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Resources for healing stories

Books About Therapeutic Storytelling

Annie Stories
by Doris Brett, Workman Publishing, New York, 1986
Basic text for parents and therapists alike for designing stories to aid children in coping with fears, loss, pain, siblings and other challenges.


Earth Tales, Storytelling In Times of Change
by Alida Gersie, The Merlin Press, London, 1992
This book contains seven story sections of folktales about the relationship between people and the natural world. Each section includes many original group activities for adults or children to help explore the story. This book is hard to find but worth all the effort.

See Gersie's other books as well:

Storymaking and Bereavement: Dragons Fight in the Meadow
London: Jessica L. Kingsley Publishers, 1991
Storymaking in Education and Therapy
London: Jessica L. Kingsley Publishers, 1990


The Healing Art of Storytelling, A Sacred Journey of Personal Discovery
by Richard Stone, Hyperion, New York, 1996.
Stone uses exercises to elicit personal stories that will heal the wounded heart through the telling.


The Psychological Meaning of Redemption Motifs in Fairytales
by Marie-Louise Von Franz, Canada: Inner City Books, 1980.

Also by Von Franz:
The Interpretation of Fairy Tales.
Dallas: Spring Publications, 1970.
The Feminine in Fairy Tales.
Dallas: Spring Publications, 1972.
Shadow and Evil in Fairytales.
Zurich, Switzerland: Spring Publications, 1974.


Sacred Stories: A Celebration of the Power of Stories to Transform
by Charles Simpkinson and Anne Simpkinson (editors), San Francisco: Harper, San Francisco, 1993.
Twenty-two collected essays by storytellers, therapists, politicians, and poets on the critical role of stories in our individual and communal lives.


Stories for the Third Ear
by Lee Wallace, New York: Norton, 1985.


The Spirituality Of Imperfection, Storytelling And The Journey To Wholeness
by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham, Bantam Books, New York/Toronto, 1992.


An Anthology of wisdom stories from around the world, centered around the issue of alcoholism.
Tell It By Heart, Women And The Healing Power of Story
by Erica Helm Meade, Open Court, Chicago, 1995.
Combines myth and personal story to create a mosaic of healing and human possibility.


Therapeutic Metaphors For Children and The Child Within
by Joyce C. Mills and Richard J. Crowley, Bruner/Mazel, New York, 1986.
Wonderfully written book based in Ericksonian Hypnotherapy, illustrating approaches in therapeutic storytelling that can be used with all ages.

Therapeutic Metaphors: Helping Others Through the Looking Glass
by David Gordon, META Publications, Cupertino, CA, 1978.


Women Who Run With The Wolves,
Myths And Stories Of The Wild Woman Archetype

by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ballantine Books, New York, 1992.
Wonderfully potent words and images that inspire, instruct and empower women.


Allison Cox specializes in designing story programs tailored to each group's interests. (206) 463-3844

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Allison Cox • (206) 463-3844 • 25714 Wax Orchard Rd • Vashon, WA • 98070 • Email Allison