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very gentle. And that's what makes me say that she is a very
intelligent woman. I wonder if that's why. Maybe it's more my sense
of injustice that makes me want to work with children having hard
times. I wonder if it is because of that care and gentleness. I want to
be gentle with the children. I want to be gentle with the families.
Besides, we're not given any resources, so the only thing I can do is
listen to the families and help them & In fact, I have a lot of anger
inside me. I do have a lot of anger inside me.
Catherine: Maybe you have an idea of what these children are going through &
maybe & for these families &
Sophie9s Sandrine: Yes, it's unbearable what these children and families are going
through, but because of the system and the lack of resources, well,
we don9t have much choice & I do not believe in the system any
longer, so I do everything I can to help the families because
otherwise they're let down. There are no resources; they're being let
down, so I just get on with it. I listen to the children and work with
their families to make things better for them. But it's unbearable,
really. The system is letting them down. The system is really letting
them down.
When I re-read this transcript, I think I could have continued exploring gentleness
and listening as signs of a shared intelligence between mother and daughter and
as the beginning of an alternative narrative to the unexplained anxiety, but I had
the impression that Sophie had made a connection, and I wanted to explore it. I
thought that the 8unexplained anxiety9 might come from her difficult work with
families and children in great distress. Sandrine's anger towards the system
allowed me to do so. I could also have gone further with the idea that, since the
system had let them down, she was 8making do9 in her own way. Which way?
Based on what ideas and strengths of moral character? I also think it would have
I Could See Myself in Her … Practising Insider Witnessing in Supervision
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, August 2026 Release, p. 111-135.
www.journalcnt.com
