ABSTRACT
This chapter will describe the myriad ways in which children tell the stories of the hard things that have happened to them through art, play, sand, writing, and dance. A client’s choice of medium for play and how the therapist titrates approach to the trauma content through the medium will be explored. When and how to make invitations to begin the story, switch mediums, include caregivers, explore the story, and create coherence will all be covered. Further explanation of stagnation in narrative work will be explored as well as ways to invite movement and enhance a parent’s capacity to be a safe container before further trauma work might be done. Case examples will illustrate various forms of narrative and frame how respecting the dance toward and away from trauma content informs the gradual exposure process inherent in extralinguistic narrative work.
