Collective Meaning‑Making Through Shared Stories

Date: 22 October, Thursday | Time: 14:30 - 16:00 | Venue: Academia Room, L1-S4

Speakers: Ms Ng Min Yu & Mr Daniel Ho

Programme Synopsis: 

This session foregrounds the role of reflective and reflexive practice and narrative expression in healthcare. Amid clinical demands, healthcare workers often carry unprocessed experiences of witnessing suffering and pain.

Drawing from themes commonly surfaced during psychological debriefs, this workshop explores how shared storytelling can function as a space for collective meaning-making, emotional processing, and team cohesion. By engaging with one another’s narratives, participants are invited to reconnect with the human significance of their work, fostering both personal reflection and shared understanding.

Programme Details:

This session will be conducted as an experiential reflective workshop format:

1. Introduction

• Introduction to reflective and reflexive practice, as well as narrative approaches in healthcare
• Establishing group norms to support psychological safety and respectful listening

2. Small-Group Reflective Process

Participants will then be divided into small groups and guided through a series of prompts based on common themes in healthcare work, such as:

• Bearing witness to suffering
• Moments of moral distress or uncertainty
• Encounters that shaped one’s sense of purpose
• Experiences of connection, loss, or resilience

Participants will be invited to share personal stories and reflections.

3. Collective Meaning-Making

• Groups will identify shared threads across narratives
• Facilitated large-group reflection to explore:

- How meaning is constructed collectively
- How shared experiences shape professional identity
- The role of storytelling in sustaining empathy and purpose

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Appreciate the role of narrative, reflective and reflexive practice in processing healthcare experiences

Achievement of learning outcomes will be assessed through a pre- and post-session survey, measuring - Participants’ perceived level of emotional support, Sense of connection with others in healthcare, Professional meaning and pride associated with their work

Target Audience

Healthcare professionals across disciplines (e.g., doctors, nurses, allied health, medical social workers).