Clients‟ experience of counselling within a narrative framework

6.3.1 Images 
Images were the metaphors or similes that created a felt or visual image in my body or mind and 

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formed a picture of the participant‟s internal world, or feeling state at the time of writing. The 
power of words appears to be drawn out in the images that were created. This seems to display 
the importance of the way the participants were asked to write with just a few words on each 
line. Their feelings appear to be condensed and highlighted by this process. The images created 
in the journals were often powerful in that they appeared to image aspects of the participant‟s 
internal world. The following extract from a journal demonstrates a powerful image: 
Extract 20. From WAI journal W2 to illustrate a powerful image. 
Line 1.
Felt good, valued, 
Line 2.
embarrassed to be me. 
Line 3.
Working on „stuckness‟. 
Line 4.
Adult self - taking care of 
Line 5.
child - pain, vulnerability 
Line 6.
“frozen child” - pain + trauma. 
Line 7.
Re-experiencing above - 
Line 8.
need to find way of making it 
Line 9.
OK, appropriate / liveable. 
Line 10.
Recognition of loss in childhood 
Line 11.
Co. feels good, real, not a book – human 
In the following extract from the analysis I look at what the image/metaphor of “frozen child” 
suggests about the participant‟s present condition: 
Extract 21. From the analysis to show the clients present condition. 
The client suggests that her adult self (line 4) takes care of her child (line 5) self and describes 
her child self as a „frozen child‟. This is a powerful image and surrounded by the words of pain, 
vulnerability and trauma suggesting the image of a child who is unable to move as well being 

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filled with emotive experiences. She is frozen, which is perhaps her present condition, cold as if 
she is unloved and possibly may struggle to feel the warmth of love. Part of her is perhaps still 
this frozen child. She appears to have re-experienced (line 7) some of her childhood feelings in 
the session and says that she needs to find a way of making the past okay, appropriate and 
liveable (lines 8,9). It feels as if the past was none of these things and perhaps the agony is that 
she cannot change the past and make it better. 
Such images in the journals help to tell the story of the participant during this recording of their 
counselling experience. This frozen child seems to thaw out during the process of counselling 
and find out more about who she is and what she feels as she appears to access and take 
possession of her own feelings. 
6.3.2.Questions 
All the participants ask themselves questions in their journals and these seem to suggest what it 
is they want to do next. This is made clear when the outcome of a question is found. In week 
fifteen of her journal Wriggling fish writes: 
Extract 22. From WF to show the impact of questions. 
Line 1.
Why was I angry as a child? 
Line 2.
I found out! 
Line 3.
Why do I need old patterns? 
Line 4.
The time flew. 
Line 5.
It feels safe and supported 
Line 6.
I have freedom but no containment. 
Line 7.
in my life. 
Line 8.
I need to find a balance. 
Line 9.
And not struggle so! 

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The question which asks why she was an angry child (line 1) appears to be answered 
immediately for she says she found out. She appears to feel that she has freedom but no 
containment (line 6), so perhaps as a child and as an adult she feels that there is something that 
she is unable to contain or own about herself. The real answer to the question seems to begin to 
show itself in the next entry, week sixteen (below), for Wriggling Fish begins to experience 
overwhelming (line 3) feelings, even speak feelings which appear to be new for her for she also 
says that she is learning (line 6) to do this:
Extract 23. From WF to show a response to a question. 
Line 1.
Gut wrenching tears!! 
Line 2.
Two minutes yesterday 
Line 3.
Overwhelming today. 
Line 4.
I hated myself 
Line 5.
Tissues, pillows 
Line 6.
Learning to speak feelings 
Line 7.
And feel it is 
OK!! 
Line 8.
Safe, trust, supported. 
Line 9.
A smile. 
Rather than only knowing where her feelings of anger come from, as in the previous entry, the 
participant seems to experience feeling. It seems that her anger has been hiding sadness which 
appears to be experienced during the session she writes about. Questions appear to move the 
participants forward as if enabling them to move internally. In this way the journals seemed to 
have enabled them to be reflexive about their counselling and themselves as if writing added 
awareness to their process. 

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