# Defining Stories ## Posts - [Life Atlas Therapy and the Reclaiming of Precious Memories (Pt.2)](https://definingstories.com.au/life-atlas-therapy-and-the-reclaiming-of-precious-memories-pt-2/): “There are, of course, many forms of memory, some of which are constructive, some of which are destructive and some of which are redemptive.” -Fr. Michael Lapsley (The Healing of Memories: An Interview) Dear Reader – if you have not already done so, please read Part 1 of this BLOG post in order to understand the context for Part 2. Life Atlas Therapy is a method that was developed in collaboration with a team of people who were prepared to explore with me how this approach re-engages a person with their life stories in a ‘way that makes us stronger’ […] - [Life Atlas Therapy … and Why You May Find it Helpful (Pt 1)](https://definingstories.com.au/life-atlas-therapy-and-why-you-may-find-it-helpful-pt-1/): “Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.” (C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination) The many ideas and methodologies that comprise Narrative Therapy have me regularly intrigued. I witness their effects as I work with individuals and groups. Perhaps one of the most noticeable reactions from clients comes as they consider how their life narrative has taken shape by the greater social and historical context in which they exist. What they realise in this exercise is not only that they (clients) are not the ‘problem’, but that the ‘problem’ is […] - [The Dance that Lives Within: Hannah’s Story](https://definingstories.com.au/the-dance-that-lives-within-hannahs-story/): Hannah Blogs: Ever since I was a child, I’ve danced. It’s been like the air to my lungs; a deep part of the fabric of my existence. There was never such thing as an empty space – each abandoned building, rental, corner store; a space simply made for movement, imagination, and creativity. My vision for dance came at a very young age. Truth be told, dance led me to the light in my darkest of days. When I was 16 I danced the role of the White Faun in my high school production of the Lion the Witch and the […] - [Loving You](https://definingstories.com.au/loving-you/): “The cry we hear from deep in our hearts comes from the wounded child within. Healing this inner child’s pain is the key to transforming anger, sadness, and fear.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh One of my newly acquired COVID hobbies is to sort through boxes of old photos … slowly. COVID has brought the luxury of doing all the sorting in a more deliberate and mindful manner. I stare at the faces staring back at me … some of them are gazing at me from the early 1900s. I wonder what their world was like? What stories of fear, joy, […] - [Life is Full of Broken Heart Moments](https://definingstories.com.au/life-is-full-of-broken-heart-moments/): “There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” C.S. Lewis (Four […] - [2020: The Year the World had to Let Go!](https://definingstories.com.au/2020-the-year-the-world-had-to-let-go/): “Feel it. The thing you don’t want to feel. feel it. And be free.“ Nayirrah Waheed I have been curious about humans and liminal spaces for many years now. It was my own life experiences that drew my attention to this concept that was first introduced to the field of anthropology in 1909 by Arnold Van Gennep. However, it was the writings of Victor Turner in the 1960s that took liminality into many other fields of study. His concise definition of liminality informed future writing: “Liminality may perhaps be regarded as the Nay to all positive structural assertions, but as […] - [The Compass in Our Hands](https://definingstories.com.au/the-compass-in-our-hands/): “We are asleep with compasses in our hands.” W.S. Merwin Overnight my world became more silent. The ceasing of so much noise and activity was not planned or expected. It just happens when a pandemic comes calling. Not in a million light years would I have predicted this or seen it coming. Nonetheless it has. Very few lives remain unaffected. ‘Lockdown’ has brought us many things. Change is one of them. We are assigned a new way of going about our daily business. Change requires renegotiation. There is a give and a take in this new world. We grieve the […] - [Weaponising Forgiveness](https://definingstories.com.au/weaponising-forgiveness/): “The weak can never forgive…”  – I don’t know who said this, but it’s BOLLOCKS! “You just need to forgive and move on!” How many times have we heard this? How many times have we said it? Forgiveness: one of the most central virtues of human existence. Religion, in all its different shapes and sizes, sings its praises. Psychologists and counsellors focus on its merit. Forgiveness, an internal experience that manifests itself in thinking, feeling, and behaviour of the harmed towards the one(s) who committed the harm. Unlike reconciliation, contact with the one who harmed is not necessary. For those […] - [Grief Needs No Justification](https://definingstories.com.au/grief-needs-no-justification/): “Today, in our ‘shut up, get over it, and move on’ mentality, our society misses so much, it’s no wonder we are a generation that longs to tell our stories.” Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On Grief and Grieving It was a Sunday morning in 1997. The 31st of August, to be exact. I was attempting the impossible: clothe three rocket-charged children for church. The TV was blaring in the background when the reporter’s words sunk into my tired brain – “Princess Diana, her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, and the driver, Henri Paul, had all passed away following a horrific car accident in a […] - [The Unseen Crisis](https://definingstories.com.au/the-unseen-crisis/): Words seem inadequate to begin to describe the carnage and devastation that the bushfires in Australia have created (and continue to create). So far, 23 people have lost their lives, over 500 million animals have been killed, 1,300 homes are lost, and over 12 million acres of the land has gone up in smoke. We are not even halfway through the fire season … Trauma, grief, and anger, have broken down the front door of so many lives.Uninvited, they bring with them emotional turmoil and confusion, making it hard to think or cope. Sometimes they turn the TV on and […] - [‘Just Be Yourself’: It’s Bloody Annoying!](https://definingstories.com.au/just-be-yourself-its-bloody-annoying/): “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man …” -Polonius to Laertes (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3) ‘Just be yourself’ – One of the most confusing things we tell ourselves and each other! In my youth, I cheered this idea from Western individual capitalism – an idea for the privileged. I thought is was an admirable and simple way to exist as a human. As I grow older, I find it not just a complex and confusing ideal, but cruel and […] - [What is your Christmas Story?](https://definingstories.com.au/what-is-your-christmas-story/): “To perceive Christmas through its wrappings becomes more difficult with every year.” E.B. White Christmas! It’s here again. I am quite convinced that 365 days a year speed up the older you get, and here we are in another Jingle Bell Season. I wonder what Christmas means to you? Amidst all the festive fuss that this time brings, what is the Christmas story that is read at your table of life? For many people, this is a season of festive joy and hope. Happy memories arrive at the door alongside family members and friends to celebrate and remember the birth […] ## Pages - [Fees](https://definingstories.com.au/fees/): Fees Donations - [Organisations](https://definingstories.com.au/organisations/): Organisational Well-Being Training Examples Below is a sample of organisational training hosted by Nicole. Most of these are either half or full day programmes. Please contact her to discuss the specific needs for your community: - [BLOG](https://definingstories.com.au/blog/): BLOG - [Narrative Therapy](https://definingstories.com.au/narrative-therapy/): Narrative Therapy and Counselling Specialties The Stories We Tell Ourselves (Video Series) - [Supervision](https://definingstories.com.au/supervision/): Supervision - [Contact](https://definingstories.com.au/contact/): Contact Us Send an Email Send an email to Nicole at nicole@definingstories.com.au OR complete the form below. Send us a direct message: - [Services](https://definingstories.com.au/services/): our services - [About](https://definingstories.com.au/about/): about us We’re a highly collaborative and supportive team, coming together on every project to ensure our clients get the very best result. Our Mission Build the best product that creates the most value for our customers, use business to inspire and implement environmentally friendly solutions. Our Values We strive to go above and beyond for our clients no matter the challenge. We aim to deliver our very best work every single day across our services. - [Home](https://definingstories.com.au/): “Stories shape who we are and how we see the world.“ Nicole Conner About Services Narrative Therapy & Counselling Supervision Organisational Well-Being My Qualifications [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)