tends to be more concrete than in adolescence or adulthood, it helps to make the stories more con-
crete and more identifiable for the listener, particularly during those younger years. The story there-
fore, needs to match the listener on several levels.
Age Matching
Making stories age appropriate is one potential pathway for enhancing the effectiveness of metaphor.
In preschool years, children may identify more readily with stories of fictional characters like Santa
Claus or fairytale characters. During early elementary school years, animal stories may be more likely
to engage attention and identification, whereas in the latter elementary school years kids may better
identify with cartoon characters, computer-game heroes, or the star of a children’s TV show. Mov-
ing into secondary school, sports idols or movie heroes of the likes of Harry Potter or Frodo Baggins
(from Lord of the Rings) may be a more relevant choice.
The first two stories of Chapters 4 through 12 give examples of age-matched metaphors for kids
and teens based on the same therapeutic characteristics or outcome. In these stories the theme, the
resources to reach the outcome, and the outcome itself may be similar, but the character, age of the
character, and context of the story have been changed to make the story age appropriate for the client.
Gender Matching
Just as matching the story to the age of the client helps with the identification, so does gender match-
ing. Young listeners and adolescents may not identify with the story so readily if it is about the other
gender. Generally it is easy enough—as with age—to maintain the theme or message of the story
while simply altering the gender of the main character or characters to suit that of your listener. The
princess of Story 10, “Seeking Happiness,” could just as well be a prince, or the “silly boy” of Story
24, “Learning to Think for Yourself,” could also be a “silly girl.”
These are guidelines and with any matching the therapist needs to know the child well enough
to ensure the match is helpful and appropriate to both identification and outcome. The therapist
needs to be aware of the exceptions, such as whether a child or adolescent has a known gender con-
flict or has negative feelings toward the same gender resulting from a history of abuse by that gender.
Client Matching
The closer you can match the story to the interests and characteristics of your individual client, the
more you are likely to facilitate identification and, consequently, learning. Get to know your young
clients before you start to weave your story, find the things they are interested in, and weave them
into your tale. Is there a sport they love? Do they have any particular hobbies? Who are their favorite
friends? What TV characters do they like? What subjects do they enjoy most at school? What are
their dreams and fantasies?
Culture Matching
Therapists need to be aware of, and sensitive to, the cultural backgrounds and religious values of their
clients as well as the cultural values that may be communicated in the therapists’ own stories. Re-
searchers such as Malgady and Costantino (2003) have explored the value of matching client and
care-provider of the same ethnicity as well as tailoring services to match cultural values, beliefs, and
mores. With 5- to 8-year-old Puerto Rican children they told cuentos(Puerto Rican folktales), and
USING METAPHORSHow Can I Use Metaphors Effectively? 233