aboriginal workers in those services could engage children and directly support them.

So if there is anyone out there who would like to sponsor a book, they can look up our campaign ‘Giving Aboriginal Kids a Voice’

Christine with ‘The Life Of Tree’

Externalising the ‘Storms of Life’: Creating Movement Towards Healing

October 27, 2016

by metaphor with No Comment Art therapy Culturally sensitive therapeutic tools Expressive therapies Healing from Trauma Metaphors Practice tools Storms of Life Trauma-informed practice Working with Metaphors

Top End storm over Fogg Dam. Image by I. Morris.

What I love about using art in therapeutic groupwork with Aboriginal women is giving them an opportunity to do some gentle inner reflection during the creation process, without causing retraumatisation. The idea from narrative therapy of being positioned on the riverbank to look at a problem, rather than feeling tossed around in the river, influenced the development of an activity we’ve called the ‘the storms of life’. This exercise was developed with an Elder with the intention of allowing women who have experienced violence or other trauma, to observe their problem moving away from them and letting go of whatever may be holding them back.

Any kids of art materials can be used such as paint, pastels, pencils or collage bits and pieces. The women are instructed to close or lower their eyes and imagine they are sitting on a beach, with water lapping at their feet and the sound of waves and a gentle breeze. They are safe and comfortable in this place. They do not have to leave this place of safety. They are encouraged to picture a storm in the distance over the horizon, slowly moving away from them. This storm holds memories of those things that have happened in the past, that still cause uncomfortable or painful feelings for them. After a few minutes when the women have a clear picture in their mind, they are encouraged to draw what they see. It is important the women stick with the metaphor and do not draw the bad things that have happened. You may like to encourage the women to think about colour; if it is dark or light, loud or soft, heavy or light; and the presence, intensity and distance of clouds, lightning, rain or wind.

A drawing is burned on the campfire to rid bad feelings.

I usually give women a good 20 to 30 minutes to draw or create. There is never any pressure for women to share their drawing however some choose to do so. This has been a powerful affirmation with others in the group as witnesses, of women’s intentions to make one small change for themselves or their children.

The fire is a strong symbol of healing, as a gathering place for sorting out problems, sharing stories and offering support to each other. Tiwi Elders have also used fire as a way of ridding bad spirits. When we have run this activity on healing bush camps, the women have been keen to burn their drawings as a way of letting go of bad feelings.

It has been interesting to observe the sense of movement that is created on paper through the externalisation of ‘the storms of life’. This movement has transferred to women as a collective following their traditional instincts of letting go of bad spirits, creating a profound sense of healing.

Lucy has over a decade of experience working with Aboriginal children, youth and their families

Reconnecting with the Hopes and Intentions we have for our Children

June 19, 2016

by metaphor with No Comment Art therapy Culturally sensitive therapeutic tools Expressive therapies Healing from Trauma Healing Our Children Metaphors Parenting Practice tools Working with Metaphors

The Rings of Growth is an art activity included in the first session of the Healing Our Children group-work program with women on the Tiwi Islands. In this session, the women are introduced to the metaphor of a tree as a way of reflecting on and talking about their own lives.

In our training with Tiwi workers we used the Life of a Tree video to show how each ring of the tree represents one year of growth. These rings can reveal years of hardship (such as lack of water), years of rapid growth (usually during our wet season) and other unforeseen events like insect damage, fire or even crowding out by other sun-loving trees. Although these rings may be invisible to us, the scars from these tough times are always there. The Rings of growth is a metaphor that can be used to think about the long term impacts of domestic and family violence on children. We cannot see inside a child, therefore we cannot assume they haven’t been affected. It can also be used to explore the influence that positive early childhood experiences have on children’s long term growth and development. This is the purpose through which we invite Tiwi women to document their own Rings of Growth and share hopes they have for their own children’s future.

This activity invites the women to draw the inside of a tree as if it was cut across the middle and each of the rings of life were exposed. The women are asked to think about what they were doing when they were a child and the memories they have about what other people did that made them feel good inside, safe and loved. These things, however small, are the things that helped them grow up and be strong. For each ring of the tree they have drawn, the women write or draw a memory of something that made them feel loved, safe and comfortable for each year of their childhood. This can include special events, favourite activities, special people in their lives, significant words said to them, important lessons they learned or stories they were told by Elders and family members. The women need at least 30 minutes on this activity to draw, colour, chat and share stories with each other. After there has been sufficient time to document significant memories and knowledge, the women are invited to explore what their drawing might tell them about hopes they have for the future of their children.

Women whose childhood experiences were largely pleasant, memorable and positive, usually have similar hopes and intentions for their children’s lives. For those that are struggling in their parenting, it can be a positive way of getting back in touch with hopes that have been lost along the way. Those women with an unpleasant memory may use the opportunity to explore what positive message or learning they have taken from their experience. They may reflect on how they want things to be different or better for their children than what they had experienced. Remembering and recommitting to these intentions within the support of a group, can move women to action in positive ways with their children.

In my experience, women have enjoyed making connections between their early childhood experiences with their own development into adulthood. Recently, one woman traced back her strong interest in natural remedies to her memory of being thrown in a big copper pot by her grandmother and being treated with bush medicine for chicken pox. Another first learnt to sew in school and is now actively involved in a women’s cooperative doing screen printing on fabric and making a variety of articles as her work for the dole activity. Yet another remembers her dad teaching her the rituals of the Kulama ceremony and is now instrumental in keeping this tradition alive with her grandchildren.

Metaphors have the power to be transforming and insightful. The learnings that women have taken away from this very simple exercise have been delightfully surprising. The potential is unlimited for adaptation for different client groups and contexts of work.

2016 – It will be a Shining Year (if i have anything to do with it)

February 17, 2016

by metaphor with One Comment Counselling Healing Our Children My personal journey Social Work with Indigenous communities Social Work with passion Working with Metaphors

And so it is with trepidation and determination that I sat down in January and planned out my year ahead. But I didn’t want to do it just any old way. It had to be what Sark would call a wild succulent process – one that would make me want to follow through on the goals I set. So I ordered myself a gorgeous diary and journal to create myself a shining year. During the mapping process, I came to appreciate what a unique position I am in. I currently hold down two jobs – the first as a Project Worker has been in the making for many years through my experience working on the Tiwi Islands – the other, a new environment counselling children and families in a mainly mainstream setting. If you have ever held down two intensive part time jobs that demand your energy and your passion in completely different ways, then you’ll know what a challenging task it is to change hats mid week.

Of course all these responsibilities has meant that the work of Metaphorically Speaking as a private practice has been put on hold for now. Well sort of. You see I’ve set myself another goal this year too. To finally self publish a children’s book that’s been in the making for the last few years. This dream grew out of my work as a children’s counsellor on the Tiwi Islands and NE Arnhemland. I have noticed that primary school aged Aboriginal boys had real difficulty talking about domestic violence in their families and community. Often shame was so great that they were silenced or too traumatised to speak about their experience. Gender and cultural barriers also provided extra challenges. Much of my work focused on using non verbal methods of communication such as drawing, clay or drumming to help boys express themselves. I also came to appreciate the power of metaphors to help children talk about their lives in safe ways through groupwork on family healing bush camps using the Tree of Life methodology. The Elders enthusiastically took up narrative practice ideas that drew on storytelling traditions focusing on strengths, hope and resilience. Seeing how well these ideas worked in community has inspired me to use similar metaphors to reach out to children, who are silenced by their experience of violence. My goal in writing this book is for counsellors, therapists and even mums and dads to have a way of giving children a voice to their experience by lifting the veil of shame and self blame. I also believe the book values the strengths of culture in keeping children safe and strong. I feel privileged to be working with Christine Burrawunga in making this book a reality, with Christine turning her amazing artistic talents into the role of illustrator. As is so much a part of my practice, this project will be a two way learning experience and genuine partnership. I look forward to working together with Christine over the next few weeks to begin dreaming and scheming the images to accompany the text. This is a journey neither of us have been on before.

2016 is also an exciting time, as I near closer to starting our very first support group on the Tiwi Islands for pregnant women or women with young children who are living with or at risk of trauma from violence. This project is a long time in the making, and has come about through funding made available through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy to Relationships Australia. Last year, my focus rested on training local women in Wurrumiyanga to be group facilitators and peer mentors to participants using the talking tool called It Takes A Forest to Raise a Tree. This resource is something I have developed alongside Elders in the community beginning in 2010, after they expressed worries about their grandchildren and the difficulty of connecting with their parents, they described as the lost generation. Finally, the tool will be out there hitting the ground where it is most needed.

Meanwhile in 2016 I will also be starting some new work in Child Inclusive Practice in my counselling role at Anglicare Resolve. This requires new learning and new approaches for working with children whose parents are separated, as well as getting my head around the family law system, how it operates and how it impacts on families and children.

So there’s lots of work ahead. It’s daunting. It’s exciting. It’s gonna be a shining year.

For more information about my work on the Tiwi Islands, you can contact me at Relationships Australia NT. To access my culturally safe counselling services for children and families in Darwin, contact Anglicare NT Resolve. To get a copy of my children’s picture book, stay tuned.

‘Recipes of Life’: Sharing Delicious Food and Messages of Hope with Refugees and Asylum Seekers

February 12, 2015

by metaphor with No Comment Cross Cultural practice Culturally sensitive therapeutic tools Healing from Trauma Metaphors Narrative therapy Practice tools Recipes of Life Strengths and Resilience Strengths-based practice Therapy with Food Working with Metaphors

Ma Aye looks at salt to stop crying

Did you know that if you look at salt while cutting onion, you won’t cry? Or if you drink a raw bantam egg mixed with honey you will grow strong? No neither did I. I’ve learnt a lot over these past few months. Not just about food, but also the incredible strengths and resilience that shines through the stories of refugees and asylum seekers. Such is the beauty of ‘Recipes of Life’*. This collective narrative methodology, which I’ve talked about in a previous post, offers a safe way of bringing people together who may have experienced difficulties in their lives to build on their collective strengths, skills and knowledge.

In recent years, Darwin has seen a rapid rise in the number of people being locked up in detention centres having arrived on our shores by boat from Indonesia. It has been difficult to stand by, relatively powerless and witness the desperate pleas of asylum seekers and how they are treated. Fortunately, we have DASSAN, a great bunch of volunteers who provide visitation and advocacy services to those in detention. I happened to meet one such volunteer last year and we decided to trial a small group using the ‘Recipes of Life’program at the Mulch Pit Community Garden. By the time, we found funding, government policy had changed and not many asylum seekers were being released into the Darwin community so our group was mostly made up of settled refugees. Although this made our task of communicating with group participants a little easier as many refugees have basic beginners English, we still had a group representing four different language groups.

Creating food recipes using art materials

Without funding for translators, we plowed ahead and many parts of the program were adapted to accommodate more non-verbal methods of communication through doing, showing, acting, using hands, drawing, painting and using images. This contributed to many laugh-out-loud moments, and inspired the women to help each other share their stories. Using persistence and patience with us as facilitators and each other, somehow the group bonded!

One of the major achievements was the production of a Recipes Book featuring the participant’s favourite Food Recipes cooked and eaten in the on-site outdoor kitchen, as well as Recipes of Life featuring their strengths and skills, and Special Recipe Tips for surviving difficult times. Collectively, they also wrote a Recipe for Starting Life in a New Country. Their hope is that this recipe will benefit other refugees who have just settled in Australia.

Sharing recipes and cooking food

Outcomes included building new relationships amongst participants, connecting refugees to new resources at Nightcliff including the op-shop and community garden, improved English skills and confidence in the community, and increased knowledge about growing and cooking tropical food. A lovely surprise was the spontaneous participation of partners, children and other family members, who would pop up in at different times during the program, either to lead cooking activities, resume natural food harvesting responsibilities or feast at the table.

I have no doubt this method would work just as well with other cultural groups, including Aboriginal women, men and young people. I wonder what special tips they would have to teach us about food and about life…

If you’d like to find out more about the program or send a message back to the women who created the Recipes Book, we would love to hear from you through our Contact Page.

Final Week Celebration with ‘Recipes of Living’ families

…metaphorically speaking

Posts in category: Working with Metaphors

Giving Aboriginal Children a Voice – Part II

Externalising the ‘Storms of Life’: Creating Movement Towards Healing

Reconnecting with the Hopes and Intentions we have for our Children

‘Recipes of Life’: Sharing Delicious Food and Messages of Hope with Refugees and Asylum Seekers

* Recipes of Life is a methodology developed by Natalie Rudland-Wood