A Narrative Therapy Approach to Men's Violence Towards Women

Member price: $99.00 including GST (member price will display once logged in)

Non-member price: $198.00 including GST

This course applies narrative therapy and feminist approaches to working with women who have been impacted by intimate partner violence and men who have perpetrated such violence.

Helen Wirtz draws on her significant experience in individual counselling and group facilitation and utilises practice exercises to strengthen learning and application of key theory to practice. Helen applies various narrative practices throughout the course, including:

• Deconstructing unhelpful beliefs
• Openings to a preferred story
• Re-membering and re-storying
• Thickening of new stories

The course draws on the following approaches to working with women experiencing intimate partner violence:

• Bringing forward personal agency
• Exposing tactics of control
• Responding to violence and acts of resistance
• Effects of violence
• Reclaiming valued aspects of self

The course draws on the following approaches to working with male perpetrators of violence:

• Finding a place to stand
• Invitations to responsibility
• Avoiding collusion
• Dealing with mutualising violence
• Friends and enemies of responsibility
• Internalised other interviewing

Who should register? This course is best suited to social workers (and other allied health practitioners) specialising in, or interested in specialising in) family violence, mental health practice and couples interventions.

Learning Outcomes

Participants will gain knowledge of the application of Narrative Therapy theory to practice with women subjected to intimate partner violence and men who have perpetrated violence against women.

This course includes opportunities to consolidate learnings through reflective activities guided by the presenter.

AASW Credentials: Mental Health (Focussed Psychological Strategies); Family Violence; Clinical

Presenter details

Helen Wirtz is a social worker and experienced family therapist. In the 1980s, she became attracted to the work of Michael White and spent time learning from him in Adelaide. His approach later became known as Narrative Therapy.

Helen has been teaching this approach through the Narrative Training Centre with her colleague Ron Schweitzer; a GP and Narrative Therapist

She has worked in Family Violence for over 25 years, having developed the Women Reclaiming Their Lives Group with colleagues and the Men’s Responsibility Group Program at Link Health and Community in Victoria.

Helen has run numerous workshops with Jo Howard and with DVRC and presented at Social Work, Family Therapy, and International Narrative Conferences.