ABSTRACT
Critical companionship is a metaphor for a person-centred helping relationship. The metaphor is conceptual, drawing on critical social theory, human existentialism, spiritualism and phenomenology. There is a clear parallel between the skilled companion-patient relationship and the relationship between skilled companionship and critical companionship. At the heart of the critical companionship framework lies the relationship between the critical companion and the practitioner. Working together in partnership, the critical companion and the practitioner learn from shared experiences. Particularity is about getting to know and understand the uniqueness of the individual practitioner, their details and experiences in the widest possible sense. Mutuality is dependent on the other processes within the relationship domain and the critical companion must use and develop the processes. An archaeological find can be as banal as it is revelatory. Features of the archaeological dig are mirrored in the reciprocal critical companionship and expert practitioner relationship.
