Therapeutic Uses of Storytelling

How can stories and legends, written and oral, help people suffering from severe traumas or harsh conditions, now or in the past? Can storytelling help us sort out our innermost feelings and troubles? This deeply human subject is relevant not only to practitioners of psychotherapy, but to all of us, as we sometimes go through difficult times in life. In this book a cross-disciplinary group of researchers examine the ways in which narrative might aid in coping with difficult situations in life, and with the emotions that these situations engender. Starting with an introduction to basic narrative theories and the therapeutic effects of storytelling, the book then moves on to a series of lucid case studies. The authors present a diversity of material such as blogs, poetry, magazines, memoirs, and oral accounts from Antiquity to the present. Authors from several different disciplines make for a diversity of perspectives. The authors specialise in folkloristics, psychology, writing studies, poetry therapy, and classical studies. Psychologists, social workers, researchers, therapists -- all can benefit from this book, including everyone interested in the possibility of inner exploration through stories.