Co-constructing Non-verbal Narratives: Narrative Scrapbooking as a Meaning-making Tool in Bereavement

Co-constructing Non-verbal Narratives: Narrative Scrapbooking as a Meaning-making Tool in Bereavement Elizabeth Maier M.A., Ph.D. Candidate Institute of Transpersonal Psychology Clinical Psychology Track, Creative Expression Track Palo Alto, California, USA Presented July 19 th , 2006 Constructivist Psychology Network Conference San Marcos, California, USA

Narrative Scrapbooking (NS)
NS is a creative and co-constructed process:
Constructivism as a philosophy of participation (Mahoney, 2003)
Based in a compassionate and empathic human relatedness
Helping to create and re-create reality in a constructive, hopeful atmosphere

Therapist and client co-constitute an atmosphere:
Creating a visual teleonomic narrative
Narrative as defined by Plato’s The Republic is a story which has a beginning, middle, and ending (William Labov, 2006)

Therapist and client co-constitute an atmosphere:
Creating a visual teleonomic narrative
Teleonomic refers to the ever-emergent quality of the narrative as it develops
Patterns become clear in retrospect and are not necessarily apparent at the start

Structure
NS is a visual journaling technique:
Beginning with an accordion-style book
Focusing upon an intention
Intentions are verbally shared in the group
Intuitively collecting images
Images come from books, magazines, photographs, etc.
Piecing together the mosaic

Distinguishing Narrative Scrapbooking Tend to limit the range of emotional expression Negotiates with one’s capacity and need for emotional expression Focus on a concrete outcome Focuses on process Scrapbooking Hobbies Narrative Scrapbooking

The teleonomic process of NS mirrors human personality development by recognizing themes after the fact.
Similarly, grief therapists are approaching a new postmodern concept of grief.
Grief as a non-linear and often cyclical experience (Neimeyer, 2001)
NS and Grief

Dennis Klass (2001) Inner Representation Model
Ethnographic study started in 1978:
To better understand the experience of child loss from bereaved parents
Developed an overall picture of the inner and social worlds of bereaved parents

Dennis Klass (2001) Inner Representation Model
Found:
Parents maintain continuing bonds with the representation of the Deceased Child
Degree to which parents feel integrated and resolved about their grieving is related to the integration of the inner representation in the parents’ social world

What NS proposes to do:
Help participants in group setting:
Access their emotional states
Receive empathic support and reassurance
Resolve (as much as can be) or reduce the distress associated with the grief
Co-construct new narrative around distressing event or experience

How does NS achieve this?
In sync with Kennedy-Moore and Watson’s (2001) survey on how and when emotional expression helps, NS aims to:
Reduce distress about distress
Facilitate insight
Affect interpersonal relationship

Facilitation
Ensuring memory as constructive narrative:
Recognizing the root of the distressing emotion
Assessing the way in which the client expresses the emotion
Externalizing the process so as to gain a witness consciousness

Case Study of Grieving Mother
45 year old woman
Lost her daughter, age 4, to a life- limiting illness
Workshop Participant
In a group setting
Interviewed afterward

Expect a Miracle Nursing Essential A Gift for Healing Discovering Wisdom Life Prayers

Inner Creative How to See Within Reach In search of answers Mommy & Me

Spiritual Parenting Conscious Dreaming LOVE

GROWTH Complete Metamorphosis MOMENT The Return of the Mother Leading a Life that Matters

Future Work

Digital Scrapbooking
Digital Scrapbooking
Manipulating Digital Imagery
Online digital scrapbooking groups
Bringing together online communities for support and creative sharing
Podcasts for Demonstration and ‘Live’ support

“ This is my interpretation of what it has been like for me, but I’m learning more about the intent and meaning of it. People hear my voice and then it becomes part of them. People can learn from their sharing of their books. I do believe they are meant to be shared.”
~Karen Herzog, Feb. 4, ‘05

References
Kennedy-Moore, E., & Watson, J. (2001). How and when does emotional expression help. Review of General Psychology, 5 (3), 187-212.
Klass, D. (2001). The inner representation of the dead child in the psychic and social narratives of bereaved parents. In Neimeyer, R.A. (Ed.), Meaning reconstruction and the experience of loss, pp. 77-94. Washington, DC; APA.
Labov, W. (2006). Narrative pre-construction. Narrative Inquiry, 16 (1), soon-to-be published.
Mahoney, M. (2003). Constructive psychotherapy: A practical guide. New York: Guilford Press.
Malchiodi, C. A. (2002). The soul’s palette: Drawing on art’s transformative powers for health and well-being . Boston: Shambala.
Neimeyer, R. A. (Ed.) (2001). Meaning reconstruction and the experience of loss . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Co-constructing Non-verbal Narratives: Narrative Scrapbooking as a Meaning-making Tool in Bereavement

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