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the confidence to talk about a problem like racism, unless a therapist brings that
up and locates it there?
LR: As you’re talking, I had the image of a tree and how a wonderfulness inquiry
can help a person sprout branches of hope while remaining anchored at the
roots, their ancestors.
KAY: That's just lovely. And, you know, you think about the liberal, individualistic
world that we live in, and this has never been more needed. Think about how
young people9s measurement for what it is to be successful in the world mostly
comes from social media. Today, it9s all about perfection and success for
measuring up to these standards, which are never unique. They are packaged
versions of who people are. One of the things about wonderfulness inquiries is if
you really story in depth, what comes forth is a picture of that young person
which is unique to them. They can aspire to be themselves or be inspired to be
like their family or their ancestors, not like the influencers on social media.
Standing Up Against Suicidality
LR: Are there any clinical situations where you would NOT use a wonderfulness
inquiry?
KAY: In an emergency, such as a young person who is actively suicidal. That9s not
to say I wouldn9t do a wonderfulness inquiry, but I almost certainly wouldn9t
begin there. As I said, a wonderfulness inquiry is part of a whole way of seeing the
person, so I would be weaving those questions all the way through the interview
to bring forth their wisdom, strengths, and abilities. Where else is it more
important to do that than when somebody feels that life is not worth living? But it
would be a different inquiry, and that would go into, no doubt, reasons for living.
So, it would simply have a very different flavor to it.
If there were other people in the room, I would be only using them in that
emergency as much as possible to bring forward a young person9s resources,
abilities, and strength in the face of what they9ve been dealing with in life that9s
led them to feel that they might wish to take their own lives.
Kay Ingamells on the Wonderfulness Interview in Narrative Practice
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, August 2026 Release, p. 94-110.
www.journalcnt.com
