journal_august_2026_release_full_edition - Flipbook - Page 31
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David:
10 minutes! Is that all, 10 minutes! Gosh, that is pretty good, don9t
you think?
Dustin:
Yeah.
David:
You know when the 16-year-old was looking at the 12-year-old doing
that, did you find you were kind of proud of him for doing it?
Dustin:
Mmm. Yeah.
David:
Because that9s a fair bit of self-reliance, isn9t it? And did you know
that the 12-year-old could relax himself? Or did you just find that out
just now?
Dustin:
(With a measure of excitement) I just found it out.
David:
Right. So, the 16-year-old now knows that there is a history, right?
There9s a history there of standing up to asthma and learning ways to
overcome it, and manage it, and direct his own life. That's pretty
good, isn9t it? Do you think that9s pretty heroic?
Dustin:
Yeah. (Some excitement)
David:
Could you show your mum and dad, and me how the 12-year-old
breathes? Could you show when he9s asthma-fighting how he
breathes?
Dustin re-enacts this again, but this time, with his consent, I place his father9s
hand on his chest to feel his son controlling the onset of wheezing. This had the
profundity of a secular ritual. It was a joy for me to see the expression of curiosity
mixed with relief on Tim9s face & and then on Marie9s face as she took her turn.
Those are unforgettable memories of mine.
David:
Good. OK. Well, you have been watching a pretty interesting
character on that TV. Right? That character on that TV is 12-year-old
Dustin going on 13-year-old Dustin. That boy had a lot of strength,
right, a lot of power and a lot of skill and a lot of knowledge. The only
What Is a Good Question—and What Does It Do? A Forty-Year Reflection on Inquiry in Narrative Therapy
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, August 2026 Release, p. 9-45.
www.journalcnt.com
