Culturally Responsive Assessment Using the Concepts of Narrative Therapy

Clinical Associate Professor Stephen von Merz will discuss the development and implementation of a widely used activity, the Tree of Life Technique, which can be applied during the engagement and assessment phases of therapy when working with clients and their families. He will discuss lessons from narrative therapy in defining challenges and solutions from within a social, cultural, political, and relational context. He will share his perspectives on why therapists should understand their own cultural background and family experiences, and how these influence the therapist’s cultural worldview and clinical assessment of clients and client families. Professor von Merz will welcome GSSW alum, María Figueroa Uribe, to present on her experiences with the Tree of Life technique and how her own cultural worldview impacts her clinical assessment.

This workshop will be interactive, and participants will be invited to engage in the development of their own “Tree of Life”.

“Narrative therapy seeks to be a respectful, non-blaming approach to counselling and community work, which [centers] people as the experts in their own lives. It views problems as separate from people and assumes people have many skills, competencies, beliefs, values, commitments and abilities that will assist them to reduce the influence of problems in their lives” (Morgan, 2000).

This workshop will be interactive, and participants will be invited to engage in the development of their own “Tree of Life”.

This workshop was presented as part of the annual Clinical Master Teacher Award which recognizes GSSW faculty whose exemplary teaching and training impacts the careers of future clinicians and mental health practitioners. Clinical Associate Professor, Stephen von Merz is the inaugural awardee of this honor (2021).