Stories to Soothe and Heal Trauma

How to Tell Stories to Children

Children who have suffered an injury, be it physical or psychological, benefit greatly from the healing format of a story - especially from a parent or loved one.

This can be as simple as helping our little ones process a tumble by telling (and allowing them to retell) how it happened. But it can also be as complicated as a therapeutic story that helps a child process a traumatic event with big emotions.

The goal of this episode is to help you define trauma, differentiate between small and large traumatic events, and give you some guidance on the kinds of stories that may work in different contexts. Further resources are provided at the end.

Disclaimer - If you or your child is experiencing significant psychological or emotional stress, please seek the help of a doctor, therapist, or another qualified professional.

In this episode, we define 3 types of healing stories:

1. Reconstruction and Repetition of Real Events
2. Soothing/Calming Stories
3. Therapeutic Stories

Further Resources on Therapeutic Storytelling

Therapeutic Storytelling by Susan Perrow

Using Therapeutic Storytelling With Children by John Sommers-Flanagan, PHD

Guidelines for Therapeutic Story Writing by Susan Laing

Stories to Light the Night by Susan Perrow

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Photo by Jordan Whitt on UnSplash