THE PRO-APPROACHHaving explored the various sources that form the bases on which to build therapeutic stories in the
last chapter, the next question becomes, “How do you structure those ideas into a metaphor and pre-
sent it to the child?” Fortunately, the process is not difficult: just three simple steps with which, by
now, I hope you are already familiar. Each story in Part Two is preceded by a heading, “Therapeutic
Characteristics,” detailing the Problems the story addresses, the Resources it seeks to develop, and the
Outcomes it offers. I refer to this as the PRO-Approach (the acronym for Problems, Resources, and
Outcomes) and find it a pragmatic basis for building metaphors as well as for maintaining focus on
the therapeutic outcome.
It is very easy at times to get caught up in the problem-focused story of the child or child’s par-
ent. Their story, as yet, has no resolution—as evidenced by the fact that they are sitting in our office
discussing it. Let us take the example of a mother who brings a teenage daughter to therapy. The
mother tells how the daughter is anorexic, taking drugs, mixing with undesirable peers, fighting with
family members, and failing to study. She has slashed her wrists, overdosed on her mother’s antide-
pressants, announced she is sleeping with her boyfriend (who has not won parental approval), and
said she doesn’t care if she gets pregnant. Her parents have tried everything, nothing has worked...
and this teenager sits with her arms folded staring you in the eyes with a you-ain’t-gonna-make-a-
difference-either look.
Where do you begin? And what is the problem—the conduct issues as described by the parent,
or the curtailment of independence as seen by the teenager? Even if it is possible to have a clear, em-
pathic understanding of the problem—though perhaps that is an important starting place—is this
CHAPTER 16
How Do I Plan and Present
Healing Stories?