Journeys in Identity - Diversity Narrative

Journeys in Identity: Diversity Narrative

    On Friday, March 4th, I attended Journeys in Identity: Diversity Narrative, a workshop presented by the Asian Pacific Islander Social Work Association (APISWA) at the Cholula Community Center in San Diego State University.  With previous exposure to narrative therapy as a counseling style, this workshop piqued my curiosity, as I wanted to learn how to incorporate its techniques in my work as a future school psychologist.  Narrative therapy places particular emphasis in collaboration between counselor and client, as well as the role of the client as expert regarding their own circumstances and strengths.  The non-pathologizing and collaborative nature of narrative therapy has grand potential as a framework for counseling services in schools.  I am happy to have attended this workshop, as it offered specific short exercises that incorporated not only narrative therapy techniques, but also themes regarding diversity and cultural competency.  These exercises can be easily and effectively implemented in schools as they take little time yet are engaging and value the clients’ individuality and connections to others.

    Keynote speakers included Chris Walsh, LMFT, and Sarah Gilman, LMFT.  Walsh, a practitioner who has provided psychotherapy to families for over 20 years, explored issues surrounding human being’s early experiences and subsequent attachment patterns with others. Gilman spoke regarding their expertise with eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), a psychotherapy technique meant to alleviate stress in individuals who have experienced trauma.  Although this clinical technique is beyond the scope of practice for school psychologists and counselors, learning about this service was helpful to me as it could be a potential recommendation for students or families who are distressed after experiencing a traumatic event.
    Between keynote speakers, the APISWA Board members walked the audience through several exercises that incorporated cultural awareness and rapport-building through narrative therapy techniques.  In our first activity, titled “The Coffee Filter”, we sat in a circle group of 5 individuals (all of whom were unfamiliar to one another), with a group facilitator providing us instructions.  Were instructed to do the following:
“On a coffee filter, write down or draw 5 words that are a part of your identity on your coffee filter. Pick 5 aspects of your identity that are the most important to you.”
    After our attempt at writing these words down using Crayola markers (Caution: These two materials do not go together!), each individual in our circle shared out what they chose to include on their filter.  As our facilitator asked us to share more about the significance of these words, my group began to break the ice.
    For practitioners in the school setting, I envision this technique being highly useful in building rapport and community among a group of students across age, gender, grade level, and abilities.  Especially in a small community where restoration of trust and goodwill is warranted, this icebreaker may help students feel safe to open to their peers and for students to understand one another.

   Quickly, we moved on to the next activity - the Sticker Chart.  In this large group activity, we each stood facing into the circle where stacks of stickers were placed on two chairs.  We were instructed to first listen to a scenario, situation, or belief read aloud by the circle facilitator.  If what was said applied to our lives some way, we could walk into the center, collect a sticker, and add the sticker to our chart.  One chair had sparkling star stickers - these were meant to represent a good association to the scenario.  The second chair had plain star stickers, which represented having a bad memory or association to the scenario.

    As we reflected towards the end, some of the scenarios pushed participants out of their comfort zones, as we had to admit to some of these issues in front of strangers (e.g., “Did your parents buy you your first car?”, “Have you ever felt uncomfortable with your biological gender?”).   However, this was a powerful exercise, as it gave each of us a sense of belonging, understanding, and empathy for others.

    In our circle groups, our group facilitator lead the conversation regarding issues in our identity.  In between transitioning from one activity to the next, through asking open-ended questions, our facilitator opened each of us to share our own thoughts — what we found important in the development of our identity, what challenges we may have faced along the way, as well as where we hope to see ourselves in the future.  I could feel how genuine our circle facilitator was — she really wanted to learn more about us.
    Through these exercises, not only was I able to express some aspects of my own identity that are salient to me, I was also able to learn about the unique perspectives of other individuals as well as how understanding one’s identity may help us navigate through our difficult moments.  Although it was not clear that the specific techniques utilized in the session (Such as the Coffee Filter and Sticker Chart) were evidence-based, narrative therapy as a counseling technique has been empirically supported as beneficial in the school setting.  As we have learned in previous courses about narrative therapy, asking open-ended questions (a technique utilized by the circle facilitators) will lead the way for rich dialogue between the client and counselor, as was evident in this activity.
      As a future School Psychologist, it is important to consider the diverse cultural backgrounds of our students whom we serve.  With that in mind, it is important to ask if asking students directly to share intimate details of their identity would be suitable, not only based on the student’s cultural background, but also with their level of comfort with expressing these personal details.  Therefore, I would envision these techniques to be more suitable with an older student population, such as middle- to high-school aged students.
    All in all, although I was uncomfortable with the idea of letting my guard down in front of perfect strangers, I truly enjoyed this experience.