(Story 64), or the imaginative African explorer learning to weigh up the possibilities and
make a decision (Story 67).
In addition to the character’s needing to be capable of communicating the three therapeutic
characteristics of the story, it needs to be a figure with which the child can identify. Here it helps
to have learned about some of the interests, hobbies, or sports of the child. Does he have a pet, or
relate well with animals? Is she a social or gregarious young person who may enjoy a tale about
other children? Does he read science fiction or fantasy, or play computer games from which you
might build a character of imagination? Has she an interest in sports, pop music, or movies stars on
which you could develop a story about a hero figure? Is he or she likely to relate to a character that
is a match in age, gender, and personal characteristics, or to an archetypal figure such as mentioned
previously?
While the character is not the essence of the healing story, it is an important vehicle for com-
municating the story in a way that involves the child in the process and outcome. Hence, the char-
acter can change to best suit and engage the listener. Though the therapeutic characteristics of Sto-
ries 31 and 32 (“Caught in the Middle”) are almost identical, the character in the version for children
is a doll and the one for adolescents is a teenage girl. The character could just as easily be a space toy,
a precious teddy bear, a work of valuable art, or a teenage boy. The story idea on which I built “Seek-
ing Happiness” (Story 10) had a king as its main character. He became a troubled tycoon—more
modern and audience relevant—in the version that appears in Standing without Shoes(Burns & Street,
2003), while in the story told here in Chapter 4 the character is a princess.
- PRESENT YOUR METAPHORS
If there is a basic, simple suggestion for working with metaphors, it is this: Plan from the Outcome,
and present from the Problem. When I am structuring a metaphor in my mind during a therapy ses-
sion, jotting it down on paper for the next therapy session, or thinking about it as I drive to work, I
plan the Outcome first, the Resources second, and the Problem last. As I tell it to the child, however,
I begin with the Problem, follow with the Resources that the character develops and utilizes, and
conclude with the Outcome.
Present the Problem
The purpose of this stage of the metaphor is to engage the young listener in a search for identifica-
tion and meaning, a process the literature describes as a search phenomenon in which the listener
may ask, “How does this story relate to me?” and begin to seek the personal relevance of the tale.
Stories are thus like a projective test. They offer a relatively ambiguous stimulus on which the per-
ceiver is likely to place a meaning. The more the child is engaged with the character and problem of
the story, the more he or she is likely to engage with the outcome. Therefore, if the presentation of
the problem is serving its function, you may expect the child to be interested and involved, with a
fixation of visual focus, a stillness of bodily movements, a slight nod of the head, or even a verbal ex-
pression like, “Yes, that’s how I feel.” At this point the story does not offer a solution but simply pre-
262 Creating Your Own Healing Stories for Kids