Journal Potuguese Release - February 2024 - Flipbook - Page 25
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The Bad and the Good Ghosts: A Story of Reauthoring in Narrative Therapy with
Children
Adriana Bellodi Cosa César
"There's a boy, there's a kid
always living in my heart
every time the adult shivers
he comes and gives me his hand.”
Brant and Nascimento (1988)
My childhood is a never-ending playground of theoretical and practical knowledge
that has influenced my own becoming as a therapist working with children. In my
work with children, I bring my own valuable child-within who leads me through
the paths and crossroads of therapeutic work and inspires my imagination and
curiosity toward a world to be discovered. Favored by being born into a family
where other children arrived year after year, older siblings like me were taught to
take care of the younger ones. I was privileged to be raised in a generation where
neighborhoods were populated with children and playing in open spaces was
imperative. Thus, in my consultations, echoing the lines of Brazilian composer and
musician mentioned above, there is a child always living in my heart.
From this particular cultural heritage, I assumed positions that today I consider
foundational for my personal relationships, and fundamental for my clinical
practice. I understand that the therapeutic relationship with children requires
letting oneself be carried away by playful and creative coexistence, and the belief
in a collaborative relationship that transforms unhappy ways of living.
This article was produced because I felt invited to share a reflection on everyday
clinical practice, understanding it as a written dialogue between me, the author,
and other authors or readers, as suggested by Rasera and Guanaes (2006). It
involves a family consisting of parents and two children ages eight and four. The
consultations were mostly made involving the mother and her eldest son, whose
main issue was the indomitable spirit that appeared whenever he was
contradicted by her, with an abundant flow of anger, accusations, and
The Bad and the Good Ghosts: A Story of Reauthoring in Narrative Therapy with Children
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, February 2024 Release, www.journalnft.com, p. 2446.