Evanston Family Therapy Center
Yearlong In-Person Narrative Program 2025

With Jill Freedman, Gene Combs and various guest faculty members

Dates: We will meet for three five-day, in-person sessions: January 22 – 26, June 18 – 22, and November 5 – 9. These will be supplemented with at least one online session during each of the other months throughout the year. These two hour online meetings will offer space for practice, focus on questions, and discussion of reading.

Location: Evanston Family Therapy Center, 1212 1/2 Elmwood Avenue, Evanston, IL.

This program is limited to 14 participants.

Over the course of the year, you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in narrative ideas and practice. We will explore narrative therapy and the worldview that supports it through discussion, carefully crafted practice activities, and interviews. Meeting in person offers the possibility of sharing video recordings of Michael White’s work that can’t be shown online as well as video recordings of our own work. The in-person format also allows for all those things that happen in conversations during breaks and over meals. The small group size will enhance the possibilities for creating a cohesive working group. Between our meetings, 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 at least monthly via the internet to engage in practice, focus on your particular application of the work, and reflect on the readings. We will encourage you to continue these conversations and support each other through your preferred online channels.

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 and live demonstrations 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 and how they shape both problematic and 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

  • Particular problems and applications of the work tailored to the interests and contexts of group members

    Tuition: Regular: $2,000 USD, Student: $1,700 USD (click here to see our scholarship policy)

    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 $300 deposit by following this link. (Be sure to click the picture of Gene with “Application Fee, Year Long 2025 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 the next steps before our first meeting in January.

Optional credit towards dulwich centre/university of melbourne masters degree:

The yearlong course, with an additional module, counts as one component 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 components through Dulwich Centre.

Completing our course plus the “masters module” qualifies you for a reduction in the time and money involved in the Dulwich Centre/University of Melbourne Masters Program.

For more complete information about the Dulwich Centre/University of Melbourne Masters program visit the Dulwich Centre website at: http://dulwichcentre.com.au/masters.

Masters Module Option: $850 USD (in addition to regular tuition)
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**CEUs: We are an approved provider of continuing education by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for social workers(LCSW/LSW), professional counselors (LPC/LCPC) and marriage and family therapists (MFT). Credits : 90 total, 6 for each completed day. Please contact your local/state agency to determine the credit requirements for your individual state license.