Talk-Listen: Centering Youth Wisdom in Group Work
“Drugs, the media, and others have written our story for us. Here, we challenge that, we rewrite our stories. We become the authors of our story.”
The Talk-Listen group is a therapeutic group at Peak House that exemplifies a set of ethics, values, and practices, which aim to center and uphold youth wisdom. In this article, transcripts of Talk-Listen groups are utilised to illustrate therapeutic practices that aim to co-construct relational safety, address the contexts in which struggles exist, illuminate resistance, and weave a sense of belonging, connection and hope amongst youth. These practices create the foundation on which youth wisdom can be recognised and witnessed.
Through the demonstration of youth wisdom in practice, this writing also explores the importance of recognising the following in therapeutic work with youth: resistance to oppression as wisdom, the ways that youth laterally mentor and uphold one another, true collaboration and client-centered practice, transformation and change, and the ethical requirement of amplifying hope.
This article was published in the Journal of Relational Child & Youth Care Practice. Read it below.
“I’ve never had a space like this before …”