Therapeutic Stories

What is a Therapeutic Story?

Stories hold a magical space for children, storytelling seems to provide a way for them to explore who they are and what they’re feeling within the safety and protection of their imagination. These books seem to be especially beneficial for those children and young people who have had an especially difficult experience.

Therapeutic stories provide a safe space for children to explore their history through characters in a book written specifically for them. The story is a wonderful resource to reach the child’s inner story, answer the questions they have whilst being far enough away for them to feel safe and supported. Therapeutic stories follow many different themes such as grief, leaving families, different types of trauma etc.

These books can also be completed as part of a series if it is felt there is too much information for the child to be given at once. There is no age limit for a therapeutic story, they can be completed for very young children to older young people who need the support but aren’t quite ready to open up themselves. The stories work by creating a narrative which matches the child’s or young person’s journey in a subtle way at just the right distance for them to feel safe and secure whilst reading it and relating to it. The story does not name the child or young person, or anyone in their past, instead it communicates through characters that they can connect to and subconsciously link their past with.

Being able to connect with these characters begins the processing of the child or young person’s own trauma without personally naming them. This can then open up further conversations about their past and their feelings surrounding it, bring more questions and help them reflect on their experiences.