Evanston Family Therapy Center
Year Long Narrative Course 2025

With Jill Freedman, Gene Combs and various guest faculty members

Dates: We will meet for 8 weekends: January 24-26, February 21-23, March 21-23, May 16-18, June 20-22, August 22-24, Novmbere 7-9, and December 5-7.. Each weekend will be made up of four three-hour blocks—Fridays 2pm-5pm, Saturdays 10am-1pm & 2pm-5pm, Sundays 2pm-5pm (Central Standard Time).

Our year long program offers the opportunity to immerse yourself in narrative ideas and practice over the course of a year. We will explore narrative therapy and the worldview that supports it through discussion, carefully crafted practice activities, and interviews. Between sessions, you will be reading articles and book chapters about narrative ideas and practices, and trying out the ideas in your own context. You will meet monthly via the internet with 4 to 6 other participants and a facilitator to reflect on the readings and on your experience in using the practices. We will encourage you to continue these conversations and support each other through email and other online communication.

We will focus on:

  • Learning narrative practices and gaining skills through exercises and supervised interviews

  • Understanding the theoretical and philosophical positions that support narrative work

  • Watching and learning from videos of exemplary narrative practice

  • Appreciating the people we work with as the privileged authors of their own stories

  • Exploring the role of cultural norms and discourses, both in problematic stories and in preferred stories

  • Appreciating the importance of communities in which alternative stories can circulate and take on meaning

  • Approaching ethics as ways of being that we embody rather than as rules we must follow to avoid punishment

  • Focusing on particular problems and applications of the work tailored to the interests and contexts of group members

To Apply: A $300 deposit—which will be refunded if you are not accepted—is due as part of the application process. This will count toward your tuition. 

Please download this application and submit by e-mail to eftc@narrativetherapychicago.com and pay the fully refundable $300 deposit by following this link. (Be sure to click the picture of Gene with “Application Fee, Year Long 2024 Program” under it when you get there.)

You may also return your application with a $300 check (which is fully refundable) to: Evanston Family Therapy Center, 1212 ½ Elmwood Avenue, Evanston, IL 60202.

If accepted to the program, we will contact you with next steps to pay the remaining balance of the tuition in full.

Tuition:
Regular: $2,000 USD
Student: $1,700 USD
Masters Degree Option: $850 USD (in addition to registration tuition)


Masters Degree credit Option:

The yearlong course, with an additional module, counts as one component of the three required for completion of the Master of Narrative Therapy and Community Work degree from Dulwich Centre and the University of Melbourne. To receive the Masters degree, you will need to finish the other two components through Dulwich Centre.

Our extra module has two parts: The first is to record 2 sessions of work, transcribing at least 15 minutes of each of those 2 sessions, and then to engage with a mentor in supervision around these 2 pieces of work.

The second part is to write a 5000 word report of a focused project in which you apply narrative ideas in your context over the course of the yearlong program.

Successful completion of the year long program, along with the additional work and mentoring, will mean that you can complete the Masters program with only one trip to Australia instead of the two trips usually required. For more information about the Dulwich Centre/University of Melbourne Masters program visit the Dulwich Centre website at: http://dulwichcentre.com.au/masters.

Although this module has been designed to satisfy some of the requirements of the Master program, it is available to any members of the yearlong program who desire this extra level of mentoring.

**CEUs: We are an approved provider of continuing education credits. 90 total (for six hours of training each day). Certificate of completion will be provided to each participant on final training date. (CEUs) by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for social workers(LCSW/LSW), professional counselors (LPC/LCPC), and marriage and family therapists (MFT) and provide certificates of attendance for workshops and trainings. Please contact your local/state agency to determine the credit requirements for your individual state license.