Opening up the counselling room: The joining of stories as a political act— Renee Handsaker

This paper will focus on my endeavour to ‘open up’ the counselling room by initiating a conversation between two young women I was meeting with for individual counselling. The conversation that commenced between these two young women took the form of letters that were constructed from transcripts of our recorded conversations. I will discuss some of the ideas that underpinned and motivated this exchange, as well as reflect on some of the key considerations involved within the process. I will finish by trying to demonstrate some of the flow of conversation that made it possible for new understandings, preferred identities and shared contributions to be generated.