Abstract
Therapeutic storytelling aims to find the psychological difficulties experienced by the individual through creative narratives, uses problem-solving skills, and offers alternative ways based on narrative therapy. In therapeutic storytelling, questions about the meaning attributed to the story, the hero and metaphors that can be asked to the client, and the circular question forms of systemic interventions related to others important to the person are similar. In both forms of these interventions, subjective reality is reconstructed, and so, therapeutic storytelling can be used eclectically with systemic interventions. In this chapter, a sample intervention template for systemic-based therapeutic storytelling has been offered. Moreover, an exemplary hypothetical case of the systemic-based storytelling intervention pattern is presented. As a result, instead of focusing directly on the client's own life story, using storytelling intervention in a less threatening environment for the client through other stories may activate the client to gain insight and different viewpoints.
TopBackground
Our lives are full of stories. Every day, we come across a variety of stories. We reiterate stories we hear from friends and acquaintances to others. We make up stories about our adventures. We watch stories on television and in the movies and read stories in novels and fairy tales. We used to listen to fairy stories and cultural myths as children, and we now pass this on to our children. Many of these stories are about others and their adventures; they are about how they deal with challenges and how they make successful choices come to the fore. Stories that may overcome significant barriers or execute socially important and worthwhile outcomes are compelling (McKee, 2003; Polkinghorne, 2013). Stories that stand out in storytelling attempt to strike a balance between the subjective expectations and the subjective reality of individuals. A skilled storyteller portrays what it means to cope with the expectations of struggling with the hero's sorrow, the hero’s inner struggle, the meaning of making difficult decisions and acting despite risks, and ultimately the discovery of subjective reality. Since the dawn of time, all great stories have addressed the basic tension between subjective anticipation and subjective reality, from the ancient Greeks to Shakespeare (McKee, 2003).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Eclectic Intervention: It is the realization of multiple applications by bringing multiple theoretical perspectives together.
Systemic Intervention: The reality in the client's mind is reconstructed through post- modern paradigm techniques according to interaction with the counselor, with the client himself and others that matter.
Therapeutic Storytelling: The expression of the psychological distress experienced by the individual in a relaxing way through creative healing stories that are felt like in the fairytales.
Sample Intervention Template: An application proposal based on the psychological counseling theories.
Power Supplies: The presence of harmonious forces in the individual's life history.
Reconstruction of the Story: It is the subjective reconstitution of life sections within the existing resources in cases where the person's story is blocked.
Hypothetical Case: The concrete presentation of a phenomenon for an application model in stages.