St Barnabas Counselling Centre and Sue Lambert are proud to be co-hosting:
People who seek asylum face unique struggles in pursuing safety, justice and belonging. Political and social reactions have often created isolation, fear and despair for refugees and asylum seekers. In response, Dr Ian Percy offers this practical and experiential training, covering principles and practices from Narrative Therapy. Together we will consider how we can respond to distress, develop a shared commitment to justice, and bring forth dignity, whatever the circumstances. The focus will be on assisting asylum seekers and refugees to speak about often unspoken experiences to enhance a valued sense of self and connect them to communities of safe belonging. This skills-based training will be facilitated through different teaching methods including guided exercises, demonstration interviews, roleplays, stories from therapy, and group discussions. Pre-training reading, workshop notes, and post-training articles will be provided. All profit from this training will be donated to support refugees and asylum seekers.
Day 1
Narrative practices and multi-storied lives
Engaging with suffering: becoming a compassionate witness
Naming abuses of power and privilege
Externalising practices for varied purposes: personal, family, social and cultural beliefs and values
Attending to present struggles: times (what, when) and contexts (where, who)
Storying responses/resistances to traumatic events
Relating to distress from “islands” of safety and trustworthiness
Identifying and plotting the effects of constructive initiative/s across time and context
Somatic expressions of trauma: mindful attention to the body
Bringing forth and honouring a valued storied sense of self despite the effects of trauma
Telling and retelling the preferred and beneficial new storylines: creating a fuller sense of oneself and relationships
Day 2
We will cover two conversational practices that extend valued storylines in dignifying ways.
Re-membering
This is a special type of recollection with significant people who have in important ways shaped who we have become. We can explore:
how people want to be consciously shaped in the future
who they want to identity with more, and who with less
Our focus will be on vital human relationships that are sustaining of preferred storylines.
We will consider:
when to engage in re-membering
how to identify potential entry points for conversation
ways to introduce this practice respectfully
The Absent but Implicit
We make sense of what happens to us by contrasting it with other experiences. Often these contrasted background experiences are related to what people treasure or cherish. For instance, unfulfilled hopes and longings may be implied in feelings of despair and sorrow. We can ask questions about implicit meanings, engaging persons in moving stories that emphasise their values and relational ethics or ways of living. This practice has an important place in conversations about the effects of trauma. It creates the possibility of undermining the consequences of cruelty and unjust power relations, and of affirming and enriching what people hold as precious.
Date: Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th October 2025 @ 9:00am - 4:30pm each day.
Venue: St Barnabas Counselling Centre, Derby Street, Norwich, NR2 4PU
Price: £75 for Sue Lambert & St Bs counsellors
External practitioners: £100
To book a place contact: admin@stbcc.org.uk (for St Bs attendees) or john@suelambertrust.org (for Sue Lambert attendees)
Facilitator: Dr Ian Percy BBus (Com) BSW MSW (Thesis) PhD
PhD Dr Ian Percy BBus (Com) BSW MSW (Thesis) PhD is a therapist, supervisor, consultant, trainer and published author in narrative and mindfulness approaches. He is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker and teaches professional development courses in counselling and psychotherapy for social service agencies, universities, and private organisations. He has specialised in training colleagues in Narrative Therapy since 1997. Ian has given invited workshops and papers at state, national and global conferences, presenting in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Bhutan, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, and the USA. He has received two university awards for academic excellence including a Curtin University Chancellor's Award for his 2003 MSW by thesis Spirituality in counselling and psychotherapy: exploring the narratives of professional practitioners. Ian has studied and practiced various forms of meditation, including mindfulness approaches, for 49 years. His PhD thesis Mindfulness in counselling and psychotherapy: Narratives from practitioners in Bhutan and Australia researched similarities and differences regarding personal and professional mindfulness practices in Australia and Bhutan.
During the training Ian will share the work of his colleague Petrina Yates. She was a Torture and Trauma Counsellor for 3 years on Christmas Island, providing services to the Immigration Detention Centre. Petrina is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with nearly 30 years experience working in Australia and internationally. She completed postgraduate study with Harvard Medical School in Global Mental Health and has a Master of Disaster and Emergency Management from Charles Darwin University.