ABSTRACT
One of the most important (and fun) parts of FELT training for therapists is learning to create one’s own therapeutic story stems. Though FELT includes many stems used with all clients, all FELT therapists will also at some point create their own stems to target specific client needs. This chapter describes in detail the theories behind what makes a story therapeutic, with a focus on choosing the right balance of relational familiarity and tension in a story, best suited for the needs and readiness of the child, which varies between cases and over the developmental course of therapy. Concrete instructions are given for choosing a tension point to end story stems. The chapter includes three case examples demonstrating advanced story stem techniques, including dynamically conceptualized stems and multilayered stems. The chapter concludes with a six-step template for story creation.
