Tom Thumb in hospital: The fairy tale workshop in a paediatric oncology and haematology ward

Abstract

The project 'A fairy tale workshop in a paediatric oncology ward' is part of a more complex intervention that aims to support children, parents and professionals of a Paediatric Oncology Ward. The ill child is often unable to express his anxieties and to ask for explanations about the situation that he is experiencing. Through the 'Fairy tale', children were offered the opportunity to get in touch safely with danger and death anxieties through the use of displacement and identification mechanisms. The technique used was the tale-telling methodology developed by the French psychoanalyst Pierre Lafforgue, adapted for use in a hospital environment. Staff consisted of two child psychoanalytic psychotherapists, four psychologists attending psychodynamic training, and a storyteller. We describe how children have used the workshop and the effects of this experience on parents and nurses.

Invented fairy tales in groups with onco‐haematological children

“…The prevailing idea is that saying something clearly, such as a correct diagnosis, it is to make the illness a reality, as if silence instead could create illusions (Clarke et al 2005;Jithoo 2010). Children often have to experience uncertain situations where what is said does not correspond to what is felt physically/internally and they are unable to express their anxieties and to ask for explanations about it (Adamo 2008). So it is important to find a child-suitable style communication to talk about the illness (Vatne et al 2010) and to find out how children understand pain.…”

“…For this study we used the invented-fairy-tale device (Camera et al 1996;Recano et al 2010) in which the psychologist and children interact in helping to set up the group and co-construct tales without a set plot, as happens, instead, in the case of Düss's (1956), Lafforgue (2002), Adamo (2008) group fairy tales which use the symbolic patrimony of traditional fairy tales of popular folklore.…”

“…; Jithoo ). Children often have to experience uncertain situations where what is said does not correspond to what is felt physically/internally and they are unable to express their anxieties and to ask for explanations about it (Adamo ). So it is important to find a child‐suitable style communication to talk about the illness (Vatne et al .…”