Developmental Meaning-Making

1. Developmental Meaning-Making Ways of Making Meaning through Critical Change Syraj Syed, PhD, MAMC | Your Authentic Self Work Your Authentic Self Work

2. Narrative Exchange within the Story Circle • We have always seen the world through the eyes of the storyteller. We have seen our surroundings and our lives as a collection of stories.  This is how human beings have always best understood the world and how to live balanced within it. • A story is the universal human paradigm.  It is through stories we best understand one another and ourselves.  • That is what this journey represents: finding a way of knowing ourselves and how we are connected to one another.  Your Authentic Self Work

3. Narrative Exchange within the Story Circle • Dialectic process can help us see the deeper layers, how we arrived at the current understanding and how we can rewrite the narrative…exploring the validity of our identifications, our beliefs, our defined social roles…toward a deeper awareness of our fears, struggles and doubts…toward a freedom we can own...to create our chosen narrative. • A person’s belief framework is the core construct by which she relates to the world. A person’s belief framework is the lens through which she perceives reality—a reality which maintains a co-dependent relationship with the specific social construct from which it was derived. • Reflecting on your own belief system—intended as a constant process—can help us differentiate between the reality created through the context of that belief system and our own authentic reality. At the very least, such reflection allows us to see the whole of our life context and be fully deterministic in choosingour identity. Your Authentic Self Work

4. Narrative Exchange within the Story Circle • Developmental meaning-making is grounded in narrative theory…a hybridized method that pulls from various traditions to yield a diverse set of utilization-focused resources, grounded in creative personal expression, toward a growing awareness of one’s own narrative. • An awareness of personal narrative can lead to a growing consciousness of the contexts and framework that we live within—creating the space for critical examination. This new awareness can empower us to change the narrative toward a path that may be more aligned with our authentic expression. Your Authentic Self Work

5. Developmental Meaning-making • A safe space to engage in self-reflection and differentiation of current and desired states • Identify and claim values to connect with and build forward on • Operationalize values into disciplines and practices that define a newly created pathway • Outcomes not defined by ”success” but an individual’s ability to self-actualize, be self-determined and to construct her own way forward Your Authentic Self Work

6. Developmental Meaning-making • Engage individuals around their narratives based on the critical life events they’ve experienced.  • Real-time thematic analysis and organization yields areas for ongoing engagement both intrapersonally and interpersonally. • Individuals engage across common narrative themes, which informs differentiation of identities. • Define critical values personal to each individual.  • Define authentic identity that empowers individuals to re-author narratives. • Individuals leave the circle with a developing path toward self-authorship and the customized tools that can help sustain this path. Your Authentic Self Work

7. The Hermeneutic Space Questioning the part Perceiving the Whole Communicating the need Processing the challenge Engaging the inquiry Receiving the data Your Authentic Self Work

8. Four Ways of Meaning-making Through Critical Change Your Authentic Self Work

9. Your Authentic Self Work Five Foundational Pillars Self-authorship Self-efficacy Self-care Self-advocacy Peer Cohort Development Your Authentic Self Work

10. Building allies Community of practice The Meaning-Making Progression Practice Setting anchors Defining values How is this behavior valued? Resistance Behavior Your Authentic Self Work Identifications Negative Thinking Dissonance

11. For more information… • Contact: Syraj Syed, PhD, MAMC, Narrative Education Specialist @ syrajsyed1@gmail.com or 352.871.0564 • Visit: www.yourauthenticselfwork.com • Developmental Meaning-making workshops have been utilized in multiple spaces comprised of multiple populations, including healthcare providers, educators, substance abuse and prevention facilities, behavioral health facilities and rehabilitation facilities. The common aim has been to help disparate communities enter spaces of interconnectedness, co-construction and collective practice. If you feel that your organization can benefit from such an intervention, please contact me for an initial consult.