and emotional responses. She introduces the listener to the values of increasing sensory awareness and
heightened stimulation.
METAPHORS BUILT ON A CHILD’S OWN STORYAs mentioned in Chapter 3, using client-generated stories, working collaboratively with a child on
the story, or having children create their own stories can provide useful material to work with ther-
apeutically. When I ask a child to write a healing story as a homework exercise, I tend to phrase it
like this: “Write me a story about a character—you can choose any character you like: an animal, an
imaginary figure like a ghost or monster, a hero like a wizard or Superman, someone about your own
age, or whoever you want—who has a problem or problems, who finds some helpful ways to fix
those problems, and who enjoys the benefits of their success.”
I might go on to offer an example such as: “One child once wrote me a story about a character
that was a ghost. This ghost had the problem that he couldn’t scare anyone—not even a fly. Trying
to find ways to fix it, he started to watch what other, scarier ghosts did and how he could copy them.
Some things he tried worked, and some didn’t. In the end he felt so proud when he could scare off
monsters that were terrifying good people.” (See Story 91.)
These directives may be given verbally or in writing. I attempt not to be too specific and thus
risk having kids produce what they think I want rather than using their own imagination and cre-
ativity.
Advantages for Using a Child’s Own Story
■ When the child has created the story, he or she is more likely to accept and use the message
of the story than one that is seen as being imposed by an adult.
■ If, in creating the story, the child finds a solution or solutions to the problem, then the ther-
apeutic exercise has been successful.
■ If the child is stuck with the problem and doesn’t see the means for reaching a satisfactory
outcome, then the therapist can help guide the child toward finding a solution to his or her
own story.
■ In working with groups of children or in classroom situations, it is possible to read aloud
some of the resulting stories, stopping at the point in each story where the problem has been
described and then asking the group to brainstorm solutions: “If you were the character of
this story, how would you go about solving the problem? What could you try? What do you
think the effects of that might be? What if there are things the character cannot change?
What are the best ways to manage the situation then?”
With the generous assistance of school psychologist Susan Boyett and schoolteacher Claire Scan-
lon, we asked Year Seven students at Helena College in Western Australia to do the homework ex-
ercise of writing a problem-solving/healing story. The students were given a written guide along the
lines I have presented above. Some of the stories the children created are reproduced in Chapter 13,
with the kind permission of the students, their parents, and the college.
STORY IDEASWhere Do I Get the Ideas for Healing Stories? 247