Therapeutic Storytelling is a powerful, fun and exciting method of psychotherapy, and group therapy that can be used on individuals of any age and in many different styles and variations. The therapist can incorporate verbal and non-verbal information using puppets, acting, facial expressions, books, journals, experiences and more. It is the preparation and delivery of the story that affects the therapeutic outcome for the clients who are participating in the program. Therapeutic success is accomplished as the clients identify with the elements in the story and then embraces the desired outcomes and messages that are meant to be taken from what was just mentally or physically seen and/or heard ("The art & science of storytelling therapy," 2011).
Overview of potential target groups
Counselling Patients and Families: Families recognise their strengths in the process of sharing their stories. A feedback process alongside the storytelling assists in reaching the desired outcomes of counselling ( Vetere & Dowling, 2005). The use of stories in buffering and making reality easier to talk about out loud and with another person. A way of using stories about others that relate to the client and coming up with solutions for success on how to overcome obstacles and barriers associated with the issue at hand (Robjanta & Fezelb, 2010).
Children, Adults and Seniors: When children experience difficult emotions which are not discussed, they may demonstrate challenging behaviour as a result. With the use of therapeutic storytelling, they are able to process the situation fully and get the help to accept their painful feelings (Sunderland, 2000). The uses of stories allow individuals of any age to think back, think in the present and think abou...
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Robjanta, K., & Fezelb, M. (2010). The emerging evidence for narrative exposure therapy: A review.
The art & science of storytelling therapy. (2011). Retrieved from http://storytellingtherapy.com/
Sunderland, M. (2000). Using story telling as a therapeutic tool with children. Bicester: Speechmark Publishing Ltd.
Vromans, L., & Schweitzer, R. (2011). Narrative therapy for adults with major depressive disorder: Improved symptom and interpersonal outcomes. Psychotherapy Research, 21, Fulton, D. (2013). Using storytelling to support children and adults with special needs. Third Avenue, New York: Nichola Grove
Welcome to the UK's largest selection of storytelling courses. (n.d.). International school of storytelling,.(2011).
Young, E. (2010). Narrative therapy and elders with memory loss. Clinical Social Work Journal, s38(2), 193-202 .
Scott, K., & Debrew, J. (2009). Helping older adults find meaning and purpose through storytelling. Journal Of Gerontological Nursing, 35(12), 38-43. doi:10.3928/00989134-20091103-03
I was drawn into the Brice family's story and by the end of the book I cared about them and felt as if I knew them. I appreciated the author's no holds barred, realistic portrayal of the therapist and client relationship. Not only is the reader drawn into the subject's inner world, the reader is also pulled into the world of the therapist and given a ring side seat into the cognitive operation of the therapist mind. Napier and Whitaker lay out the theories that inform their practice. For example, they identify, feedback spirals, triangulation, transference, and enmeshed identities, for the reader and then demonstrate through the narrative, methods for assisting families in leaping over these
The counseling session should be centered on the client and their understanding of their world and/or problems not heavily weighted on the counselor interpretation of the client’s situation. The role of the counselor is to examine a problem needs changing and discover options in overcoming their problem. Bringing about change can help change the client’s narrative on their problem in the future and/or on life in the process.
In narrative therapy, the therapist is a collaborator or consultant; clients are the true experts on their lives (Carr, 1998). Therapists who utilize narrative therapy work with clients from all walks of life with an array of conditions. Narrative therapy can be used to help children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. It can also be a beneficial intervention for couples, families, and community settings. The problems and disorders that may benefit from this therapeutic approach include, but aren’t limited to family conflict and marital concerns, mood disorders like anxiety and depression, loss and grief, childhood conduct problems, anger management, trauma, substance abuse and addiction. Carr (1998) credits narrative therapy for covering a vast amount of areas because the main goal of this intervention is to help the client deconstruct the problem-saturated dominant story and to thereby create opportunities to choose among other, more preferred
The core concept of narrative therapy is rooted in postmodern theory. This includes having a positive and hopeful view of clients and their power to create change. Also, taking a “not-knowing” stance is essential in order to enhance collaboration between clients and therapist. Narrative Therapy encourages therapists to remain curious and acknowledge
These different tools are useful in building and maintaining a therapeutic relationship. Paraphrasing includes repeating the content that has been expressed in a different way, this method can provide the client with a feeling of importance and recognition. Reflection of feelings/content involves identifying the feelings and/or content in what has been said (highlighting the key aspects of the story). Again, this method encourages the patients to be validated and heard. The relationship between the person seeking help and the nurse/counsellor should be appropriate for producing therapeutic change, to ensure that the patient maximizes the therapeutic relationship.
For this reason, some of the brief therapies, such as strategic family therapy or solution-focused therapy, that focus on rapid change without much attention to understanding, might be more appropriate. However, I believe these brief therapies do not give clients enough time to really parse out their problem. I am wary of counseling that limits clients’ ability to tell their stories fully, which seems like just one more way of silencing people, oppressing them, and keeping them in line. In working with my clients I want to collectively understand how problem-saturated stories developed, the cultural, familial, or biological factors that might be involved, and the availability of choices. I believe that narrative therapy is the most flexible approach in this respect because although not brief, it is efficient and seems to be effective long-term, although more research is needed, which is challenging because of the subjective nature of this approach (Madigan, 2011). In my therapy practice, I want to leave clients feeling hopeful and liberated by helping them to see the problem as separate from their identities and as only one story to choose from several, and by acknowledging the contextual factors contributing to the
Narrative reasoning focuses on the client’s particular circumstances and takes into account the client’s past, present, and future and how their current circumstances will affect their life. This gives the practitioner ideas on how to collaborate with the client and family based on the individual’s journey. It is important for the occupational therapy practitioner to help the client see how the treatment
Stories are a big part of the human race. From conceptualizing the birth of our race to nagging our parents to tell bedtime stories, our life is nothing but a series of stories. It is in human nature to narrate significant incidents of our lives to others. Storytelling as a method has been progressively used by various companies as a tool to connect with their employees and customers. It helps to build a bridge of loyalty, longevity, mutual trust and understanding and connection. Storytelling helps to get that instant personal connect. Stories are significant because they are inherent to human experience. By stories we pass on our accumulated wisdom, beliefs and values to the future generations.
The counselor accomplishes the above by expressing empathy, developing discrepancies, going along with resistance and supporting self-efficacy. Moreover, the counselor guides the client toward a solution that will lead to permanent posi...
There are multiple structures of that can be applied to the counselling process, ranging from the basic idea of a beginning, middle and end to a more structured approach as that proposed by Egan (1994). Although his initial structure offered three main components; Stage 1, exploring the situation, stage 2, identifying a new or desired scenario to strive for and stage 3, the action stage, in which methods of coping are devised of and implemented. Egan later devised a ten stage structure that still takes into account initial stages from the speakers perspective of identifying a problem and seeking help, within this structure stage 4 is the initial meeting of the counsellor and client and can be considered the beginning stage of the helping re...
Narrative Therapy was developed to help people separate themselves from their problems. The idea is that this will help the person use the skills that they already possess to minimize the problems that exist in their everyday lives. The Narrative Therapy approach was developed by Social Workers Michael White (Australia) and David Epston (New Zealand) during the 1970s-1980s. “White proclaimed is work to be exclusively that of ‘rich story development’ “(Gallant).
Storytelling has been used throughout history to explain the unexplained mysteries in the time of the storyteller. Today the current generation makes it appear that the “stories that sell the most cause” (Kristina) widely spread misconceptions and aggression towards these stereotypes. These misconceptions are seen throughout history, whether it is about the destructive forces of the weather or the animals roaming the planet we call home. Aggression can be seen evident throughout history as well, be it wars of religions live in the crusades, or the war against Afghanistan. Storytelling throughout time has created “a safe space in” (Horn) an environment. They have been used to calm the fears children from ancient times to the present, as well a comfort them when parents as they are told a story to help them sleep. Stories are told through the toughest times from economic failure to bombings raining destruction from above. Historically storytellers have traditionally been the elders of the communities who start to tell younger generations when “the person [is] at a young age” (Horn) and more often then not influences the overall outlook of that child. History has been filled with the tradition of the elders of t...
This essay will attempt to highlight and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the three main theories of counselling within the module covered this term. The three approaches in discussion are psychodynamics, cognitive behavioural and humanistic.
The term ‘Therapeutic communication’ identifies the way in which a nurse and patient interact, with the main focus being on advancing the emotional well-being of a patient; (Sherko E., et al, 2013) nurses will use this to deliver support and information to Edna. Effective communication skills are essential within nursing and are often seen as one of the main skills necessary for nurses to support patients and their families (Bramhall E, 2014). There are many forms of therapeutic communication that can be used in