Storytelling with Children in Crisis

Book excerpt: This book looks at the benefits to children of listening to fairy tales, a selection of which are provided, and creating their own. I found Storytelling with Children in Crisis thought provoking and I am glad I was able to put into practice some of its ideas.' - Counselling Children and Young People Journal 'Describing home-based therapeutic work in real-life chaotic families, this book has relevance to anyone working with children and families. What is most helpful is the author's readiness to discuss her own doubts and vulnerabilities.' - Community Care Molly Salans has been a storyteller for many years, visiting children in deprived areas who have depression, ADHD and behavioral problems caused by poverty, absent fathers, depressed mothers, run-down schools and violence. Describing her therapy sessions as they happened, Molly Salans puts the children in the context of their lives and recounts her sessions, the folk and fairy stories she told and the ones they developed themselves. In doing so, she shows how storytelling and listening, thinking about characters in the stories and talking about alternative endings inspires the imagination, compassion and way of thinking needed to cope with such emotionally difficult lives. This remarkable book includes over fifteen original children's drawings and reveals the methodology Molly uses to help heal these children and their families, making it essential for all those involved in therapy and in storytelling.