B.5.EA:4.1 - Recover a place from which the participant can speak

Ask for a particular occasion connected with the concern: where the person was, what they were doing and which moment now matters. Begin with a fragment when a whole account is unavailable. A gesture, sketch, sound or rough phrase may help them return to it.

For human first-person work, allow time to attend to the experience before asking for an interpretation. Ask what comes back at the relevant moment and how it changes. Preserve an uncertainty such as “I remember the pause, but not which sentence preceded it.” An imagined reconstruction remains a reconstruction.

A listener may repeat the participant’s phrase and ask what needs to be retained. Ask a question whose answer can develop the concern, rather than supply a diagnosis for agreement. “What happened just before that pause?” leaves a different opening from “Were you afraid to disagree?”