Michael White, one of the founders of narrative therapy passed away on Saturday, 5th April 2008. My impression is that he is possibly one of the world's alchemists, taking base metals and transmuting them into gold. He took ideas and influences from various sources, using his wonderful mind (he would rather use the word curious than wonder) questioned them, explored them in context and began to find ways to apply them to working with those who consulted him.

In this way he took the metal of ideas and transmuted them into the gold of activity, inverting the hierarchy of alchemism by grounding ideas or concepts in the everyday world of life and practice. I asked him recently what practitioners could be focusing on and what he was interesting in developing more and he answered 'inversions', that is paying attention to inverting the operations of power that those we meet are influenced by. I imagine he might like the idea of inversions operating in the realm of alchemy also.

The ability to make these ideas useful, to gather influences from various sources and present them to others in training or to those seeking consultation for problems is a gift to the world.
His influence and writings, his compassion and concern for ways of working that ease distress, are respectful and elicit choice will potentially inspire those who come in contact with his ideas for years to come. It is with gratitude that I remember his graciousness.

Deidre Ikin, Narrative Practitioner, April 2008