this problem?” “How do you think he or she wants to think, feel or behave?” or “What would he or
she have to do to get out of this trouble and be happy again?”
Set a Homework Assignment
If you know a child has enjoyed a recent Harry Potter movie and is currently facing a problem of feel-
ing socially ostracized at school, you may set up a homework assignment by talking about Harry Pot-
ter’s returning to school. Did he feel different because of who he is? Was he picked on by someof the
students (being specific)? Were there others who liked and appreciated him (finding exceptions to
the problem)?
The child can be asked to go home and complete the story before the next session, exploring
questions like “Who do you think can help him solve this problem?” “What will he/they need to do
to overcome it?” and “What will be the outcome and how do you think they are going to feel when
they get there?” If the child is old enough, and has the appropriate literary skills, he or she may be
asked to writeabout the story. If the child has good verbal skills you may ask him or her to come back
and tellyou the completion of the story at the next session. If the child’s talents are more in the artis-
tic area, he or she might be asked to drawa story of the characters and processes that take the story
through to completion. You do not need to specify which medium a child uses, but allow the choice
of each child’s own mode of expression.
TO DISCUSS OR NOT TO DISCUSS?That is the question. Do you talk with children about the story after you have told it or not? In the
literature you will find some different opinions about whether it should be discussed afterward, with
perhaps the majority opting to “let the story tell its own tale.” Berg and Steiner (2003, p. 82), for ex-
ample, state emphatically, “After you finish reading the story, make sure there is no discussion about
it—just read the story and then end the session. There should be no discussion about what the story
meant to the child; trust their intuitive ways to understand the meaning and to find useful ways to
incorporate this story to their life situations.” This is indeed the type of directive I was given in my
early metaphor training.
Such metaphor practitioners consider that discussing the steps for resolution may tend to impose
TOOLS & TECHNIQUESTools and Techniques 43
EXERCISE 3.8
■ Invite the child to join you as an active creator of the story.
■ Rather than have a fixed direction for the story in your own mind, ask the child ques-
tions.
■ Seek his or her solutions.
■ Incorporate the child’s ideas. Test them out in the story.
■ Be flexible and adaptive in your approach.