Healing with Stories

Book excerpt: An invitation to observe and learn the therapeutic art of storytelling Healing with Stories brings together a stellar collection of some of the world's most prominent practitioners, taking you inside their thinking and processes for working with metaphors. They represent the panorama of metaphor practice in psychotherapy today with considered, humorous, and compassionate case examples that step you through the intricacies for replicating their work in your own. This is a book for family therapists who work with children, adults, and families, as well as for hypnotherapists, cognitive behavioral therapists, narrative therapists, dynamic therapists, solution-focused therapists, and child therapists. In fact, all therapists who wish to communicate their therapeutic messages with the greatest effectiveness will find this book to be an essential and useful clinical tool. Contributors include: * Richard Kopp * Julie H. Linden * Mikaela J. Hildebrandt * Lindsay B. Fletcher * Steven C. Hayes * Michael D. Yapko * Valerie E. Lewis * Gregory Smit * Joy Nel * Christine Perry * Joyce C. Mills * Rubin Battino * Carol A Hicks-Lankton * Wendel A. Ray * Jana P. Sutton * Robert McNeilly * Roxanna Erickson-Klein * Angela Ebert * Hasham Al Musawi * Teresa Garcia-Sanchez * George W. Burns Praise for Healing with Stories "George Burns has done an expert job of compiling a definitive work that demystifies the ever-versatile metaphor. Whether you are a novice or an expert clinician, you will find a treasury of story interventions along with the 'inside scoop' on how each was created and applied to bring success in nineteen unforgettable case chapters. Better yet, you'll be able to create your own healing metaphors thanks to the expert guidance of a wide range of talented storytellers. Don't miss out on this one!" --Maggie Phillips, PhD, author of Finding the Energy to Heal and coauthor of Healing the Divided Self "If you want to be inspired, entertained, and enlightened, Healing with Stories is the book to read. George Burns, a master storyteller, has assembled a creative, diverse group of clinicians to share their ideas about how metaphor can be used with a variety of problems and clients. The result is a fascinating array of insights into metaphor's role in the healing process." --Richard G. Whiteside, MSW, author of Becoming Dragon