Journal October 2026 Special DISPUK Release_Full Version - Flipbook - Page 50
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Looking for Signs of Agency
It became an early example for me of how people, even in vulnerability, are doing
agency through small but meaningful actions. These actions may not always be
immediately apparent until we look for them.
Since my encounter with the elderly woman and the sunflower, I have worked on
listening for and amplifying signs of agency in the people I meet in my practice. I
see it as a kind of mindfulness practice: noticing the small actions and initiatives
that are all too easily overlooked, but which people nevertheless undertake in
their attempt to live a meaningful life.
Agency as a Counterforce to Powerlessness
The word agency refers to the ability to act and influence one9s own situation. In
narrative practice, we seek to amplify the stories that bear witness to precisely
this agency. Opposed to agency is powerlessness—a state that the Danish
psychologist and author Dorte Birkmose has described as one of the most
draining for both professionals and citizens.
When powerlessness takes hold, we can easily end up shifting it away from
ourselves. For example, we might say,
