Conversations with young people in rural and remote places: transforming the emerging self.

A.M. Bannerman, Adolescence, v.40, n.158, 2005, pp.356-64.

In this paper, the researcher describes her use of the Conversational Model of therapy to transform the 'emerging selves' of young people whose lives have been affected by abuse, neglect and abandonment--the effects of which are amplified by the isolation of living in a rural and remote area of Victoria, Australia. Such young people are suspicious of authority, having been let down by authority figures many times. This makes therapy with these young people difficult. The paper focuses on the use of the Conversational Model, and its strategies of mirroring, recognition, reflection and amplification of aliveness, to begin the transformation of an 18-year-old male named Peter. Peter was the victim of an abusive family, suffering from a lack of connection with others and with his 'self'. The transformation of Peter's emerging self through the Conversational Model, combined with cognitive strategies, is evidenced over a one-year period by his gradual participation in conversation, his use of humour and his changed body language. The Conversational Model is shown to promote the formation of a 'self' in young people, achieved through connectedness to others and self-recognition.