April 25 & 26, 2024; 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Time​

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NonProfit Center
89 South St, Boston, MA 02111​

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 Frequently Asked Questions​ 

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What is Folx Tales?

Folx Tales is an in-person conference hosted by NTI in Boston, MA, on April 25 & 26, 2024. It follows in the footsteps of the annual workshops we have hosted over the years, which were interrupted by COVID-19 and the death of NTI founder Steve Gaddis. The title for this year’s gathering is, “Folx Tales: A Celebration of the Narrative Worldview.”

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Where will Folx Tales be held and how can I get there?
Folx Tales will be held  at the NonProfit Center in downtown Boston. For information about how to get there via public transportation, or where you can park if you drive, please visit our Folx Tales Accommodations and Transportation page.

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If I am coming from out of town, where can I stay?

NTI has not secured rooms at specific hotels for this event, but you can find a list of nearby hotels on our Folx Tales Accommodations and Transportation page.

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Will food be served at Folx Tales?

NTI will provide a light continental breakfast and coffee and tea each morning. In the afternoon, we will offer another coffee and tea service and a snack. For lunch, you can bring your own or you can buy lunch at one of many restaurants or take-out shops nearby. Water is available for filling your refillable water bottle. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate food allergies, so if you have dietary restrictions, please bring your own drinks and snacks.

Can I come to Folx Tales for 1 day?

Folx Tales is a two-day experience. Each part connects to every other part. To attend for only one day would be to miss out on essential parts of this conference, which we have carefully constructed to flow from Thursday morning through Friday afternoon. We ask all participants to commit to being present for both days. We believe you’ll be very glad to have made the space in your life to attend the entire event. 

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How do I know what to pay with a consensual payment program?

If you have the financial resources, we ask that you pay $450 to attend this event. Doing so supports people with fewer financial resources to participate and benefit from what we have to offer. If you don’t have the resources to pay the full fee, we invite you to pay whatever you feel is possible given your particular situation, including paying nothing. We trust that whatever you are able to pay reflects your current financial status. Your presence matters to us much more than what you can afford to pay. We have always been explicit about welcoming people seeking financial assistance and we try to accommodate every request we receive. We hope this practice makes it easier for folx to attend without having to ask us for anything.

Where did this name “Folx Tales” come from?

Steve Gaddis developed a dream of a practitioner gathering that he named “Folx Tales.” The name is inspired by one of Steve’s favorite writings: Michael White’s Folk Psychology paper. In it, Michael discerns centuries-old traditions of folk psychology from modern, professionalized psychology. Folk psychology values “personal agency” and is about people living their lives out according to certain intentions and purposes in the pursuit of what matters to them. Steve loved this focus on the intentional acts of living. How many times did he stop to ask, “What might you be caring about?” More than we can count. Folx Tales is born from this spirit of folk psychology.

Why Folx? What is the “x” for?

We put the “x” in folks/folx as a way to honor and remember the ethic of diversity. We gratefully borrow this practice from queer communities who have helped all of us by expanding our language practices to grow inclusivity. We want many stories from different people and communities. Different ways of thinking and being. We want to celebrate the “x” that includes you. How you identify. What you hold precious in your particular ways of living. The “x” that stands not for just anybody, but for all of us — and how we all matter. 

Who are the keynote speakers? What ideas might they be exploring?

At Folx Tales, we will have the privileged opportunity to witness Steve Gaddis (through his relationships with some of his treasured people) and Vikki Reynolds “meet.” We’ll hear their passions, ideas, and commitments to social justice sing together in real time and get swept up in what this might mean for our own work and lives. 

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The Day One keynote will feature a few of Steve’s friends and colleagues discussing how his ideas have influenced them. They will explore what they feel he might be saying now, responding with his particular kind of keen curiosity and critique. Vikki will have a chance to reflect on this conversation.

 

On Day Two, Vikki will give a keynote close to her heart and work titled: “Collective Care, Solidarity & Justice-Doing in Therapy & Community Work.” Her ideas of justice-doing, solidarity, and collective care sing to much of what Steve was caring about in his hopes for a Narrative Revolution. Vikki’s ideas will also be responded to as we want these keynotes to be conversations where ideas emerge and develop in real time.

Who are the storytellers?
One of the assumptions of narrative practices is that we all make meaning of our lives through stories. We also make meaning of our work through stories. Presenters at all conferences are telling stories, sharing ideas, and presenting how they make meaning. At Folx Tales, we are choosing to center members of our narrative community for these meaning-making stories. 

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Folx Tales will include a series of workshops with 9 different people sharing stories of how the ways they live, work, think, and make meaning have been enriched through what we have come to call the Narrative Worldview. We are excited to introduce you to some phenomenally creative and passionate thinkers and doers! We will learn both from what they share and the ways we practice our narrative skills of witnessing these sharings. 

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Why have storytellers?

Steve’s wrote passionately — in his very Steve way — of his dream for this event: 

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The intention for this conference is to establish a purposefully supportive environment that encourages narrative practitioners from various regions and communities to share personally meaningful stories about attempts to have narrative ideas influence their work.

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We want to create a supportive receiving context for the stories that are shared at the conference. We want this gathering to emphasize a two-way relationship between presenter and audience. Instead of supporting a traditional one-way storyline where presenters are expected to please, entertain, and satisfy an audience, we are going to invite audience members to take up their relational responsibilities, and help contribute to presenters' preferred identities. We think it is in everyone’s best interest for audience members to take as much responsibility for their participation as the presenter, helping to co-create a meaningful experience for all.

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We want the wisdom of the storytellers to resonate through you and to bring forth your wisdom, too. We’re constructing this event so you might come away with new ideas and also deeper appreciation for the ways you express your own life, which we believe are equally valuable and worthy of hearing.

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What if I am unfamiliar with Outsider Witness practice?

If you are not familiar with outsider witnessing, don't worry about it. We will have NTI facilitators in each session who will lead the outsider witness practice. If you would like to learn a bit about this practice before the event, please consider reading this article by Maggie Carey and Shona Russell.

Why should I come to Folx Tales? 

To us, these “narrative” ideas, ethics, and practices hold immense promise when it comes to easing people’s suffering and growing respectful, accountable relationships. They are quite different from dominant, normative ways of responding to problems, which can too often perpetuate injustices, narrow available options for how to express life, and rob people of their rights to make their own meanings — regardless of our intentions. If we care about justice and wish to respond to people’s hopes and pain in dignifying ways, then there’s no neutral position to stand in. 

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So join us in lovingly centering the narrative worldview, which we believe often offers us the best chance of collectively caring for each other and helping each person know they matter. There is not a doubt in our mind that the keynotes and storytellers at Folx Tales will introduce you to new ways of thinking, new options for making meaning of your life and work. These are one-time events that you will not want to miss. 

Who do I contact if I have additional questions?
Email NTI at narrativetherapyinitiative@gmail.com