Our relationships both shape and are shaped by our stories. The stories partners tell and hear about their relationship and each other make a difference in their experience. Narrative therapy offers the possibility for members of a relationship to hear the meanings their partners make of particular events and together to make new ones. It also offers a context for preferred stories to be told and heard.

In this workshop we will think about ways to structure therapy conversations to offer the possibility of partners really hearing each other, even when there is much conflict between them. We will describe the use of the "absent but implicit" in couples therapy. We will also consider how our identity is relational, offering the possibility of asking questions about who people become in particular relationships and how partners contribute to and sustain each other's preferred identities. The workshop will include a live interview.

Ms. Freedman will perform a live session on this day of the presentation.