The Research Behind Narrative Focused Trauma Care®

The Allender Center Podcast

The Allender Center

Psychology, Religion & Spirituality, Mental Health, Christianity, Trauma, Health & Fitness, Theology

4.6 • 628 Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you’ve experienced the healing power of engaging your story—through a Story Workshop, Recovery Week, Narrative Focused Trauma Care® (NFTC) training, or a Story Group in your own context—you may have found yourself wondering: Why does this work feel so deeply transformative? What’s actually happening here?

In this special episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on a groundbreaking, multi-year research project that’s beginning to explore those very questions. Dr. Danielle Zurinsky of the Allender Center and Dr. David C. Wang of Fuller Theological Seminary join Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen to share what they’re discovering so far—and why this moment matters.

This work is part of a broader initiative we’re calling the NFTC Model Research & Publication Project. It’s an ambitious, long-term effort to clarify, codify, and formally articulate the core framework of Narrative Focused Trauma Care. Grounded in the decades-long work of Dr. Dan Allender, this project is about more than research—it’s about building a foundation that allows this healing model to be recognized, trusted, and shared more widely.

In today’s conversation, we’re letting you in early—before the publications—because we want this process to be rooted in relationship, transparency, and shared vision. Whether you’re a practitioner, a past participant, or someone simply curious about the impact of story, you’re part of this unfolding journey, too!

And if your own healing has been shaped by story engagement with NFTC, this is a chance to be part of something bigger. You can support the continuation of this growing body of research—fueling everything from the team of scholars and writers to expanded training opportunities and broader recognition in therapeutic, academic, and spiritual spaces.

You can visit theallendercenter.org/give to contribute at any financial level. We are currently fundraising to support the next phase of this project’s continuation. Your contribution will help ensure this work continues—so more people, families, and communities can experience the deep transformation that comes through engaging their stories with courage and care.

To learn more about NFTC, visit theallendercenter.org/nftc

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you've been doing some personal work, maybe through journaling, therapy, reading, or even listening to this podcast, and yet still feel like there's something missing, you're not alone.
0:14.5	Our stories were never meant to be engaged in isolation.
0:18.6	That's why participating in a story workshop with the Allender Center can be such a powerful
0:23.5	next step.
0:24.9	I'm Rachel Clinton-Centon, and I want to personally invite you to this unique in-person
0:29.6	experience in Seattle, happening August 21 through 24, 2025.
0:35.8	Over the course of three and a half days, you'll receive live teaching from Dan Allender,
0:41.1	Wendell Moss, and myself, and other Allender Center instructors.
0:45.7	But what makes this workshop truly transformative is the time you'll spend in a story group,
0:51.7	a small, intimate setting, led by a trained facilitator who will walk
0:56.1	with you as you engage a part of your story with care and courage. It's a space marked by
1:01.8	compassion, reflection, and healing, a space where deep change becomes possible. If you're
1:08.6	feeling called to take your storywork further and to do it in community,
1:12.9	this might be the next step you've been looking for. Learn more and register now at the
1:18.7	allandercenter.org slash workshops. We would love to have you with us.
1:46.2	Thank you for listening to the Allender Center podcast.
1:48.1	I'm Dr. Dan Allender.
1:49.7	And I'm Rachel Clinton-Cent. We're fiercely committed to providing hope and healing to a fragmented world.
1:54.5	And restoration for the heart.
1:56.9	Thank you for joining us.
1:58.2	Let's get this conversation started.
2:09.2	Thank you for joining us. Let's get this conversation started. I've put words to this before, Rachel, that I didn't get through algebra one twice. I failed both times. And my math ability, rather,
	...

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