ABSTRACT
Lena was all but invisible underneath the three large beanbags in the playroom. She was 15 years old and in her short life she had experienced early childhood sexual abuse, neglect, fostering, adoption and latterly, adoption breakdown. The world had proved both unsafe and unpredictable. Somehow the world had to become safe again and she had to change her status from victim to survivor. This meant challenging the dominant story she had of herself (see, for example, White and Epston 1989; Epston and White 1992). To do this in a direct way would have been an experience too frightening and too overwhelming to contemplate. Instead, Lena could experiment with a metaphorical challenge, in the form of a story.
