Oral History in Interdisciplinary Contexts Dr Alette Willis and Prof Liz Bondi Schools of Divinity and Health in Social Science University of Edinburgh The Theology and Therapy Project

Outline of Presentation Background to Our Project –Aims –Scope and Funding The Use of Oral Histories –Why we used Oral Histories –Who we Interviewed and How Initial Findings from the Project –Counter-narrative Future –Archiving –Narrative Knowledge Exchange

Project Aims to understand the ways psychotherapy, Christianity, and a new language of “spirituality” intertwined post 1945 focusing on Scotland, but connecting to the UK –how did psychotherapy in post-war Scotland borrow and adapt Christian ideas and practices? –how did Christianity in post-war Scotland adopt and translate psychotherapeutic ideas and practices? –how was the Scottish fusion of psychotherapy and Christianity exported to England?

Scope and Funding Two-year project Funded by Religion & Society Programme, –Arts and Humanities Research Council –Economic and Social Research Council Archival research Oral Histories

Why Oral Histories? Growth of counselling and psychotherapy in Scotland 1960s, 1970s, 1980s –not a great deal of the everyday written down –key people involved in their 60s, 70s, 80s Valuing of individual lives Self as fundamentally embedded in culture and society Narrative

Interview Methods Recruitment (key informant) –acquaintances, mutual acquaintances, snowball Semi-structured, thematic life-history 1-4 hours (usually 1 ½ hour sessions) Ethical considerations –informed consent –levels of anonymity –annotate transcript

Oral Histories Include: Bob Brown Judith Fewell Hamish Montgomery Colin Kirkwood Ken Lawson Francis Macnab Jean Morrison

Stories of Origins “I started life in Morocco. My parents were missionaries. When I was 18 months we came to this country, to cold Dundee. My father then studied for the ministry.”

Re-storying Origins “I bought a bike and escaped. Looking back, there was a lot of escaping to freedom. There was freedom in hospital […]. I was one of the boys there and that was the thing I think, I felt a sense of community.” “I think I got God and father mixed up, because he had the authority and by Jove he used it.”

Crises and turning points “there’s an underground something going on in that period [at New College]. There was a kind of battle as well I suppose between the old way and the – whatever the new way was to be. I knew there was more but I wasn’t quite sure where to go with it.” “I think the child in me just kind of rebelled and said, ‘I don’t know where I am any more’ […]. Within two years I had a collapse. […] That was a huge turning point. That was the liberation or the freedom I think. It was tough, but it was the sense of finding myself and finding my way of ministering.

Recurrent Themes: Belonging “hospital was an insight into the world out there and it was a comfortable insight ’cos it was a community to which I belonged” “It was all about small groups, you know. And in a very real sense, small groups, personally … I think I’m still here because of them. That’s psychotherapeutic and church small house groups and stuff” “I had a weekly trip there to a most memorable group [for …] people who suffered from panic. […] And I know I went to that group for longer than I needed to because I belonged there again, a group of people just like hospital”

Intertwining of theology and psychotherapy “I was latterly with the [Scottish Churches] Open College and that the point at which I became very aware that people were coming to courses on TA, not to learn TA but because here was the church offering a space where they could be heard, and where they could ask questions […] and explore […] using another language alongside theology. […] people were asking spiritual questions, they were asking questions about themselves and their difficulties and their relationships and that whole area but they were also asking theological questions”

From religion to “spirituality” “But there was this other area which seemed to be about spirituality, whatever that was, and I’m not quite sure yet what it is. But it’s a sense that it’s what holds all of these areas together, and for me now spirituality is that which holds everything else together in some way. It’s at the root of all, it’s what animates me, what enthuses me, it’s what – well, it’s about fullness of life for me, whatever shape or form that takes. It’s about being, yeah, it’s about being fully alive.” “I’ve often wondered what on earth I would do in the parish. Ministry is about facilitating, it’s about listening to where the other person is before I say anything about where I am. I would have problems with sermons. I think I would still manage [… but] it’s just as well I’m not in the parish! Retirement’s a great thing.”

What Will We Do With Findings? Publications Presentations Day Conferences Website Archiving Oral Histories in School of Scottish Studies Archive Narrative Knowledge Exchange...

Narrative Narrative Inquiry in Social Sciences Concept of the narrative-self –Selves=stories told by and about the self –Draw on cultural plotlines Narrative approach to policy –Policy options limited by the stories held about topic or issues Narrative KE –Respect narrative form of data –Riessman: social scientists ought to amplify the reach of counter-narratives

Readers Theatre Literacy technique employed in schools Text laid out in script, read not performed Laramie Project, Moises Kaufman 2001 Medicine –Patients (Cueva 2010) –Healthcare staff (Savitt 2010, Bell et al 2010) Often used to communicate history –“bring history alive” –Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry –Historical medical narratives play at Scottish Storytelling Centre

Moving from transcript to Readers Theatre Script 1970s... Alan: I became very aware that people were coming to courses on TA, not to learn TA, but because here was the church offering a space where they would be heard, and where they could ask questions and not be hit for it, and explore it using another language alongside the theology. I recognised in the end […] that people were asking spiritual questions, they were asking questions about themselves and their difficulties and their relationships and that whole area but they were also asking theological questions. But there was this other area which seemed to be about spirituality, whatever that was, and I’m not quite sure yet what it is But it’s a sense that it’s what holds all of these areas together and for me now

Impacts? Narrative resource for self-narratives of people involved in religion, spirituality and counselling Stories told within and about Scottish organizations Stories told about origins of counselling in UK??? Open-up possibilities for being and acting in the world

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