Educators & Students

"You can't change what happened to them,
but you can help them change how they carry it.
It's about finding a new way to tell their truth."

~ Paul, Shrinking ~

What if your students felt more motivated and focused,
and you could focus on teaching instead of managing behavior?

How much more time, energy, and focus would you have
if your teachers and staff stopped burning out and turning over?

After wrestling with stories, themes, and how narrative shapes identity and culture in a classic books honors program, Amanda chose three divergent, narrative-focal paths.

First, she became a history teacher, determined to help the next generation discover the stories they were living inside of and think critically about the one they wanted to help write for our culture as adults. Her first master teacher was a tyrant with a powerpoint, and students hated the classroom and him. Her second student teaching opportunity was divided between two educators who loved their work so much, they refused to hand it over completely. They had zero motivation and behavior problems in their classroom, and their students always had the highest test scores.

The difference?

One teacher focused on ideas, information, and issues in the classroom.

The other two invited their students into a story every day,
and then gave them the opportunity to explore its characters.

Unfortunately, the first classroom they gave her was even more apathetic than Freedom Writers, and she didn’t yet have the storytelling skills required to shift a classroom full of dysfunction, depression, and despair, and then give her growing toddler what he needed when she got home. She left, sure she would return one day when he was older and her health was better.

Second, she decided to raise her son with what she would later understand was Narrative Resonance and Intelligence instead of religious dogma, so that he could answer the most important questions for himself: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? What should I do with my time? That experiment was so successful that she begged him to co-author a book about it with her. (Raised by Story)

Third, she opened a coaching business to help entrepreneurs and experts finish books they’d been writing and editing for years. She wondered how these high-performing, over-achieving helping professionals hadn’t been able to achieve this goal until she saw their expression when asked, “Why do you care about this message?” It became clear that most of them did not want to face an old story or wound, and that Amanda would need to become a partner in both the writing and the transformation ahead. For several years, she did some deep (and deeply exhausting) work alongside individuals writing through old traumas and tragedies, developing their Narrative Intelligence and witnessing the power of Narrative Repair. Then, she had an idea: What if she used popular stories (Narrative Resonance) to help them work through shadowy content the way she’d been working through hers while raising her son on Narrative?

It was stunning.

This shift increased their results and cut their time in her writing program by half on average, strengthened the community, and reduced her compassion fatigue as a coach and facilitator. Oh, and they all had a whole lot more fun!

Amanda immediately distilled her process into narrative-driven frameworks, workshops, writing quests, and transformational encounters, the results of which all continue to confirm the truth that the combination of Narrative Resonance, Intelligence, and Repair accelerate motivation, learning, growth, and personal renewal.

Facilitating a Craft Your Heroic Narrative session for special educators at the (University of La Verne) Center for Neurodiversity, Learning, and Wellness retreat in 2018 proved to Amanda that she had discovered exactly what she needed in those classrooms long almost two decades earlier, and that she needed to find a way to take these three pillars back to education. In just a few hours, teachers on the verge of leaving their profession felt renewed in their mission and capacity to stay in the classroom and get better results with the storytelling skills that made Amanda’s master teachers so effective.

I can attest to the fact that Story is medicine because I followed my inner compass and hired Amanda Johnson to facilitate a Craft Your Own Heroic Narrative workshop for a group of special education professionals I led on retreat. Amanda masterfully helped teachers on the edge of exhaustion and career burn-out tell a new story of empowerment and possibility. Her process helps people move from a place of powerlessness and victimization to a deep sense of agency. Giving educators (who typically work in isolation in their classrooms) a chance to share their stories with peers opened the door for new friendships, healing accountability partnerships, and professional mentorships to grow from the sharing of stories. Following the retreat, several participants credited the work to encouraging them to change their minds about leaving the profession. This is the collective work we need to begin to change the culture within our institutions, and Amanda is the person to lead it.

“Narrative resilience is the ability to craft coherent, adaptive life stories that integrate adverse experiences, enhancing psychological resilience.”

Kuiper & Borowicz-Sibenik, 2005; Browne-Yung et al., 2017

Narrative Resilience Development

Half- or Full-day Workshops for Educators and Staff | Virtual or In-person

Virtual Campfires

What if your educators and staff could develop or deepen meaningful connections in a few hours, setting the tone, depth, and reciprocal nature of the relationship?

Experience the:

illuminating power of prompted writing reflections
attuning power of storytelling in community
activating power of narrative intelligence

Craft Your Heroic Narrative:
Restor(y)ing Your Calling

What if your educators could increase their professional efficacy and personal resilience?

Uncover:

more about the characters in your classroom
your own helping professional story and discover what’s depleting you
new storytelling skills that will make you more effective and fun

Beyond Classroom Management:
Accelerate Students’ Motivation and Learning with Narrative Intelligence

Story creates connection, stirs the soul, and awakens the heart.

Disccover:

how/why shifting from what my clients called Narrative Therapy to this 3 Pillar Approach increased their results and cut their time in my writing program by half on average, strengthened the community, and reduced my compassion fatigue as a coach and facilitator
examples of immersive individual and group Narrative Intelligence tools and skill-building
a quick narrative adventure to boost your capacity for increased connection to self, belonging in a communal space, and agency in your personal story

Amanda’s narrative medicine workshop on using story as a medium for facilitating awareness, healing, and growth is both magical and revolutionary. She intuitively embodies the vulnerability and courage important to crafting new narratives, serving as a trusted guide for this transformative work. Her inspiring and relatable approach is far-reaching, offering a compelling roadmap for both personal and professional growth quests; and her workshops are dynamic and interactive, leading to an organic sense of connection and community for ourselves and those we support.

Virtual Writing Quests

21 Days of Writing Prompts, Reflections, and Integration Sessions

Each quest has its own set of writing prompts and a private space for individuals to post their reflections, have a guide reflect back the truths being shared and/or ask more questions, and cheer and celebrate their allies’ movement forward. Below are a few of the themed quests already developed.

From Character to Co-Author

Use a powerful story-saving framework and shift a particular story.

Maps of Grief and Grace

Widen your lens to reclaim your power and grit, uncover the sometimes silent magic of your Co-Author, and own the hidden treasures within your whole narrative.

From Contract to Consent

Begin to renegotiate the unconscious contracts keeping you stuck in roles you no longer want to play.

Renegotiating Your Leadership

Unearth the reasons for your reticence, resistance, and revulsions to the level of leadership that beckons, and then forge an easier path.

I met The Story Oracle when I was looking to author a book. I had no idea, nor even ventured to consider, that this book I had always wanted to write would right my world in ways that no other form of education or therapy or medication or inspirational seminar or guru could. Narrative therapy on steroids, anyone? In-person retreats at wondrous locations and online retreats in my jammies at home gifted me with the guidance I needed and a community of like-minded messengers that served as a lifeline through the process and continues with the lifelong friendships that were formed.

Immersive Adventures for Educators

3.5 Full Days of Narrative Resonance, Intelligence, and Repair

Amanda’s clients call them YCMTSU (You Can’t Make This Story Up!) Encounters because they are full of moments in which individuals open portals of healing as they hear two parts of their story that they never really tell together, or find the answer they’ve been seeking on the back of a journal that was wrapped when they picked it out, or navigate an ironic series of events that unfold to reveal a truth they’ve been hiding from themselves. These are the moments when something clicks or clarifies… alters and aligns… and someone shouts, “Well, you can’t make that story up!” Below is a sneak peek at some of the retreats that have already empowered individuals from all walks of life to write better chapters for themselves and their loved ones, workplaces, communities, and industries.

Time & Destiny

Perception-jarring, time-traveling, memory-shuffling stories not only guarantee a few evenings of being on the edge of your seats with some new besties, but they create a powerful platform for us to help you see your story from a whole new perspective and maybe even travel back to moments in which you can reclaim your power to discover and unfold your destiny instead of continuing to fall victim to fate.

Contracts & Consent

Dystopian future, past, or maybe even present day stories will probably inspire a gasp or a grasp (or both), but they will also give us one of the most powerful means to uncover and rewrite the unconscious agreements that are holding your personal narrative (and our collective narrative) of disconnection, dysfunction, and disempowerment in place.

Responsibility & Power

Middle worlds and mythical creature stories will not only tap your DNA for all of its innate wisdom, but they will challenge you to explore and release the unnecessary burdens you carry and maybe even ignite even more DNA potential with a new adventure your heart has been craving.

Portals & Pretenses

Timeless wisdom beckons from just beyond the threshold, where the magic runs deep, the charades that protect (and limit) you intensify, and other-worldly mentors and allies lay everything on the line to show you that you were made for more and how to become it.

Truth & Dare

Modern-day jesters push our belly-laugh buttons while they tear down the curtain on the settings, identities, and characters driving your stories, eventually placing the right-colored microphone in your hands and daring you to act like Truth really does set us free.

Polyvagal breathing techniques, centered and grounded mindfulness approaches, cognitive-behavioral modeling, and even some smatterings of psychospiritual methods are intertwined to provide outcomes similar to that of narrative therapy. (And don't forget the dark chocolate—there is research to demonstrate that it really does help us deal with dementors!)

From the perspective of 'deep psychology,' Amanda’s process emulates that of an ancient healing pedagogy of storytelling through writing. She encourages others to define what lies outside of our conscious awareness and may even illuminate that which an author may hold in an unconscious space: thoughts, impressions, and feelings which may not have been previously admitted, even to oneself, including potential collective consciousnesses aspects with cultural and archetypal dimensions. Amanda’s invitation is in the tradition of depth work—one in which the participant may observe, grapple with, and consider what it means to really heal, and then share that journey with others who may find connection and even hope through the process.

Customize Your Adventure

Amanda is always thrilled to customize Writing Quests and Immersive Encounters to address relevant and resonant themes and challenges of your particular educators and students. While the universal themes she’s been utilizing will support anyone on a learning or growth journey, they can be adapted to your particular needs. Educators will be invited to contribute to both the development and execution.

Let’s find the most effective, enjoyable, and efficient approach to achieve the mission—some combination or adaptation of the following:

Experiential Workshop (2 hours or half-day)

Introduce your educators and staff to the concepts of Narrative Resonance, Intelligence, and Repair with a short, immersive narrative adventure designed to increase their own personal resilience and professional efficacy.

21-Day Writing Quest (Educators/Staff)

Give your employees the opportunity to experience the power of story-driven prompts, writing to uncover, and being witnessed in community. This will help them understand what students will experience while questing, benefit themselves from a narrative approach to personal growth and resilience work, and weave them more tightly into the culture of connection, caring, and collaboration.

Writing Quest Training (2 hours)

Train your educators to utilize some of the storytelling skills and tools as they facilitate these writing quests for individual students or groups of them.

21-Day Writing Quest (Students)

Educators facilitate a 21-Day Writing Quest with individual students or in a group, and share the results of this narrative approach in their students’ learning process and their own personal experience as a practitioner.

Immersive Encounters (Educators and Students)

Give your students and educators a narrative adventure, customized to address relevant and resonant themes and challenges. Educators will be invited to contribute to both its development and execution.

You Can’t Make This Story Up Encounters (Educators/Staff)

One of the most powerful ways to decrease burnout and increase retention is to send educators to a 3.5-day, story-driven retreat where they will have the opportunity to do some personal depth work with other helping professionals determined to write more powerful personal narratives for themselves and those they love and lead.

"You can't change what happened to them, but you can help them change how they carry it. It's about finding a new way to tell their truth."