Therapeutic Storytelling

Therapeutic Storytelling: 101 Healing Stories for Children

Susan Perrow passionately believes that “stories know the way.” Working with imaginative journeys and the mystery and magic of metaphor, she has developed the art of therapeutic storytelling for challenging behavior in children and difficult situations. She offers a tried-and-tested method for creating a unique story for a child to help resolve issues and build emotional resilience and character.

This treasury of 101 new healing stories address a range of issues – from unruly behavior to grieving, anxiety, lack of confidence, bullying, teasing, nightmares, intolerance, inappropriate talk, toileting, bed-wetting and much more. The stories also have the potential for nurturing positive values.

Create your own therapeutic stories, using handy tips, exercises and methods such as the “metaphor, journey, and resolution framework.” Therapeutic Storytelling includes suitable behavior stories for children aged 3 to 10 years old; how to use of healing stories for global and national challenging situations; how to develop storytelling skills using useful tips and anecdotes; as well as modern and traditional wisdom tales from around the world.

C O N T E N T S:

Foreword by Nancy Mellon
Introduction: The Healing Light of Stories

SECTION A: WRITING THERAPEUTIC STORIES

1. A Construction Model for Story Writing
2. Getting the Story Juices Flowing

SECTION B: 101 THERAPEUTIC STORIES

3. Anger / Aggression / Hitting / Scratching / Biting
4. Anxious / Insecure / Fearful
5. Bullying / Exclusion / Teasing
6. Death / Dying / Illness
7. Disrespect / Lack of Care (self/others/things)
8. Disruptive / Restless / Over-excited
9. Dishonest / Sneaky
10. Divorce / Separation / Blended Families
11. Fussiness / Complaining
12. Intolerance / Lack of Acceptance (of self and others)
13. Lack of Confidence/Resilience
14. Sexual Abuse / Sexual Awareness
15. Shy / Withdrawn / Low Self-esteem
16. Swearing / Shouting / Silly Speech
17. Toileting / Bedwetting
18. Obstinacy / Lack of Social Sense

Endnotes
Appendix 1. List of Stories
Appendix 2. About the Authors

About the Author

Susan Perrow, MEd, is an Australian author who works with “story medicine.” She writes, collects, and documents stories that offer a therapeutic journey for the reader—a positive and imaginative way to address challenging behaviors and traumatic situations, including environmental grief and loss. Susan has an extensive background in teaching, writing, and therapeutic storytelling. She travels nationally and internationally giving keynotes and leading seminars for teachers, parents, and therapists, offering online training and talks, as well. Her therapeutic story work has led to the publication of four resource books published by Hawthorn Press: Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour (2008); Therapeutic Storytelling: 101 Healing Stories for Children (2012); An A–Z Collection of Behaviour Tales (2017); and Stories to Light the Night: A Grief and Loss Collection for Children, Families and Communities (2021). The first two have been translated into several languages, including Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Serbian, and Croatian. Perrow also has released an app—Rainbow Tales: Healing Audio Sotries for Children—a therapeutic tool for parenting, teaching, and counseling children, ages 3 to 9 (available in online app stores).