Therapeutic Storytelling (Adapted from Dr. Majid Yousefi Louyeh’s article)
Introduction
Storytelling has deep roots in human history, with humans portraying their lives through stories since ancient times. Stories have shaped and transformed human life, representing our selves and experiences. Life is a continuous process of organizing and structuring experiences. In the absence of a complete understanding of the world, assigning meaning to experiences becomes necessary. Therefore, the experiences and events of each person’s long life turn into a story. When individuals narrate a story, they discover sequences and meaningful relationships, gaining a deeper insight into their own situation. In fact, stories serve as imaginative and cultural structures that hold personal and social significance, encapsulating prominent points.
Some scholars, including Jerome Bruner, Lec, and Tez, consider storytelling as a natural way to construct the world. In this view, presenting moral lessons in the framework of stories has been suggested to organize learning in life. Consequently, if stories encompass actions and their consequences, they foster moral growth. The importance of stories in moral development has been widely debated by many proponents. In holy books such as the Bible and the Quran, the significant approach to teaching correct ways of living and revealing truths is through the use of metaphors, parables, and stories of different nations and peoples. Hence, storytelling and listening to stories have always been one of the major and prevalent ways of transmitting experiences and warmth.
A story or narrative refers to a written text where the author’s ideas are presented to the reader in the form of a tale, whether it be imaginative and unreal or adorned with the garb of life’s realities mixed with imagination (Nur Ahmar, 1358). Storybooks and tales can encompass a wide range of issues for the audience, such as supportive behaviors, fear of loneliness, secrets, relationships, and the like. For example, a book could potentially teach a child the power of saying “no” (Mohammad Ismail, 1381).
Storytelling is an activity that makes humans, human (Murray, 1991 cited in Macado, 1995). Individuals are shaped by the stories they hear (Eskram, 1993 cited in Macado, 1995). Storytelling is a remarkable way to enhance verbal and behavioral understanding (Mohammad Esmaeil, 1383) and involves representations of oneself, the world, and various characters that individuals interact with, thereby shaping their relationships with others (Dimaggio et al., 2003 cited in Youssefi Loya & Matin, 1385). In fact, stories provide a framework for self-discovery and also facilitate personal growth, understanding, and interpersonal relationships (Den, 1998).
Narratives, especially one’s own story and biography, help individuals integrate their imaginations, events, and perceptions into a cohesive whole that contributes to self-awareness (Castenbaum, 2003 cited in Shibani, Youssefi Loya, & Delavar, 1385).
Barker identified the fundamental values of using metaphors, stories, or anecdotes in psychotherapy as follows (Karszick, 1980):
The use of stories and fables for teaching and familiarizing with truth, proper ways of living, ethics, and methods of achieving perfection and success has a history as old as human civilization. The term storytelling may suggest that stories are not considered part of serious communication but merely for entertainment. However, stories tell us how to be in this world and provide us with the opportunity to change our perspective on reality; in other words, stories challenge people’s beliefs about themselves (Crawford et al., 2004).
Children’s stories involve humans, animals, mythical creatures, and objects like clocks, trains, and flower pots. Humans, animals, mythical creatures, and objects in children’s stories have personalities, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. When a story is told, a theme emerges, different issues become apparent, and characters and objects in the story respond to thoughts, emotions, and specific behaviors. When a child listens to a story, they may identify with a character, a theme, or an event in the story. As a result, they relate the story to their own life. Their interest in the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of story characters allows them to engage with the experiences of story characters and project the beliefs, thoughts, and emotional experiences of these characters onto themselves. Consequently, they can work through their emotional experiences in a projective manner (Goldard and Goldard/Porniani, 2003).
In recent years, narrative approaches have become prevalent in various areas of psychology for understanding human behavior. Changing human thoughts is likened to expanding stories, offering extensive implications for many realms of psychology, both theoretically and in research. For instance, identity development is significantly associated with constructing a life story, while psychotherapy serves as a practice to repair and reconstruct life stories that have deviated from their original path.
(Howard, 1991. Quoted by Yousefi Loya and Metin, 2013).
supports the belief that there is no absolute truth, but it depends on our opinion and perspective (Don, 1998, quoted by Shibani, Yousef Loya and Delaware 2015). . In the world of paranoia, stories are considered a space of freedom to act. As simply as the story provides an opportunity for a new initiative, the storyteller discovers points that are rooted in his personal experiences, in the connection of his story with the stories of others, and in the connection of his story with larger stories of culture and humanity. has, the understanding that we are all characters in each other’s stories and these stories lead us in action (Perry, 1991, quoted by Shibani et al. 2015). This is why narrative approaches to psychotherapy emphasize that stories play an effective role in our behavior and reality (Strand, 1997, quoted by Shibani et al. 2015).
A review of the literature shows that fictional approaches in psychology have been focused on the following axes:
1- Using stories as a therapeutic technique in individual and family psychotherapy
2- Using story as a diagnostic tool
3- The use of stories as a method for education and development of children’s abilities.
Accordingly, some researchers have used children’s story and story-telling ability as a tool for clinical evaluation.
Changing human thoughts as examples of the development of stories has wide implications for many fields of psychology, both at the theoretical and research levels.
Storytelling is one of the best ways to counsel children, so that they can deal with feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that they still cannot talk to the counselor about directly.
Storytelling is one of the basic psychological functions. All people organize their experiences in the form of stories. In this way, they give meaning to the events and predict the situations that will occur and guide their activities (Salvatoro et al. 2004, quoted by Yousefi Loya and Metin 2015). Therefore, personal stories are considered part of the common story of human life in a cultural context, hence psychotherapists use these stories as a useful method in clinical work.
Source: Taken from an article by Dr. Majid Yousefi Loy
