Telling Your Story
A Positive Speaker learns about autobiographical storytelling
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s a positive speaker with Hepatitis SA, I relished the opportunity to participate in a two-hour online workshop titled “Telling Your Story”. It was delivered by Jenny Valentish, a well-known journalist and author of the book ‘Woman of Substances,” which investigates the female experience of alcohol and drug use. In this 2-hour online Zoom workshop, participants were interested in expanding their creative skills and increasing their knowledge, while collectively expanding their personal and professional toolkit.
support clients to then tell their own stories. There was also an abundance of content for those considering telling their own personal story, which was my main interest. As a woman now 62 years of age and “nanny” to three grandchildren, I find myself telling them endless stories from my past: memories from my childhood, the valuable lessons learned, powerful quotes and the values my parents instilled in me—all
these contributed towards building positive character. I clearly recall that whenever my father taught me a lesson I usually felt lectured or preached at in a way I resented. As the storyeller to my grandchildren, I am mindful of delivering in a different manner so they can respect and appreciate, as I now do, those valuable lessons and precious times.
Valentish’s presentation focused on building capacity for workers in the Alcohol and other Drugs (AOD) fields who were interested in exploring the therapeutic power of writing stories to Illustration designed by Macrovector/Freepik
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HEPATITIS SA COMMUNITY NEWS 87 • September 2020
