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protagonist in their own story; champions in their lives, who they are as a
resource, who they are—someone they can be proud of in their lives. Then you9re
taking that character and using it as part of the larger counter storying endeavor
or process.
LR: When I think of moral, and I may mistakenly be conflating it with morality,
my sense is that when you say moral character, it’s far deeper than right vs.
wrong.
KAY: Yes, that9s a really interesting point. I don9t mean moral in that moral sense
of right and wrong. Instead, it draws on Aristotle9s ideas of virtue. When I say
moral, what I really mean is how people wish to be known. It9s about the values
and virtues we take pride in; those that we9re living our lives by, and that might
be something like courage, honesty, integrity, kindness. Most people live their
lives or attempt to live their lives in these ways.
Preferred Identities and Counterstorying
LR: Is this what the narrative clinician would refer to as a preferred identity?
KAY: Yes, I think those two could probably be conflated. Someone9s moral
character or preferred identity is based on how people have enacted it. It9s not
just how somebody would wish to be, it9s how they have actually evidenced
virtues in their lives. Part of a narrative wonderfulness inquiry is to actually bring
forth how people practice those things. It9s about looking for stories which really
bring to life how somebody is enacting those virtues in their lives.
LR: Some of our readers may be familiar with the notion of re-membering
conversations, so I’m wondering how these may be related to wonderfulness
inquiries.
KAY: I think that9s a very interesting question. Whilst distinct practices, you can
absolutely bring re-membering inquiries or conversations into a wonderfulness
inquiry. You can also use internalized-other questioning. Quite often, clients do
not bring people with them to interviews, and you need an audience to have
Kay Ingamells on the Wonderfulness Interview in Narrative Practice
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, August 2026 Release, p. 94-110.
www.journalcnt.com
