Storytelling Is Narrative Therapy
- Yvonne Livingston
- Apr 6, 2024
- 2 min read
Starting a story off for me is telling my story of how I came to be. It is within this framework that I began to understand how my stories can heal. I also call it testimonials to the experiences I have/had living as a Black woman. When Dr. Johari Jabir told me to take my experiences with me as I obtained knowledge, a lightbulb went off in my head, and my storytelling began. I love that he shared how important name, dates, and time period matters to the experiences I have. Historically Black people have handed down stories to record their histories and now I must do the same.
I share my stories to help heal others who might be going through similar situations. What I do is called Storytelling and it came natural to me. It is also an Indigenous practice.
Narrative therapy is similar in it's nature and here is proof https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/narrative-therapy#:~:text=Narrative%20therapy%20is%20a%20method,personal%20experiences%20become%20personal%20stories.
God calls what I do blind faith. If I can do it maybe you can too. Now here is the plot twist. Are you mentally capable of doing what I did? Are you built for the struggle of living as a Black cist gendered woman? Single mother? Living in Poverty? On government assistance? If this is you, I am talking to you. It is important to identify where you are in your own life. I had to do my own homework and so do you. I can tell you when you do that type of heavy lifting, God steps in, and takes over when you are weak. It is the power of knowing when enough is enough. I also call it intuitions.
This is my Restorative Justice Circle to my community and that is my family first. I had to practice on somebody! I started with me and I am working my way down the line of children that I brought here. This is the work. Children are our future and sharing our true stories of how we came to be is essential in there foundation. It is their survival guide.
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