Workshop 4
Stories roam the world like animals do
In this workshop, Alfonso will share reflections drawn from his engagement with Amerindian perspectivism. He will explore the different possibilities that open up when we take an ontological position rather than an epistemological one: instead of treating stories as different interpretations of a single shared world, we take seriously the idea that different beings may inhabit, and bring forth, different worlds.
The workshop will include moments of reflection in which Alfonso will offer theory he has found useful in making sense of his practice. He will discuss the work of Michael White and how it contributed to a philosophy that goes beyond a set of techniques. Alfonso will also explore the idea that stories behave like living beings: they have their own perspective on the world, and this helps create the worlds we inhabit. Participants will take part in exercises to practice working with stories in this way in their work with others.
Facilitated by Alfonso Diaz
Alfonso Díaz has worked with Narrative Practices since 2002. In 2003, he went to Australia to study with Michael White. In 2007, after graduating as a psychologist, he returned to Australia on a scholarship awarded by the Dulwich Centre, where he continued his studies with Michael White, co-creator of Narrative Practices.
He is the founder of the Colectivo de Prácticas Narrativas (Narrative Practices Collective). Since 2010, he has coordinated the International Diploma in Narrative Practices. In collaboration with the Center for Studies for Rural Development (CESDER) and the Universidad Campesina Indígena en Red (UCIRed), he designed and coordinated the first three cohorts of the Master’s Degree in Narrative Practices in Education and Community Work. He designed and coordinates the Master’s Degree in Narrative Practices in Therapy, offered in collaboration with the Universidad del Medio Ambiente in Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
He has worked on community projects in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Canada, and the United States.
He has worked with various organizations, including the National Geographic Society, the Indigenous Affairs Department of the Province of British Columbia in Canada, MoMA in New York, the Campamento Audiovisual Itinerante in Oaxaca, Vist Projects of Latin America, and Otrxs Dreamers en Acción, among others.
He has been invited to accompany artistic residencies such as Canto de la Yerba Bruja in Acatitlán, Mexico, and the Rencontre artistic residency on the island of Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe.
In addition to Mexico, he has taught in India, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Canada, the United States, Chile, Argentina, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Australia.
He provides individual, couples, and family therapy, as well as group therapy.
