8: “The Spiritual Meeting”: Jan’s Story as Told to Amanda

I have known Jan for a long time and also shared the same work space in previous years.

Jan told me her story in a café one day and explained her lived experience of what should have been a great therapeutic experience.

In this chapter, I interview a woman in her midlife, who has the lived experience of breast cancer and a painful journey of divorce from her Dutch partner. Her vulnerability was at an all-time low, as she had recently moved from Holland to the United Kingdom. Her divorce settlement is now through at last, and she can start to rebuild her fractured life. Jan has given her consent to write her story of vulnerability, exposure and recovery. Bochner and Ellis explain, ‘One is never finished making ethical decisions as long as one is interacting or writing about others’ (Bochner & Ellis, 2016, p. 150). I will be interacting with Jan during our unstructured interview, and the relational ethical ethos held between us will be one of mutual respect and trust.