how to finish a case - intergenerational family history

[Shannon Nelson]

Maybe see if he can "tell his story" and e.g. give his history of
growing up with a focus, *instead* of focusing on the "what happened",
putting it in terms of "a long-term thing that made me feel..."; "an
event that made me decide..."; "a day where I realized..." etc. Then
go back and see what the *sorts* of situations and occurrences were
that gave rise to them. Maybe that would be a way of switching the
focus from "what happened" (which I realize is how we usually work, and
we can certainly do a lot with, but is *not* the most homeopathically
important part) and over to an exploration of susceptibility /
response--what things is he triggered by (being ignored? being teased
or put down? witnessing others' conflicts or troubles? or ?), and how
does he respond (feeling indignant, or abandoned, or afraid, or angry?
feeling responsible, guilty, confused?)? (I should say, I've never
done this; just seems like it might be a way to see different angles,
more about him and less about "his story.")

Shannon