Bringing forward values and intentions
• Discovery of intentions can surprise us
• Accessing values can enhance experience of active ‘I’

An intention is an idea that can be put into practice. It may not be apparent. Many of us have intentions which are an important personal resource and part of our sense of identity which have not yet been put into practice. It is unusual to find someone who does not hold intentions they can feel proud of, even if they are not played out in their actions. The following quotation from an adolescent survivor of a suicide attempt (a participant in a qualitative study) exemplifies a situation where there is a description of an intention to stop making suicide attempts which would not be apparent from the behaviour described:

"If I knew what I could [do to] stop it from happening again, believe you me, I would you know, try and stop it. Because I mean I don't like, I mean like all my past attempts I haven't really thought about it. It's just, you know, I've just done it. Um, occasionally I think I have um like when I've been drunk and depressed I've sort of set it up so that I know that my mother's coming home, you know, to get my mother's attention or something like that, but like when I jumped out of the car, you know, it was just I just jumped, you know, didn't think about it - just jumped"

Careful inquiry can bring forward intentions which might not otherwise be apparent. For instance:

Many people hold values which influence the actions they engage in but are not available in their conscious awareness. Bringing these into consciousness can enhance sense of the ‘I’, active in the present moment. Values (and intentions) can often be brought forward by exploration of how a decision is made. For instance:

“Given that you came here today because your mum wanted you to, does that mean that you give some value to her opinion?”

With someone who has lowered mood but stops antidepressants because they do not want to depend on medication:

With a young person who says:

“I feel as if I have to take the Ritalin (methyl phenidate) because it helps me concentrate on school work”

inquiry could focus on a sense of compulsion, how the medication helps concentration, etc. However, agency is more likely to be supported by bringing forward the decision to value schoolwork: