David Epston
Encyclopedia
David Epston is a New Zealand
therapist, co-director of the Family Therapy Centre in Auckland
, New Zealand, and Visiting Professor at the John F. Kennedy University
. Epston and his late friend and colleague Michael White
are known as originators of narrative therapy
.
, Canada
, where he grew up. He began studies at the University of British Columbia
, but left Canada in 1963 when he was 19, arriving in New Zealand in 1964. He completed a BA degree in Sociology & Anthropology at Auckland University in 1969. He earned a Diploma in Community Development from Edinburgh University in 1971. He earned an MA in Applied Social Studies from Warwick University in the United Kingdom in 1976, and received a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) in 1977.
In the late 1970s Epston and Michael White
led the flowering of family therapy
within Australia
and New Zealand. Together they started developing their ideas, continuing during the 1980s, and eventually in 1990 published Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, the first major text in what came to be known as narrative therapy
. In 1997 following the publication of Playful Approaches to Serious Problems Epston, along with his co-authors Dean Lobovits and Jennifer Freeman, initiated the website Narrative Approaches. The website included the publication of a series of authored and co-authored papers, artwork, and poetry in the form of an "Archive of Resistance: Anti-Anorexia/anti-Bulimia."
Epston was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (D.Litt.) in 1996 by the Graduate School of Professional Psychology, John F. Kennedy University
, in Orinda, California
, and the Special Award for Distinguished Contributions to Family Therapy from the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
therapist, co-director of the Family Therapy Centre in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand, and Visiting Professor at the John F. Kennedy University
John F. Kennedy University
John F. Kennedy University is a nonprofit, private university located in Pleasant Hill, California, with satellite campuses in Campbell, Berkeley, and Costa Mesa. It was founded in 1964 to focus on providing continuing opportunities for non-traditional higher education. Enrollment is approximately...
. Epston and his late friend and colleague Michael White
Michael White (psychotherapist)
Michael White was an Australian social worker and family therapist.He is known as the founder of narrative therapy, and for his significant contribution to psychotherapy and family therapy, which have been a source of techniques adopted by other approaches.-Biography:Michael Kingsley White was...
are known as originators of narrative therapy
Narrative therapy
Narrative Therapy is a form of psychotherapy using narrative. It was initially developed during the 1970s and 1980s, largely by Australian Michael White and his friend and colleague, David Epston, of New Zealand....
.
Early life and education
David Epston was born in 1944 in Peterborough, OntarioPeterborough, Ontario
Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where he grew up. He began studies at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
, but left Canada in 1963 when he was 19, arriving in New Zealand in 1964. He completed a BA degree in Sociology & Anthropology at Auckland University in 1969. He earned a Diploma in Community Development from Edinburgh University in 1971. He earned an MA in Applied Social Studies from Warwick University in the United Kingdom in 1976, and received a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) in 1977.
Career in family therapy
In New Zealand Epston started working as a senior social worker in an Auckland hospital. From 1981 to 1987 he worked as consultant family therapist at the Leslie Centre, run by Presbyterian Support Services in Auckland. From 1987 to the present he has been co-director of The Family Therapy Centre in Auckland.In the late 1970s Epston and Michael White
Michael White (psychotherapist)
Michael White was an Australian social worker and family therapist.He is known as the founder of narrative therapy, and for his significant contribution to psychotherapy and family therapy, which have been a source of techniques adopted by other approaches.-Biography:Michael Kingsley White was...
led the flowering of family therapy
Family therapy
Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...
within Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand. Together they started developing their ideas, continuing during the 1980s, and eventually in 1990 published Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, the first major text in what came to be known as narrative therapy
Narrative therapy
Narrative Therapy is a form of psychotherapy using narrative. It was initially developed during the 1970s and 1980s, largely by Australian Michael White and his friend and colleague, David Epston, of New Zealand....
. In 1997 following the publication of Playful Approaches to Serious Problems Epston, along with his co-authors Dean Lobovits and Jennifer Freeman, initiated the website Narrative Approaches. The website included the publication of a series of authored and co-authored papers, artwork, and poetry in the form of an "Archive of Resistance: Anti-Anorexia/anti-Bulimia."
Epston was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (D.Litt.) in 1996 by the Graduate School of Professional Psychology, John F. Kennedy University
John F. Kennedy University
John F. Kennedy University is a nonprofit, private university located in Pleasant Hill, California, with satellite campuses in Campbell, Berkeley, and Costa Mesa. It was founded in 1964 to focus on providing continuing opportunities for non-traditional higher education. Enrollment is approximately...
, in Orinda, California
Orinda, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Orinda had a population of 17,643. The population density was 1,389.5 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Orinda was 14,533 White, 149 African American, 22 Native American, 2,016 Asian, 24 Pacific Islander, 122 from other races, and...
, and the Special Award for Distinguished Contributions to Family Therapy from the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy.
Publications
- 1989. Literate Means to Therapeutic Ends. With Michael White. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications.
- 1990. Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends. With Michael White. W.W. Norton.
- 1992. Experience, Contradiction, Narrative and Imagination: Selected papers of David Epston & Michael White, 1989-1991. With Michael White. Adelaide, South Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications.
- 1997. Playful approaches to serious problems: narrative therapy with children and their families. With Jennifer Freeman and Dean Lobovits. W.W. Norton.
- 2004. Biting the hand that starves you: inspiring resistance to anorexia/bulimia. With Richard Linn Maisel and Ali Borden. W.W. Norton.
- 2008. Down under and up over: travels with narrative therapy. Edited by Barry Bowen. Karnac Books. ISBN 978-0952343318
External links
- narrativeapproaches.com Remembrance of Michael White by David Epston.