Leadership Team
Stephen Gaddis, Ph.D., LMFT
Director and Co-Founder
Steve has studied, practiced, and taught narrative therapy since 1994. He earned his International Postgraduate Diploma in narrative therapy at the Dulwich Centre in Adelaide, Australia, where he studied with Michael White. Steve also spent a year teaching narrative therapy in the graduate school of counseling at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. He has published and presented on narrative therapy nationally and internationally. Currently, Steve has a full-time narrative therapy and supervision practice in Salem, Mass., and he teaches narrative therapy at William James College and Boston College as well as independently through the NTI. Steve received his doctorate in marriage and family therapy from Syracuse University. Contact Steve at srgaddis@mac.com.
Darcey Surette, M.Ed., LMFT
Operations Manager
Darcey received her B.S. from the University of Connecticut at Storrs in human development and family relations, focusing on public policy and women’s studies, and her M.Ed. from UMASS-Boston in marriage and family therapy. Prior to starting her graduate work, she was a property accountant for a real estate management and development company. During her graduate internship at The Home for Little Wanderers, she was introduced to the narrative worldview by Steve Gaddis, who was providing her MFT supervision hours. Darcey continued to work at The Home for the next 10 years, practicing, exploring, and inviting families, supervisees, and colleagues into conversations that reflected the Narrative Worldview. During this time, Darcey also worked with the Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy to advocate for policies that support MFTs in Massachusetts. Darcey currently practices in Arlington, Mass. Contact Darcey at darceysurette@gmail.com.
Ashley Gaddis, M.A.
Communications Manager Co-Manager
Ashley has learned about narrative therapy through her 25-plus-year partnership with Stephen Gaddis. While she is not a mental health practitioner, she has witnessed firsthand the transformative effects that narrative approaches to relationships can have on people. A former newspaper reporter and stay-at-home-mom, Ashley has worked for nearly 15 years in nonprofit communications and project management. An experienced writer, editor, and communications strategist, Ashley enjoys supporting others in telling their stories and in spreading ideas and ways of being that can make our society more just, compassionate, and accepting of diverse humans and points of view. Contact Ashley at narrativetherapyinitiative@gmail.com.