Mapping

 

'A mapping displays the contents of the story by posing structured questions to be considered and addressed. These questions are about what happens in the context in which a topic, cluster of words, or a theme is active. They are a shift from general inquiry into a consideration and reflection on what is now known. In this capacity their purpose is to facilitate a movement towards clarifying gains in understanding and making conceptual links which ultimately lead to making choices for change or actioning new knowings' [Miecat Inc., 2016, pp. 10].  

 

This process was definitely the one I struggled most with, both companioning and being companioned. From the moment we begun, I felt a rush of self awareness and strangely, a heightened anxiety. Because of this, I felt moments leaning towards interpreting, analysing and offering rather than listening. This was a really clear example of the tension that had continuously been discussed throughout the week. That deep buzzing that happens when you companion, that desire/curiosity/connection that comes from learned behaviour in the ‘everyday’ sense, where the flow of conversation takes leaps and bounds influenced by a co-existence of multiplicity. That being, so often when we are relational we are also on an entirely independent journey, because our ability to listen, truly listen, and stay present is distracted by our excitement and our entire social/historical/political/emotional landscapes - all wanting a cut of the space.

 

This was a really important thing to experience because I could feel the lack of presence and need/want to bracket in my own curiosity and interpretation which inevitably meant that I lost faith in the process. However, there was a clear moment, where we were both surrounded by dead space and an unknowing of the process. This moment was delightfully still, where we both clearly returned to breath and transitioned into a comfortable silent space. It was from this place that we were able to continue with the support of the procedures and relational ethics framework, which integrally guides this process of ‘allowing for moments of relational depth to arise.’ This provided a ‘larger sense of spaciousness and expansion of awareness and perception’ [Geller, 2013, pp. 176]. This spaciousness and finer attunement to the space between, is articulated as a fluid process of; receptivity, inwardly attending, extending and contacting in Geller and Greenberg's [2013] article on The process of therapeutic presence. This receptivity, inward attending, connecting to breath and extending an authentic response to what was happening right now seemed to powerfully generate a clear flow of communication and connection between. It was in this moment where I felt what Geller then articulates as an extrasensory level of communication. It's a difficult moment to articulate, but one of the therapists that responded to this stated that, 'It is in this present moment, without the boundaries of you being as much a projection of me and I am of you and so, the meeting is somewhere in a much more profound, sacred space at that point... the feelings are, of course, shared' [pp. 99].  

Here is where I  felt a deeper attunement and stepped back from needing to ‘do’ anything. This is where the process shifted and the ‘lesser known’ began to show itself. There was visual literacy that emerged from the connecting of words using lines and phrases that found their place in relation to one another, providing further dialogue and other access points.