Welcome to the Nerds of Narrative therapy podcast. Nerds of Narrative focuses on the decolonization of traditional therapeutic practices through the use of pop culture, personal expression through art and storytelling, decentralizing the therapist as the expert and flattening the hierarchy, and much more.
Nerds of Narrative Podcast is the brainchild of Del’s CoHost Lori Pranger, AMFT. Lori and Del met in therapy practice together through the Gender Health Center. Del has been broadcasting with KVMR Community Radio in Nevada City, CA since 2011 and engineers our podcast episodes. Finley Terhune, LMFT and Ashley Harrinauth, LMFT, round out our brain trust and appear in most episodes, along with special guests. Our combined experience brings unique and creative perspectives to therapy practice.
Episodes- Listen
The Brain Trust
Del Phoenix, MSW, ACSW (They/Them/Theirs) is a self-described bookworm and geek with an interest in sci-fi and fantasy, table-top & board games, and art. As an ACSW, Del uses pop-culture and art with clients to aid in re-authoring their lives. Del believes in personal revolution and liberation as the foundation of social justice and change and brings a background in Sociology and LGBTQ+ and Gender studies to their private practice and community education work.
Lori Pranger, AMFT (She/Her/Hers) is an associate MFT, supervised by Dr. David Nylund. Lori utilizes Narrative Therapy, pop-culture, media, and game theory in her therapeutic work to support her clients in their pursuit of more preferred stories and experiences about themselves, their lives, and their futures.
Ashley Harrinauth, LMFT (She/Her/Hers) “You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep rereading the last one” (Michael McMillian). As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, my approach for working with clients is to take an investigative stance. My interest and curiosity in psychological assessments landed me in a doctoral program to finish my PsyD in Clinical Psychology. My clinical experiences include OUSD, FSUSD, and many outpatient clinics spanning from Santa Rosa to Sacramento. As a clinician, I bring my personality into the therapeutic space to normalize lived experiences. My clinical interests include other therapists, families, couples, teenagers and women.
Finley Terhune, LMFT (they/them/theirs) is a self-identified geek-of-all-trades. Some of their earliest memories involve what would now be called fanart of X-Men characters, drawn by an unofficial “aunt” – and the curiosity and fondness only grew from there. At various times in their life, Finley has hyperfocused and/or fanpersoned around subjects from Narrative therapy to Supernatural to Monopoly (really – at this point in time they own 63 distinct versions of Monopoly, three official spin off games, and two unofficial Monopoly-adjacent games – most of which have been gifts at this point!) and probably at least a little bit of everything in between.
These days, Finley spends their professional time working in private practice in Sacramento, California, consulting and supervising – particularly in regards to Narrative Therapy, and work with LGBTQIA+ folks across the lifespan – and continuing to build Unique Outcomes, a collective of therapists who focus on Narrative work, accessible pricing for clients, and who can competent provide services for transgender communities as well as other marginalized and under-served populations.
