Using Stories in Therapy

I use traditional stories, myths and fairytales and sometimes children's stories with groups and individuals. Children understand and enjoy the language of story and stories can help them to safely explore difficult themes. Teenagers and adults may be able to recognise aspects of themselves and their lives in traditional stories and use them to creatively explore problems. C.G.Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, proposed that traditional stories are an expression of the collective unconscious and deal with typical problems that are repeated in all people through the ages. Marie Louise Von Franz, a prominent analytical psychologist wrote extensively on the interpretation of myths and fairytales and her books help to explain their relevance to modern lives. Traditional stories can be used to explore archetypal themes such as becoming an adult, family problems, death, change, relationships and creativity.