ABSTRACT
Therapeutic storytelling is one such approach, which uses metaphor to help bring about healing change in traumatic circumstances such as loss and bereavement. Therapeutic stories create sufficient coherence to facilitate talk about felt confusion or misunderstanding. Stories use metaphor and imagery, a child’s natural language for feeling, to change the way we see our lives, and the world. Therapeutic stories connect us to ourselves, and each other, and helps us find meaning, hope and resolution for life’s problems. Therapeutic storytelling is one medium in the Play Therapy toolkit, which also includes clay, paint, drawing, music, puppets, drama, movement, role play and sand. Image and metaphor are the natural language of children. To help children to understand their world, we need to talk their language. Therapeutic story is the key to that language. Therapeutic story offers a child hope of being understood because the story touches the deeper truth of their situation.
