Changing Emotion: The Use of Therapeutic Storytelling

Abstract

Even though using metaphors in a therapeutic context is common, there are very few studies that address their effects. This study examines the effects of storytelling in therapy. After discussing a problem in a current relationship, 42 female participants were randomly assigned to receive either a story or psychoeducational information. Results indicated that both treatments were equally successful in reducing amounts of negative affect and negative feelings toward the relationship. In addition, each story was able to facilitate a change in emotional valence. Finally, participants saw no difference between the depth and smoothness of each session. Examples on using storytelling within different models of marriage and family therapy are provided.

African American Therapists Working With African American Families: An Exploration of the Strengths Perspective in Treatment

“…Practitioners need to (a) incorporate the beliefs and values, including the families' understanding and use of spirituality, in the session to build and maintain their trust and to shape the therapy process; (b) listen intentionally to families and display curiosity about their strengths, including their sense of resilience; and (c) listen also for and integrate the families' use of stories or storytelling in their therapeutic journey toward finding successful outcomes. The use of these strategies fits well with such approaches of therapy as narrative, solution focused, and multisystems (Boyd-Franklin, 2003;Parker & Wampler, 2006;Perkins-Dock, 2005).…”

A Framework to Explore and Transform Client-Generated Metaphors in Applied Sport Psychology

“…The use of anecdotes and stories within some forms of psychoanalytical and Ericksonian therapies are examples of such incidences (e.g., Parker & Wampler, 2006). However, in the frameworks adopted by Kopp (1995), Lawley and Tompkins (2000) and Sims (2003), the practitioner's role is primarily to aid the client in the exploration and transformation of their own (e.g., "client generated") metaphor.…”

Practical implications for the development of applied metaphor in adventure therapy

“…Counselling psychology studies have demonstrated that good therapeutic outcomes are attributed to the use of metaphor by counsellors (McMullen, 1989;Levitt, Korman, & Angus, 2000) and that the use of therapist-introduced metaphor is as effective as a psycho-educational approach (Parker & Wampler, 2006;Powell, Newgent, & Lee, 2006). Furthermore, metaphors are useful for exploring cultural differences and promoting multicultural understanding (Abernethy, 2002).…”