Healing of Memories workshops (Lapsley)

Domain XV · Nature, philosophy, social & rites of passage · Michael Lapsley · 1995 · Cape Town

What it is

Healing of Memories is not a psychotherapy. It is a facilitated group storytelling process, usually a residential weekend, in which people from different racial, political, cultural and religious backgrounds tell their own stories of harm "in an atmosphere of deep listening and mutual respect",…

Format

• The workshop is a fixed sequence over a residential weekend (Friday evening to Sunday; SAHA calls them "three-day workshops"). Movement between stages follows the timetable, not clinical criteria; sources describe no formal screening or exit criteria. The pre- and post-workshop phases below are the…
• Phase 0: Before the workshop (therapist). Goal: decide with the client whether a group storytelling weekend fits now, and prepare. Move on when the client has chosen freely, knows what will happen, has a support plan, and is stable enough to tell their story in front of strangers.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Facilitator pathway (as IHOM evaluations report it): attend two workshops as a participant; be recommended by an organisation and discussed by a small group before acceptance; training in modules (listening, handling emotions, creating a compassionate atmosphere, teamwork) plus role-plays rotating facilitator, storyteller and observer; then co-facilitate with an experienced facilitator (two to three or three to four…

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Distinct from the Christian inner-healing prayer called "healing of memories" (Sanford and others): see XIII 228. Evidence status: IHOM's evaluations rest on end-of-workshop and postal questionnaires and interviews; a Durban master's case study reported participants' self-described "significant…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• sleeplessness or rumination overnight. Working: the client arrives with a sense of what they want to say.
• transport barriers; unfulfilled promises of calls. Working: attendance and continued contact among participants.
• facilitators dropping out, fear of returning (documented). Working: facilitators stay and report feeling supported.
• members who know each other despite placement; silence that hides disagreement. Working: each member contributes a need.
• vague answers on distress and follow-up; promises of healing or forgiveness. Working: concrete answers and a named contact.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.