ABSTRACT
As ubiquitous forms of communicated sense-making that help us create identity, cope with difficulty, connect with each other, and socialize others to lasting meanings, values, and beliefs, stories and storytelling are forms of interpersonal communication worth theorizing. Communicated narrative sense-making (CNSM) theory focuses on the content and process of storytelling and how it relates to individual and relational health and well-being. This chapter discusses the assumptions and propositions of the theory which is organized into three heuristics: retrospective storytelling, interactional storytelling, and translational storytelling. Retrospective storytelling focuses on the lasting impacts of the stories we hear and tell, and CNSM theory proposes that stories reveal lasting meanings, values, and beliefs and that positively framed stories predict higher levels of health and well-being. Interactional storytelling concerns the verbal and nonverbal processes that animate storytelling interactions. Greater levels of engagement, turn-taking, coherence, and perspective-taking predict higher levels of sense-making and well-being. Translational storytelling focuses on the design and testing of narrative interventions aimed at improving participant health.
