Journal December 2025 Release - Flipbook - Page 63
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guided me on my theoretical journey.
Let’s begin by saying that I have embraced the tríbio time proposed by Gilberto
Freyre (2001). By that I mean my understanding is informed by a non-linear time,
an ancestral-wisdom time that flows like a river, intertwining what was, what is,
and what will be into a single flow of existence. It is from this understanding that I
perceive that both the conversation with the internalised-other and the
conversation of ‘saying hullo again’ can be built and inhabited. If the ones we love
– the significant person – live within us beyond the bounds of time and space,
they can be accessed and evoked. Their voices can be heard, their stories can be
honored, and their legacies can be inhabited by us.
What Sílvia and Ayla share about their experiences during the internalised-other
conversations shows that those who have died remain present in our lives, just
waiting for us to say “hullo again” to reveal treasured stories.
I also dared to move beyond the known and familiar. I accepted Paulo Freyre’s
invitation (1987) and walked toward the untested-feasibility: that which is not yet
(hence untested) but may come to be (hence feasible). Such a path requires
patience and trust, care and respect, joy and lightness. Talking with the
internalised-other requires patience to build a scaffolding conversation that
interweaves questions and answers, trusting these moves may reveal what
matters. When the stories surface, we handle them with the care and respect of
an archaeologist handling a newly unearthed piece: brushing gently, lingering
over details, holding the discovery in wonder, and trusting in all the potential it
carries. We go on narractivating these stories, asking duende-like questions that
bring joy and ease, and contributing so that each person keeps storyliving their
life with lightness.
I also searched for the precious particle that Bernadete Lyra (2018) so often
mentions. It may be a word, an idea, a feeling, a sensation, some memory, or any
image that touches our heart and awakens in us the urgent curiosity to craft a
narrative. A unique outcome, in Michael White’s words (2012). It may be a
turquoise Vemaguet, a tender remembrance of someone who has gone… These
precious particles bring forward deep and mighty questions. Questions that make
all the difference in therapeutic encounters.
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
