Murmurations: Journal of Transformative Systemic Practice

Meadow and Stream

Beverley Joan Meakin

‘Patchwork’ in this title refers to an exercise I devised as a teaching intervention for student counsellors – Patchworks of Practice (Meakin, 2019). It aims to facilitate both exploration of influences on their human being and aid reflexivity around how these shaped their practice.

In this paper I explain more about Patchwork of Practice and show how I adapted the exercise as Autoethnography. I share learning of process and findings from my doctoral research, where I used autoethnography to explore how my personal influences shaped me and my way of working as a couples’ therapist and a university lecturer teaching on counselling courses. There are two sections to this. Firstly, I use examples of my Patches and the reflections on them to illustrate the research process and discuss my learning from this. Secondly, I share aspects of autoethnography around my counselling training; I reflect anew on past journals and notes. Together these bring insight into my way of collating different theoretical concepts as a couple therapist.

I extend the patchwork metaphor to a rural landscape to communicate how I see my life and the context within it has evolved and which has shaped it. Images from my landscape and reflexive writing share my experiences and learning in this practitioner research. I hope this will inspire others to use the Patchwork of Practice exercise in their own reflexive research projects.

A Gift of feedback via video link

Dawn Louise Thibert

A poem refelcting on my experience as a tutor delivering intremediate systemic training on line.

The Power of context(s)

Chiara Santin

This article is sharing some reflections on how we are adapting and responding to being in different contexts, the countryside and town, the pandemic and Brexit. It is a personal reading of some recent experiences influenced by living in two different cultural worlds, the ongoing dilemmas about language and meanings, ways of being that are expected and yet unspoken, misunderstandings and assumptions surfacing in a polarised world where inevitable processes of social distancing seem an adaptive response to managing the spread of the Corona Virus or fulfilling the Brexit (I)deal.

Ndibeer and Ned Ride Again

Karen Mary Partridge

This article tells a dialogical story and describes a process of mutual learning and embodiment over the course of a long therapeutic relationship.The article maps the development of relationship, between my inner voices, my supervisors and those of my client, where stories of self and other are articulated, elaborated and externalised using the metaphor of a "bundle of treasures". A self reflexive process of personal and professional mapping, using the hierarchical model of the Coordinated Management of Meaning, is described. In a recursive and isomophic process, supervisory and therapeutic conversations further elaborate these stories, and through joint action, enable the creation of a liminal, reflexive space, a Fifth Province position, a cauldron of creativity where practice based theory can develop. This process will be illustrated as it arises in the story of relationship and the process of therapy, so this narrative invites the reader to become an active participant in a never ending process where theory becomes a live metaphor in the quest for being human.

Ndibeer and Ned Ride Again

Karen Mary Partridge

This article was written on the occasion of Imelda McCarthy’s Festschrift in December 2008, (Fredman, Partridge and McCarthy, 2019). I sat down to write an appreciation of Imelda, what emerged was this tale of the long and rich connection between my client Iris and me, in which Imelda’s contributions are evident.

In relationship with a virus

Mark Huhnen

The current CoViD19 situation offers an opportunity for us to reconsider our relationship with the world and with our theories about this relationship. While systemic theory already offers many ways and ideas to consider this, in this article I offer another perspective, 'new' materialism and highlight its fit with previous systemic theories.

Editoral

Gail Simon — 2020-10-31

Escaping Bachelard’s Dual Anthropology. Towards a New Post-corona Version of the Self

Karin Hannes — 2020-10-30

Absent friends in shared landscapes

Lorna Edwards — 2020-10-30

Cocooned 20 20

Michael McCarthy — 2020-10-30

Kinship: a poem

Leah Salter — 2020-10-30

Lockdown Moon

Karen Partridge — 2020-10-30

. . .

Siobhan Potter — 2020-10-30

The Voices of Uncertainty

Priyanka Savita — 2020-10-30

Covid Politics

Jasmine Chin — 2020-10-30

The Invisible Hitchhiker

Julia Jude — 2020-10-30

I Wait

Rukia Jemmott — 2020-10-30

Chaos, Fear, Conspiracy and Uncertainty

Freda McEwen — 2020-10-30

Reflecting on the results of a roundtable on creative methods in inclusive research

Sofie Sergeant

The authors present the results of a roundtable, and a subsequent process of reflection, on creative methods in inclusive research held in Athens in 2018. The authors aim to give insight in the thought processes involved in reflecting on the data derived from the roundtable and from a reflective session held by the authors. From this process four themes in the use of creative methods in inclusive research are identified and discussed: embodiment, uneasiness, connection and plurality of voices.

MAINTAINING THE CONNECTION

Cinzia Taffagli

I have already written when firstly submitted the article.

If a revised abstract is needed please do let me know.