Journal Potuguese Release - February 2024 - Flipbook - Page 45
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For Michael White (2012), in the process of re-authoring:
People become curious about, and fascinated with,
previously neglected aspects of their lives and relationships, and as
these conversations proceed, these alternative storylines thicken,
become more significantly rooted in history, and provide people with
a foundation for new initiatives in addressing the problems, predicaments,
and dilemmas of their lives. (p. 62)
Thus, re-authorship stories were continually created, despite the challenging
routines experienced in the homes of families with children, in the face of this
amazing and uncertain planetary event. Aurora learned to wait and welcome, and
Daniel kept the presence of his ghosts alive by assigning them different levels of
kinship. Its most feared member seems to be gone, leaving other less invasive,
more friendly, and even generous in its place. One of his observations made both
to the discursive change about the problem and the relationships, and to the
construction of shared solutions: “Oh tía, I think that in the family of ghosts, the
Ghost of Fury and Ghost of Cry are brothers, like me and my brother, the others
are cousins and have good ghosts and bad ones.”
It is important to clarify that face-to-face meetings, although sporadic, were
opportunities for free and playful conversations, with the purpose of an affective
(re)encounter for exchanging events and anchoring changes. An observation
made by Aurora indicated a new position: “At home, it's like here. We disagree a
lot, but soon we calm down. The Ghost of Fury is gone and resolving complaints is
easier.” In the midst of so many complexities, by allowing ourselves to be touched
by the unexpected and be open to chance, we acquire eyes to look at
enchantment.
The good ghosts became partners in family negotiations, careful advisors for new
decisions by parents about their children's lives. And so, we said goodbye,
knowing that a new ghost was about to arrive; he was yellow and his specialty
would be to complain: “All me, why always me??...”. Thinking about the dialogic
nature of playing as a conversational tool with children, Bakhtin (1986) points to
the possibility of creating something absolutely new, based on what is given.
What is given is totally transformed into what is created and this transformation
can be formidable...
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.