ABSTRACT
To a child, everyday words can feel stale or dry, whereas a story can enable him to be fully there with imagination and feeling. Without communication through story, play or imagination, some children have little hope of being able to say what they really feel. Troubled children can be helped immeasurably if someone can hear them speak through story. Story can enable a child to express the many different meanings and feelings about an experience he has had, all at the same time. If a traumatised child does not tell the story of his trauma, he may unconsciously act it out through anti-social behaviour. When feelings about a trauma are too awful and unbearable, they need to be banished to the unconscious. It is most important always to be sure of the child's meaning for a certain image, character or event in his story, before you offer an empathic response.
