journal_august_2026_release_full_edition - Flipbook - Page 112
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I Could See Myself in Her & Practising Insider Witnessing in Supervision
Catherine Mengelle1, Sophie Bouhier2, and Sandrine
Technical credit for recording and transcription: Hervé Schindler
The characters in this article, as well as certain details of the story, have been
deliberately changed in order to respect the person9s private and professional
history. This does not alter the process and sequence of events, which have been
preserved in their entirety and which we are sharing with you here.
This article is meant for our French narrative community, which is familiar with
outsider witnessing practices (OWP) but not insider witnessing practices (IWP).
For ease in reading, for each subheading, the name of the speaker will be
included in parentheses.
Part 1 – Presentation of the practice (Catherine)
This practice was conceived and developed not so long ago by David Epston and
Tom Carlson. Both mentioned it during their respective visits to France
(masterclasses at La Fabrique Narrative in 2016 and 2017). I later attended a
workshop in Paris where we practised holding 8insider witnessing9 conversations
at the initiative of Pierre Blanc-Sahnoun.
Here's how David and Tom talk about it in the Journal of Narrative Family Therapy
(2017):
We take this name, 8insider witnessing practice9 (IWP), as the obverse
or counterpoint to Michael White's 'outsider witnessing practices'
(OWP) (White, 1995). It is our belief that the purposes of OWP and
IWP are very similar (Epston, in press). How do we find ways for
1 catherinemengelle@yahoo.fr
2 sophie.bouhier.sb@gmail.com
I Could See Myself in Her … Practising Insider Witnessing in Supervision
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, August 2026 Release, p. 111-135.
www.journalcnt.com
