Routledge international handbook of therapeutic stories and storytelling

ABSTRACT

This unique book explores stories from educational, community, social, health, therapeutic and therapy perspectives, acknowledging a range of diverse social and cultural views in which stories are used and written by esteemed storytellers, artists, therapists and academics from around the globe. Storytelling is a major activity of human communication;it is an age-old tradition, used in many ways by different societies at different moments. Storytelling and stories can be entertaining, therapeutic and educative. The book is like the old saying a 'stitch in time'-stories are a way of dealing with difficulties before they become real problems. The book perfectly fits the context of arts, arts in health and creative arts therapies in that, through the cross-section of chapters, it touches on every single function of storytelling. The book is fascinating in the way it harnesses our day-to-day realities as seen from the storytelling perspective. It is divided into five parts, each created around a particular theme, with chapters from renowned world-class scholars on aspects of stories and storytelling. The first part is dedicated to COVID-19 stories. Part II delves into stories and therapeutic texts. Part III paints a picture of how stories can be used in educational, community and social settings for general therapeutic purposes. This somehow connects with Part IV, which examines stories and therapeutic texts in a health and therapy context. The book provides a deeper understanding of the different contexts and settings in which stories are, can and should be used. Finally, it finishes with a moving story about memory loss. It is evident in this book that stories provide consolation and encouragement to continue search for answers to our human condition. The stories and therapeutic stories and ideas around them presented in this international handbook tell the underlying truth of human existence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)