In this cross-disciplinary study, a group of researchers critically examine the ways in which narrative—that is, written and told stories and legends—might aid in coping with traumatic or stressful life situations and with the emotions that these situations engender. Starting with an introduction of basic narrative theories and the therapeutic effects of storytelling, the book moves on to a series of lucid case studies. The contributors present a diversity of material, such as weblogs, poetry, magazines, memoirs, and oral accounts from antiquity to the present. With a diversity of perspectives—the contributors hail from a variety of fields, including folkloristics, psychology, writing studies, poetry therapies, and classical studies—this book benefits specialists in a number of different disciplines, as well as individuals interested in the possibility of inner exploration sparked by storytelling.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• 1. Key Themes in the Study of the Therapeutic Uses of Storytelling
• IDENTITY AND THERAPEUTIC NARRATIVE
  • 2. Narrative Identity and Psychotherapy
  • 3. From Single to Double Stories of Identity
  • 4. You Should Say Such Things that Mobile Phones Will Fall
    • Storytelling as a Personal Contact between Teller and Listener
• COPING WITH THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
  • 5. More than Scapegoating
    • The Therapeutic Potential of Stories of Child-Killing Demons in Ancient Greece and Rome
  • 6. Dealing with Emotions
  • 7. Constructing Personal Historical Agency, Making Sense of the Past?
  • 8. The Finnish Yellow Press as a Therapeutic Channel
  • 9. Negotiating Terror, Negotiating Love
    • Commemorative Convergence in Norway after the Terrorist Attack on 22 July 2011
• NARRATIVE AND THERAPEUTIC METHODS
  • 10. Narrative Encounters in End-of-Life Care
  • 11. The Power of Communal Writing
    • The Possibilities of Poetry Therapy in the Rehabilitation of Schizophrenia
  • 12. Depression and Expression in Blog Diaries
• About the Authors