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2

The Client is the Expert: a Not-Knowing

Approach to Therapy

Harlene A nderson and Harold Goolishian

Tha i an inereing and compicaed queion If a peron ike ouhad found a wa o ak wih me when I wa r going craz aa he ime of m deuion ha I wa a grand miiar fgure I

knew ha hi [deuion wa a wa ha I wa ring o e mef haI coud overcome m panic and fear. . . Raher han ak wih meabou hi, m docor woud awa ak me wha I ca condiionaqueion [To which he herapi inquired Wha are condiionalqueion?]

You [he profeiona] are awa checkig me ou . checking meou o ee if I knew wha ou knew raher han find a wa o ak wihme You woud ak I hi an ahra? o ee if I knew o no. I waa if ou knew and waned o ee if I coud ha on made memore frighened more panicked. If ou coud have aked wih he me'

ha knew how frighened I wa If ou had been abe o underandhow craz I had o be o ha I coud b rong enough o dea wihhi ife hreaening fear . hen we coud have handed ha crazgenera

h wods ar thos of a ongdoo tatnt fai athrtyyaod an, Bl who had bn hosptazd on sraoccasons for what had bn dagnosd as paranod schzophrniaHs pros tratnt contacts had bn nsccssf H had

raind angry and sspcos and h had bn nab to workfor so t Throgh ch of hs adt f h was sporadcayon antnanc doss' of psychoact dcaton A th t hirst constd on of th athors h had onc or bn firdfro a achng ob Mor rcnty, th man had graty prodand had bn ab to hod down a ob H insistd that his currntthrapist was dirn fro th othrs and that h now ft orcapab of managng his if I was this conrsationa contt thatnfncd h quson, Wha if anything, cod yor prioshrapss hav don dirny that woud hav n mor usuto you'

In his convrsaion B was rfrring to his princ ofthrapy a praccd y th athors and thir coags at thoston Gavson Famiy Insu. Ths s a hrapy a asn vovng ovr h as wnyv yars. Durng hs im h



26 Constructing the heoretcl Context

hinking ha unegne a maj hif aa fm he uua heief cia cience ha pica infm pchheap he iea ihi chape epeen a cuen inee in an inepeive an

hermeneuic appach uneaning herap peciica heheapi piin f nkning an i eevance he ninf herapeuic cnveain an cnveaina uein iicue

Fm Scil Sce be Geei f HmMeig

Ove he a evea ecae evepmen in he emic

heapie have aempe evep a cncepua famek habpae he eaie empiicim f heie f heap Theeevepmen hife fami heap hinking ha i caeecnre cbeneic an uimae cnucivim Of ae iha been u cncuin (Anen an Gihian, 988, 198919a ha here are eiu imi hi cbeneic paraigm ai infrm heap pacice hee imi are pincipa in hemechani meph uneing cbeneic feeback her We

ne ha ihin hi meaph hee i ie ppruni eawih he eperience f an iniviua We a ee imied uii inhe increaing ppua cgniive an cnucivi me hauimae ene human a impe n/ormaton-procngmachnes a ppe meanng-generatng bengs (Anern anGihian, 1988, 1990a; Gihian an Anen, 1981

Meanhie, u eveping heie f herap are apimving ar a me hemeneuic an inepeive piin Thii a vie ha emphaize meaning' a ceae an eperience b

iniviua in cnverain wih ne anhe n puui f hi nehereia bae, e have evepe a number f iea ha mveur uneraning an epanain f herap in he arena fhifing em ha ei n in he vagarie f icure,nguage an cnverain i a piin ha i nee in hemain f emanic an naaive Our curren iin eanheavi n he view ha human acin ake pae in a reai funeraning ha i ceae hrugh cia cnrucin andgue (Anern an Gihian, 1985; Anen e , 1986a;Anern an Gihian, 1988 Frm hi piin, pepe ive,an uneran heir iving, hrugh cia cnuced nrraivereiie ha give meanng an rganiin heir eperience i a wr f humn anguage an icure Erie, we havek au hee ie, abu em f menng, uner herubric f pbemeermined em, prbemrgnzng i



he Clent s the Expert 27

sovg syses ad aguage syses Adeso ad Goosa 98 Adeso e a. 986a b; Adeso ad Goosa 988Goosa ad Adeso 987.

u ue aave poso eas eavy o e oogpeses Adeso ad Goosa 988 Goosa ad Ade-so 9.

s ua syses ae aguagegeeag ad suae-ousy eaggeeag syses. Couao ad dsousedee soa ogazao A soouua syse s e poduo soa ouao ae a ouao beg podu o suua ogazao A ua syses aegus syses ad ae bes desbed by ose papag

ae a by ousde obeve obseves. e tepetcsste s sch lngstc sste

eody eag ad udesadg ae soay osuede do o ave a o ave eag ad udesadg u eae ouave ao a s egage soe eaggeeag dsouse o daogue e syse o eouao as eevae. A therpetc sste s sste jowhch the concton hs relevnce specjc to ts dlogcl

exchngedy ay syse eapy s oe a as daogayoaesed aoud soe pobe' s syse be egaged evovg aguage ad eag spe o se spe o sogazaos ad spe o s dssouo aoud e pobe ee e eapy yse s a syse a s dsgusedby e evovg oeaed eag e pobe ae a aabay soa suue su as a ay he therpetc sste probleorgnzng, probledssolvng sste

ouy eapy s a gus eve a akes pae a ea a eapeu ovesao e eapeu ovesao s auua sea ad expoao oug daogue a oayexage a ssossg o deas e eags aeouay evovg oad e dssovg o pobes adus e dssovg o e eapy syse ad ee e probleorgnzng proble-dssolvng sste

y e oe o e eaps s a o a ovesaoa as a ae o e daoga poess ose expese s e

aea o eag a spae o ad aag a daoga ovesao e therpt s prtcpntobserver nd prtcpntjclttor oj the therpetc converston

xy e eaps exeses s eapeu a oug euse o ovesaoa o eapeu quesos e eapeuqueso s e pay sue o aae e deveope o



28 Constctng the heoetcal Context

conversationa space and the diaogica process To accompish thisthe theast execses an exetse n askng qestons fom a oston of <not-nowng athe than asng qestons that ae

nfomed by method and that demand secc answes.Seventhy, probems we dea with in therapy are actions that

express or hman narratives in sch a way that they diminish orsense of agency and persona iberation Probems are concerned oraarmed objection to a state of affairs for which we are nabe to

define competent action (agency) for orseves. In this sense,olems exst n langage and oblems ae nqe to thenaate contt fom whch the dee the meanng.

Eighthy, change in therapy is the diaogica creation of new

narrative, and therefore the opening of opportnity for newagency. The transformationa power of narrative rests in itscapacity to rereate the events of or ives in the context of new

and different meaning We le n and thogh the naate denttes that we deelo n conesaton wth one anothe. The skiof the therapist is the expertise to participate in this process Orsef is aways changing

These premises pace heavy emphasis on the roe of angage,

conversation, sef, and story as they infence or cinica theoyand work. Today there is mch interest among therapists abotthese isses in the contining attempts to nderstand and describecinica work. There are, however, very different views emergingSome writers emphasize the stabiity over time of the personanarratives that we work with in therapy We, on the other hand,emphasize the aways hanging, evoving, and diaogica basis ofthe stoy of the sef n taing this position, we fnd orsevesemphasizing the therapist position of not-knowng in the nder

standing that deveops throgh therapetic conversation Theconcept of not-knowing is in contrast to therapist nderstanding

that is based in prehed theoretica narrativesNotknowing reqires that or nderstanding, expanations,

and interpretations in therapy not be imited by prior experiencesor theoreticay formed trths, and knowedge This description of

the notknowing position is inflenced by hermenetic and inter

pretive theories and the reated concepts of socia constuctionism,angage, and narrative Gergen, 1982 Shapiro and Sica, 1984Shotter and Gergen, 1989; Wachterhaser, 1986). This hermenetic

position represents the theory and practice of intepretationFndamentay, it is a phiosophical stance that maintains thatnderstanding is always interpretive . . that there is no priviegedstandpoint for nderstanding' Wachterhaser, 1986: 39) and thatangage and history are always both conditions and imts to



he Clent s the Expet 9

understnding (Wchterhuser, 1 986 6) Mening nd understnding re socilly constructed by persons in converstion, inlnguge with one nother Thus, humn ction tkes plce in

relity of understnding tht is creted through socil constructionnd dilogue These socilly constructed nrrtive relities givemening nd orgnition to ones eperience Gergen, 198 Shotter nd Gergen, 1989 Anderson nd Goolishin, 1988).

hepeutic Cnein: Diic Me

The process of therpy bsed on this stnce, on this dilogiclview, is wht we cll therpeutic converstion Therpeuticconverstion refers to n endevor in which there is mutulserch for understnding nd explortion through dilogue ofproblems Therpy, nd hence the therpeutic converstion,entils n in there together process eople tlk with onenother nd not to one nother t is echnism through whichthe therpist nd the client prticipte in the codevelopment onew menings, new relities, nd new nrrtives The therpistsrole, expertise, nd emphsis is to develop free converstionl

spce nd to fcilitte n emerging dilogicl process in which thisnewness cn occur The emphsis is not to produce chnge but toopen spce for converstion n this hermeneutic view, chnge intherpy is represented by the dilogicl cretion of new nrrtiveAs dilogue evolves, new nrrtive, the notyetsid stories, remutually created Anderson and Goolishin, 1988 Chnge instory nd selfnrrtive is n inherent consequence of dilogue

Achieving this specil kind of therpeutic converstion requirestht the therpist dopt notknong position. The notknowing

position entils generl ttitude or stnce in which the therpistsctions communicte n bundnt, genuine curiosity Tht is, thetherpists ctions nd ttitudes express need to know morebout wht hs been sid, rther thn convey preconceivedopinions nd expecttions bout the client, the problem, or whtmust be chnged The therpist therefore, positions himself orherself in such wy s lwys to be in the stte of beinginformed by the client (client in this chpter refers to one ormore persons) This being informed position is criticl to thessumption in hermeneutic theory tht the dilogicl cretion ofmening is wys continuing process n notknowing thetherpist dopts n interpretive stnce tht relies on the continuingnlysis of experience s it is occurring in context

The therpist does not know, prior, the inen of any action,

but rther must rely on the explntion me by the client. By



30 Constctng the Theoetcal Contt

eari b curiosit a b taki the ciets stor serious thetherapist jois with the ciet i a utua exporatio of the cietsuestai a experiece. Thus the pocess of iterpetatio

the strue to uersta i therap becoes coaboative. Sucha positio aows the therapist awas to aitai cotiuit withthe ciets positio a to rat pria ipotace to the cietswo views eais a uestais This aows cietsroo for coversatioa oveet a space sice the o oerhave to proote protect or covice the therapist of their viewThis reaxi this reeasi process is siiar to a otioattribute to ateso: specifca i orer to eterai ew orove ieas there ha to be roo for the faiiar This oes otea that the therapist eveops a offers the ew ieas or theew eais. The eere fro the iaoue betwee the therap-ist a the ciet a thus are cocreate The therapist sipbecoes par of the circe of eai or hereeutic circe (foriscussios of the circe of eai or the hereeutic cice seeWachtehause 1986: 3 Warke 1987: 837).

I therap the hereeutic cice or circe of eani efes tothe iaoica pocess thouh whch itepretatio beis with the

theapists pecoceptios. The therapist awas etes thetheapeutic aea with expectatios about the issues to be iscussethat ae base o the theapists pior expeieces a the efeaiforatio. Therap awas beis with a questio base o thisaea ceate eai. The eai that eees i theap isuestoo fo this whoe (the theapists precoceptios) butthis whoe is i tur uerstoo fro the eeri parts (theciets sto) Therapist a cit ove back a forth withi thiscice of eai. The ove fro pat to whoe to part aai

thus reaii withi the circe. this process ew eaieees fo both therapist a ciet.

To otkow is not to have a ufoue o uexpeiece juet but efers oe wie to the set of assuptios theeais that the therapist bis to the ciica iterview Theexteet fo the theapist is i ea the uiqueess of eachiiviua ciets arrative truth the coheet truths i thei stoieives. This eas that therapists ae awas pejuice b their

experiece but that the ust iste i such a wa that their preexpeiece oes ot cose the to the fu eai of the cietsesciptios o their experiece. This ca o happe if the theapist appoaches each ciica exeiece fro the positio of otkowi. To o othewise is o seach fo euarities a ooeni that a vaiate the theapists theo but ivaiate theuniqueess of the ciets stories a thus thei ve ietit.



he Clent s the Eert 3 1

Te development of new meaning reles on te novelty and te newness te not-nowing of wat it is tat te terapist is abotto ear Tis reqires tat te therapist ave a ig capacit

simltaneosly to attend to bot inner and oter conversationGadamer as stated:

A peson yn o undesand a ex s pepaed fo t o e msomen Ta s y a emeneutcay taned mnd mus be fome sa sensve to e texs qualy of neness But s knd ofsenstvy nvoves nee neuay' n e mae of e objec no exncon of one's sef but e conscous assmaton of one's onbas so a e ex may pesen sef n a s neness and us beable o asse s on u agans one's foemeanngs (1975: 238)

nterpreting and nderstanding, then is always a dialoge betweenterapist and client and is not te reslt of predetermined,teoretical narratives that are essential elements of the terapists

world of meaning.Central to the many lingistic and socially derived narratives that

operate in behavioral organization are tose that contain within

them te elements articlated as self-descriptions or first-person

narratives. The development of tese self-defining narratives takes

place in a social and local context involving conversation with signficant oters including oneself. That is people live in and

throgh the ever-canging narrative identities that they develop in conversation wit one anoter. Individuals derive teir sense of social agency for action from these dialogically derived narrativesNaatve per (o inibt) a personal perception of freedom or competency to mae sense and to act agency). Te problemsdealt wit in therapy can be thoght of a emanating from social narratives and selfdefinitions tat do not yield an agency tat is

effective for the tass implicit in their selfnaratives Therapyprovides opportunity for the development of new and different

narrative tat permit an expanded range of alternative agency for'problem dissolution. It is the accomplishment of tis new narrative agency that is experienced as freedom and liberation by

tose who view therapy as sccessfl.

At te same time tis liberation reqires a shift away from thetraditional concept of therapistclient separation. We view client and terapist a being togeter in a system tat evolves over the

course of the therapetic conversation. Meaning becomes a fnction of teir relationship From this perspective client andtherapist are seen a mutually affecting eac other s meaning and

meaning becomes a byprodct of mutuality. Client and therapist

are dendent in the moment-to-moment ceation of new under

standings In effect they generate a dialogically shared meaning



32 Conscng he heoecal Conex

ha exiss on a he momen in he herapeui onversaionwhih oninues o hange hroughou ime

Cnvesaina Qesins Keeping Unesaning onhe Way

Tradiiona quesions in herap are nuened b he herapissexperise an experse reeve o a heoreia undersanding andknowedge o pshoogia phenomenon and human behaviorTha is he herapis expains (diagnoses and inervenes (reashe phenomenon or havor rom his prior knowedge base romgeneraized heor n dong hs herapiss emphasize (and proe heir own narraive oherene raher han he ien's This knowing posiion is simiar o wha runer 1984) disinguishes as aparadigmai posure versus a narraive posure n heparadigmai posure he inerpreer ouses on expanaion haemphasizes a denoaive undersandng genera aegories andbroader rues For exampe he use o oneps suh as "id superego, or smpom unionai' are he pe o broad aegoriesofen deeoped in he proess o herapeui undersanding To

ak quesions in herap rom a knowing posiion is wihruner's paradigmai posure in ha he response is imied o heherapiss prehed heoreia perspeive n onras he noknowing posiion smar o runers narraive posure suggess a differen kind o experise one ha is imied o heproess o herap raher han o he onen (diagnosis andhange (reamen o pahoogia sure

The herapeui or onversaiona quesion is he primar ooha he herapis uses o express his experise is he means

hrough whih he herapis remains on he road o undersandingTherapeui quesions awas sem rom a need o know moreabou wha has jus been said Thus he herapis is awas beinginormed b he iens sories and is awas earning new anguageand new narraive Quesions ha are over direed b amehodoog risk squehing he herapis's opporuni o be edb he ciens ino heir own words The bais of herapeui ques-ioning is no simp o inerrogae he ien or o gaher informa-

ion for vaidaing or supporing hpoheses Raher he aim is oaow he cien o ead he herapiss own range of undersaningino quesion.

n his hermeneui sense during he proess of pshoheraphe herapis is no apping a mehod o quesioning u raheris coninua adjusing his or her undersanding o ha of heoher person Thus he herapis is awas in he press of



he Cent s the xpet 33

understandng awas on the wa to understandng and awashangng Notknowng questons reet ths therapst poston andths therapeut proess Thus the therapst does not domnate the

ent wth expert pshooga knowedge so muh as he or she sed b and earns rom the expertse o the ent The therapststask thereore s not to anaze but to attempt to understand tounderstand rom the hangng perspetve o the ent's eexperene The obet n hermeneut understandng s to et thephenomena ead B's ords at the begnnng o ths hapter seemnded a ament or ust ths sort o understandng

Locl Mning nd Locl Dloghe proess o questons generated rom the poston o not-knowng resuts n the deveopment o a oa (daogaonstruted understandng and a oa (daog voabuar Loareers to the anguage the meanng and the understandngdeveoped between persons n daogue rather than broad hedutura sensbtes t s through oa understandng that onemakes ntmate sense out o memores pereptons and hstores

Through ths proess the spae or ontnung new narratve wthnew hstor and thus new uture remans openThe ssue o oa meanng and oa anguage s mportant

beause t seems that there s a range o experenes and a wa oknowng these experenes that s suffent derent romknower' to knower whh w var rom therap to therapGarnke 197) and Shotter 19) make the strong pont that nan onversaton the partpants w reuse to understand what sbeng sad other than wthn the meanng rues whh have been

negotated wthn the ontext o the mmedate daoga exhangetse Meanng and understandng s aordng to Garnkeawas a matter o negotaton beteen the patpants The trad-tona paradgmat anguage o genera pshooga and amtheor an never be sufent to expan or understand oaderved meanng To attempt to understand the rstpersonexperenes that therapsts dea wth n therap through the use ogenera pshooga and am modes as we as the assoatedvoabuares eads to a reduton to stereotpa theoreta

onepts n usng suh onepts suh preknowedge to understand the ents narratve therapsts oten ose touh wth theents oa deveoped meanngs and an onstran the ent'snarratve The therapst thereore beomes an exper n askngquestons about the stores tod n therap n a wa tat he ues-tons reate to the reasons or onsutaton (or exampe the



34 Contctng the heoetca Contt

probem as repored) o do hs requres ha he heraps remanaenve o he deveopmen o and undersand whn he censanguage he narrave and he meaphors ha are specc o he

probem

Wh Therpeic Qesios re Not

herapeuc quesons from a noknowng poson are n manyways smar o socaed Socrac quesons hey are no rheorcaor pedagogcal quesons Rheorca quesons gve her ownanswers pedagogcal quesons mpy he drecon of he answerQuesons n radona herapy are ofen of hs naure ha s

hey mpy drecon correc reay) and eave he cen a hn norder o reach he correc answer

n conras noknowng quesons brng no he open somehng unknown and unoreseen o he ream o possby herapeuc quesons are mpeed by derence n undersandng andare drawn rom he fuure by he asye unreaied possby of acommuny of knowedge n askng rom hs poson he herap-s s abe o move wh he noyesad Anderson and

Gooshan 9) herapeuc quesons aso mpy may possbeaswers oversaon n herapy s he ufodg of hese yeusad possbes hese yeunsad narraves hs processacceeraes he evouon of new persona reaes ad agency haemerge from he evovng o new narraves New meang andherefore ew agency s experenced as change n ndvdual andsoca organzao

Ce ampe: Ho long hae yo had th

dee?'A frusraed psycharc coeague requesed a consuaon on anmerabe case a foryyearod man who chrocay fe hehad a coagous dsease and was perpeuay feng ohers evenkg hem wh Mupe negave medca cosuaons andpsychoherapes had faed o reeve he man of hs convcon andfear abou hs nfecous dsease. Ahough he aked of dffcues hs marrage hs we ddn undersad hm) ad hs nabyo work hs primary concern was hs dsease and he everspreadng conamnaon He was rghened dsraugh adunabe o be a peace because of he harm and desrcon ha heknew he as spreadng

Eary n hs sory wrngng hs hands he od abou bengdseased ad nfecous he consuan Gooshan) asked hmHow og have you had hs dsease? Lookng asonished and



The Cent i the Expert 35

aer a ong paue he man began o e hi ory I began heaid when he wa a young merchan eaman. Whie in he Far Eahe had exua conac wih a proiue ferward remembering

he ecure on exuay ranmied dieae ha were given o hecrewmen on he boa he feared ha hi u had expoed him oone of hee horribe exua dieae and ha he required rea-men. Panicked he wen o a oca cinic for conuaion. hicinic he expained hi fear o a nure who wa from a reigiouorder She en him away aying ha hey did no rea exuaperv here ha he needed confeion and God no medicineFor a ong ime afer ha ahamed and guiridden he kep hiconcern o himef and confided in no one

When he reurned home from ea he wa i frighened ha hehad conraced ome dieae bu he coud no bring himef oconfde in anyone. He woud appear a variou medica cinic akfor a phyica examinaion and be od ha he wa in exceenhape. Thee negaive repor convinced him ha hi dieae wamuch wore becaue i wa unknown o medica cience hiconcern grew he began o hink ha he wa infeciou and ha hewa conaminaing oher. Thi conaminaion of oher became

uch a probem ha he evenuay reaied ha he wa infecingoher indirecy for exampe by viewing eeviion or by ieningon he radio He coninued o conu phyician bu he phyicaand aboraoy examinaion were away negaive By now he wabeing od no only ha he did nt have a dieae bu ha he ddave a mena condiion and he wa refered on evera occaionfor pychiaric conuaion Ove ime he became convinced hano one underood he erioune f hi conaminaion he exenof hi dieae nor he derucion he wa cauing.

he conuan coninued o how inere in hi diemma heman became more reaxed. Somewha animaed he eaboraed hioy and joined wih he conuan curioiy. The conuan didno impy ake a hiory or recoec even of he aic pa. Hicurioiy remained wih he man' reaiy (he dieae andconaminaion probem The inen wa no o chaenge he man'reaiy or he man' ory bu raher o earn abou i and o ei be reod in a way ha aowed he oppruniy for new meaning

and new narraive o emerge In oher word he conuan'inen wa no o ak or manipuae he man away from hi ideabu raher hrough noknowing (nonnegaion and nonjudgmeno provide a aing poin for diaogue and he opening of converaiona pace.

Coeague viewing he ineiew pre ere quie criica ofhi coaboraive poiion and of queion ike Ho ong ave



36 onucin h Thoicl onx

you hd this disease? They feared that such questions have theeffect of reinforcing the patient 'hypochondriacal delusionMany suested that a safer question woud have been, 'How on

hv you houh you had this disease?The not-knowin position, however, precludes the stance that

the mans stor was deusiona. He said he was sick Thus, it wasnecessary to hear more, to learn more about his sickness, and toconverse within this lanuaed reality Bein sensitive to and tryin

to understand the mans reity was an essential step in a continuous process towards estabishin and maintainin a dialoue Itwas critica that the consultant remain within the rues of meaninas developed in the loca conversation and to tak and understand

in the familiar lanuae and vocabulary of the cient This is notthe same as condonin or reifyn anothers reaity It is a conversational movin within the sense of what has just been said Itmoves with the narrative truth of the cients stoy rather than

chenin it, and remains within the ocaly deveoped and ocalyneotiated meanin system

To have asked a safer question like 'How lon is it that youhnk you have been diseased? woud ony have served to impose

the consutants predetermined or knowin and 'paradimaticview that the disease was a ment o the mans imaination or adelusion and distortion in need of correction In response to sucha question the suspicious man woud have been et to opraterom his own preconceived ideas and expectations o the consultant Most likey, once aain, he woud have elt misunderstoodand alienated The consultant would have ben just one more inthe ineup of proessionas who coud not beieve and who asked'conditiona questions Misunderstandin and alienation are inre

dients that cose rather than open dialoueUpn lavin this inteview, the man was sked by the referrin

psychiatrist (who had bn obsein) how the inteiew went isimmediate rponse was, You know, he bieved me! In a foowup conversation, the psychiatrist describd the continuin efectthat the inteview had on himsef and the cient e said that thetherapy sessions seemed s dicut and that the mns ie situation was much better Somehow, he sad, whether or not the mn

was infected was no loner an issue The man was now deainwith his mriae and unempoyment probems and there had evenn me conoint sessions with the mans wie The consutantsnotknowin opnd a statin pint or, a pssibiity or, adioic echane betwen the cient d himse, btwn thecient and the psychiatist, and twn the psyciatist andhise



Th n s h xp 37

This does no sgges ha he conslan's qesions prodced amiracle cre Nor is i o sgges ha any oher qesion woldforce a frher herapeic impasse No magical qesion or iner-

venion can singlarly infence he developmen of a life No oneqesion can open a dialogical space Nor does he qesion iselcase someone o shi meaning, o have or no o have a new idea, raher, each qesion is an elemen of an overall process

The herapis's cenral ask is o nd he qesion o which heimmediae reconing of experience and narraive presens heanswer Sch qesions canno be preplanned or preknown Whahas js been old, wa has js been reconed, is he answer owhich he herapis ms ind he qesion The developing

herapeic narraive is aways presening he herapis wih henex qesion From his perspecive, qesions in herapy arealways driven by he immediae conversaional even To noknowmeans ha he accmlaed experience and ndersanding of hespecific herapis is always ndergoing inerpreive change is inhis local and conining process of qesion and answer ha apariclar ndersanding or a pariclar narraive becomes a saring poin for he new and noyesaid'

Summ

Therapeic conversaion and herapeic qesions ha sem fromhe posiion of noknowing become a collaboraive effor ofgeeraing new meaning based o he lingisic and explanaoryhisory of he clien, as his or her sory is coninaly reold andelaboraed hrogh he herapeic dialoge This kind ofdialogica exchange faciliaes he change in irsperson narraive

ha is so necessary o change in herapy. New fres resl fromdeveloping narraives ha give new meanings and ndersandingso one's life and enable differen agency n herapy his is besaccomplished by qesions born of a genine criosiy for hawhich is noknown abo ha which has s bn said.

Telling one's sory is a represenaion of exrience i isconsrcing hisory in he presen The represenaion reecs heeller's redescripion and reexplanaion of he experience inresponse o wha is noknown by he herapis Each evolvesogeher and inences he oher as well as he experience, andhs, he represenaion of he experience This does no mean hain he corse of herapy herapiss simply narrae wha has areadybeen known They do no recover some idenical picre or soryaher herapiss explore he reorces o he noesaid'People have imaginaive memory Ps accons are rerieved in



38 onsucin h Thoicl onx

sch wy tht th powr of contlss nw possibilitis is invokdnd ths nw iction nd nw history r crtd. mgintion isconstittd in th invntiv powr of lngg throgh th ctiv

procss of convrstion th srching for th notytsid n thrpy intrprttion, th strggl to ndrstnd, is lwys

dilog btwn clint nd thrpist. t is not th rslt ofprdtrmind thorticl nrrtivs ssntil to th thrpitsworld of mning. n ttmpting to ndrstnd th clint thssmption mst b md tht th clint hs somthing to sy, ndtht this somhing mks nrrtiv sns ssrts its own trth,wihin th contxt of th clint's dvloping story. h thrpistsrspons to th sns of th clints story nd its lmnts is incontrdiction to th trditionl position in thrpy which is torspond to th nonsns, or pthology, of wht hs bn sid. nthis procss th nwly cothord nrrtiv ndrstnding mst bin th ordinry lngg of th clint A thrptic convrstionis no mor thn slowly volving nd dtild, concrt, individllif story stimltd by th thrpists position of notknowing ndh thrpists criosity to lrn. t is this criosity nd notknowing tht opns convrstionl spc nd ths incrss th

potntil for th nrrtiv dvlopmnt of nw gncy ndprson frdom.

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