Journal December 2025 Release - Flipbook - Page 107
105
they often bred reluctance toward emotional expression and vulnerability, which
gave rise to an experience of awkwardness and, in turn, ways of coping that
undermined the core goals of therapy. While avoiding awkwardness and
discomfort once seemed like the only option, grounded in my commitment to
helping, I learned that I could choose to face these experiences differently. In
embracing awkwardness, I came to see therapeutic relationships as potential sites
of repair for the client and therapist alike. I learned that counterstories can arise
in the therapist–client relationship, allowing long-standing scars to be
experienced in renewed ways. To illustrate this, I focused on Quentin’s story and
our unconventional work together. I described the central role that awkwardness
played in shaping my use of Internalized Other practices. That awkwardness,
instead of standing in our way, became the very ground of a shared
transformation—a counterstory born from the therapeutic relationship itself and
our courage to follow where discomfort pointed.
References
Burnham, J. (2000). Internalized other interviewing: Evaluating and enhancing
empathy. Clinical Psychology Forum, 140, 16-20.
Epston, D. (1993). Internalized other questioning with couples: The New Zealand
version. In S. Gilligan & R. Price (Eds.), Therapeutic Conversations (pp. 137–
150). W. W. Norton & Company.
Epston, D., Ingamells, K., & Carlson, T. S. (2017, July). Apprenticeship in the artistry
of narrative therapy practice [Training]. Narrative Apprenticeship.
Freedman, J. & Combs, G. (1996). Narrative therapy: the social constructing of
preferred realities. W. W. Norton & Company.
Ribeiro, E., Gonçalves, M. M., & Pinto, D. (2021). Responsiveness and therapeutic
collaboration in narrative therapy. In J. C. Watson & H. Wiseman (Eds.), The
responsive psychotherapist: Attuning to clients in the moment (pp. 195–
217). American Psychological Association.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0000240-010
Schermer, T. W. (2013). The story of manhood: Using a narrative approach to
facilitate unique constructions of masculinity. Journal of Creativity in
In the Company of Awkwardness: Counterstorying Toughness in Therapy
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, December 2025 Release, p. 88 -106.
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