ABSTRACT
Being human inevitably means times of having some too difficult and too intense feelings. Some of these feelings can be so confusing, disturbing or painful that they are very hard to manage, let alone think clearly about, or work through. A therapeutic story speaks of common emotional issues and problems, but it speaks of these within the realm of the imagination rather than within the realm of cognition. A therapeutic story can work as an 'admission ticket' into a child's inner world. A therapeutic story aims to speak with empathy and precision about the emotional issue or problem with which a child is struggling. A therapeutic story can therefore enable a child to see, hear, know and feel more clearly, by providing a deeper truth and empathy than is possible through literal words. A therapeutic story offers a child new ways of thinking about his troubled feelings.
