journal_august_2026_release_full_edition - Flipbook - Page 43
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Michael often referred to therapeutic conversation as entering the subjunctive
mode: What might be possible? What could be imaginable? What may yet
become known?
Good questions seem to invite people just beyond the boundaries of their current
thinking without abandoning them to bewilderment. They move beyond what has
already been thought while remaining within reach of what can still be imagined.
This, I believe, is especially important in conversations with children and young
people. Questions may eventually take us beyond familiar horizons, but first they
must remain close enough to permit participation.
Looking back, I suspect Dustin9s conversation with his twelve-year-old self
emerged in precisely this way. It was certainly beyond his current understanding
of asthma, yet not beyond what he could imaginatively reach.
Questions that stay with us
Thirdly, one respondent memorably remarked:
