Michael White (psychotherapist) explained

Michael White
Birth Date:29 December 1948
Birth Place:Adelaide, South Australia
Death Place:San Diego, California
Occupation:social worker, family therapist, author

Michael White (29 December 1948  - 4 April 2008)[1] was an Australian social worker and family therapist. He is known as the founder of narrative therapy, and for his significant contribution to psychotherapy and family therapy, which have been a source of techniques adopted by other approaches.

Biography

Michael Kingsley White was born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia. His first professional job was as a probation and welfare worker. He earned an undergraduate social work degree from the University of South Australia in 1979 and worked as a psychiatric social worker at the Adelaide Children's Hospital. He founded the Dulwich Centre in 1983 and began a private practice as a family therapist. He continued to be associated with Dulwich Centre until his death.

White was a practicing social worker and co-director of the Dulwich Centre[2] in Adelaide, South Australia, and was author of several books of importance in the field of family therapy and narrative therapy.

In January 2008, White set up the Adelaide Narrative Therapy Centre[3] to provide counselling services and training workshops relevant to work with individuals, couples, families, groups and communities and to provide a context for exploring recent developments relevant to narrative practice."[4]

Michael White was also particularly known for his work with children and Indigenous Aboriginal communities, as well as with schizophrenia, anorexia/bulimia, men's violence, and trauma.

He received the following awards, honours, invitations:

Work

Influences

While early influences included those of systems theory and cybernetics (Gregory Bateson),[6] White's main work drew on a wide range of sources, including literary theory (Jerome Bruner), cultural anthropology (Clifford Geertz, Barbara Myerhoff, Victor Turner), non-structuralist psychology (William James, Lev Vygotsky) and French critical / post-structuralist philosophy (Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault).[7]

Theoretical and practice innovations

Key therapeutic ideas developed by White include 'externalizing the problem',[8] commonly summarised as 'the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem'; 're-authoring' the dominant stories of people's lives; and the idea of 'double-listening' to accounts of trauma: not only the accounts of trauma itself, but how people have responded to trauma.

Key practices of narrative therapy and 'maps' of narrative practice include:

Publications

Michael White's books have also been published in Danish, Spanish, Japanese, Swedish, Italian, German, Chinese, Finnish, French and Portuguese.

Magazine articles and radio features

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Jeremy . Pearce . Michael White, 59, Dies; Used Stories as Therapy . The New York Times . 28 April 2008 . 13 February 2010.
  2. http://www.dulwichcentre.com.au Dulwich Centre
  3. Dulwich Centre Email News, January 2008 Issue # 25
  4. http://www.narrativepractices.com.au/posts_old.html Adelaide Narrative Therapy Centre
  5. http://www.afta.org/about/awards.html AFTA Awards page
  6. White, M. & Epston, D. (1990). Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, pp. 1-2.
  7. White, M. (2007). Maps of Narrative Practice. (New York: W.W. Norton)
  8. Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, pp. 54-56.
  9. Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends; Maps of Narrative Practice; White, M. (2000). Reflections on Narrative Practice Adelaide, South Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications

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