Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T03:27:13.076Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Telling and Re-telling Stories: The Use of Narrative and Drawing in a Group Intervention with Parents and Children in a Remote Aboriginal Community

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2012

Carolin Stock ,
Sarah Mares  and
Gary Robinson
Carolin Stock
Affiliation:
Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin
Sarah Mares*
Affiliation:
Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin
Gary Robinson
Affiliation:
Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. S Mares [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The Let`s Start Parent-Child Program is a manualised parent-child program which aims to improve educational, social and emotional outcomes for Aboriginal parents and their four- to seven-year-old children. It has been implemented in the Northern Territory, Australia on the Tiwi Islands and in Darwin since 2005. This paper outlines the adaptation of the program to include narrative approaches, the sharing of stories and the use of expressive arts as a way to build understanding between program leaders and participating families. An example from a recent program is used to illustrate how the sharing of stories and expressive use of art engages and binds group participants together. It supports parents to tell their own stories, to speak about their lived experience, to reconsider aspects of their own and their children's experiences and to achieve an increased awareness of their personal resources and a sense of self-empowerment. The program is designed and delivered with sensitivity to individual parents, children and families, where cultural and interpersonal differences and different developmental and family situations can be taken into account.

Keywords

indigenous mental healthAboriginal children and familiesnarrativedrawing
Type
Articles
Information
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 157 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia (1995). Reclaiming our stories, reclaiming our lives. Dulwich Centre Newsletter, 1.Google Scholar
Agius, T., & Hamer, J. (2003). Thoughts on narrative therapy- contribute to indigenous mental health. PPEI magazine, 18, August(2).Google Scholar
Carlson, T. D. (1997). Using art in narrative therapy: Enhancing therapeutic possibilities. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 25 (3).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denborough, D., Koolmatrie, C., Munuggirritj, D., Marika, D., Dhurrkay, W., & Yunupingu, M. (2006). Linking stories and initiatives: A narrative approach to working with the skills and knowledge of communities. The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, No. 2.Google Scholar
Epston, D., & White, M. (1992). Experience, Contradiction, Narrative & Imagination: Selected papers of David Epston & Michael White 1989–1991, South Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications.Google Scholar
Freeman, J., Epston, D., & Lobovits, D. (1997). Playful approaches to serious problems: Narrative therapy with children and their families. W.W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Keeling, L., & Bermudez, M. (2006). Externalizing problems through art and writing: experience of process and helpfulness. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 32,4, 405–419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Littlefield, L., Story, K., Woolcock, C., Trinder, M., Burke, S., & Reid, K. (2005). Exploring Together Preschool Program: Program Manual. North Carlton, Victoria: Exploring Together.Google Scholar
Mares, S., & Robinson, G. (2012). Culture, context and therapeutic processes: delivering a parent-child intervention in a remote Aboriginal community. Australasian Psychiatry 20 (2): 102–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, G., Tyler, W., Jones, Y., Silburn, S., & Zubrick, S. (2011). Context, diversity and engagement: early intervention with Australian Aboriginal families in urban and remote contexts. Children & Society, 12. doi: DOI:10.1111/j.1099-0860.2010.00353.x.Google Scholar
Robinson, G. W., Tyler, W. B., Silburn, S. R., & Zubrick, S. R. (2012). Gender, culture and intervention: exploring differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children's responses to an Early Intervention Programme. Children & Society, 12. doi: DOI:10.1111/j.1099-0860.2011.00424.xGoogle Scholar
Robinson, G. (2005). Anthropology, explanation and intervention: risk and resilience in a parent- and child-focused program. Anthropological Forum, 15 (1): 3–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, G., Zubrik, S., Silburn, S., Daprano, A., Tyler, W., McGuinness, K., Jones, Y., Cubillo, C., Bell, M., Wilkins, T., & Stock, C. (2009). Let`s Start: Exploring Together. An early intervention program for Northern Territory children and families. Final evaluation report. School for Social and Policy Research, Institute of Advanced Studies, Charles Darwin University, Darwin.Google Scholar
Webster-Stratton, C., & Hammond, M. (1999). Marital conflict management skills, parenting style and early conduct problems. Processes and pathways. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 40, 917–927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, M. (2007). Maps of narrative practice. NY: W.W. Norton.Google Scholar
Wingard, B., & Lester, J. (2001). Telling our stories in ways that make us stronger. Dulwich Centre Publication.Google Scholar