ABSTRACT
One unlikely source for examining wellbeing is literature—in particular, Campbell’s idea of the Hero’s Journey—as a guide for problem-solving in everyday life. This chapter details the application of the Hero’s Journey as a template for addressing common, though significant, life problems. After an overview of wellbeing is presented, there follows a detailed description of the first six stages of the Hero’s Journey and how these manifest in everyday life. A case scenario is provided at each stage to demonstrate this application. The efficacy of the Hero’s Journey for problem-solving is that, thanks to Campbell and Vogler, each stage details what reluctant heroes can expect to encounter and what they must do to progress to the next stage of problem-solving. Throughout, this chapter examines the link between active problem-solving and increased wellbeing.
