Journal December 2025 Release - Flipbook - Page 62
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That experience made me feel in harmony with him. It felt so good! I felt a fierce
longing, a wish to hug him! The last three years of his life were very special
because we lived them with all our hearts, unconditionally. It was so good to
restore that. That experience gave me the chance to be with him again, and it
made me really happy. When I woke up the next morning, I was feeling good, and
I was happy!
So, it was something really beautiful. At first, I thought it wouldn’t work because
I’m far too much of a realist, and it was something which depends on imagination.
And yet, it worked! I felt those were his answers, as if he were inside me, there,
replying with great tenderness.
I can’t clearly recall the questions, but I remember the feeling of peace and joy.”
Reflections on ‘what happened here?’
É perguntando que se aprende a perguntar 16
Paulo Freire
Right at the beginnings of narrative therapy, whenever David Epston and Michael
White met, they had a kind of ritual: they would watch each other’s consultations
and talk about what was new and different in their practices. David Epston (2016)
presents it this way:
And I also recall that at the end of my visits, he would devote some
time to asking me: “What did you see me doing differently?” That
was my clue to review not only his practice but my own. And I
became just as dedicated and diligent about ‘re-seeing’ (or
researching) my practice, not by way of some sort of assessment but
rather by asking myself the questions I believe Michael was asking of
himself: “How did what happened here happen?” “What did I do that
was implicated in what happened? (p. 85)
Therefore, to close these reflections, I invite you to come with me along Brazilian
by-ways as I seek to answer the question: what did I do that was implicated in
what happened? Along this path, I introduce a few Brazilian authors who have
16
Translation: “One learns to ask by asking”.
Narractivating Conversations with the Internalised-Other: A Therapy with a Little Bit of Fairy Dust.
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, December 2025 Release, p. 45-65.
www.journalnft.com
