101 Healing Stories: Using Metaphors in TherapyISBN: 978-0-471-39589-8
Paperback
288 pages
April 2001
This is a Print-on-Demand title. It will be printed specifically to fill your order. Please allow an additional 10-15 days delivery time. The book is not returnable.
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"For anyone planning (or even considering) the implementation of metaphors in healing, this book is a must-read. It provides a comprehensive look at the topic -- in a very user friendly style." (Brian Alman, Ph.D., author of The Six Steps To Freedom, Self-Hypnosis, and Thin Meditations
I was captivated by this book from the Introduction to the final
page. George Burns is a rarity. He is not only a master
storyteller, he is able to do what few artists blessed with a
disciplined genius can do. He can describe what he did and why he
did it.
This book is like taking a master course in metaphor and
therapeutic storytelling, complete with suggested exercises to
individualize and expand the learning. The format of the book
follows the traditional teaching model that makes learning easier:
Tell what you are going to do, do it, then describe what you
did. The book is divided into three parts: [An overview of ]
Metaphor Therapy, Healing Stories, and Creating Your Own
Metaphors.
Since I supervise and teach students and interns and conduct
workshops for licensed mental health professionals, I decided to
take the book out for a "test drive" and used this book as the core
of my training for a semester.
I started with the format found in the introduction. Unlike most
books, I found the Introduction section crucial to the reading of
101 Healing Stories. It outlines not only how one was to use
the book, but how to approach the creation, development, and
presentation of therapeutic stories. In my class, this outline was
invaluable for those students who found the task of therapeutic
metaphor initially daunting. It outlined the process they were
about to experience in small, reasonable, easily understood steps.
It also reminded the more seasoned therapists of Erickson's
admonition of the need to create metaphors for the individual
client, rather than just apply a predetermined intervention to a
diagnostic category. In that same way, the Introduction presents an
open mindset for the reader to experience the stories as examples
and stimuli rather than as stock stories to indiscriminately inject
into clients.
Part One, Metaphor Therapy, presents the rationale and uses
of storytelling. It succinctly lists Ten Guidelines for
Effective Storytelling including Six Guidelines for the
Storyteller's Voice. These guidelines were very helpful for my
beginning students and nice reminders that the more seasoned
therapists could review.
Part Two, Healing Stories, contained ten examples each of
ten general goals of Healing Stories: Enhancing Empowerment,
Acquiring Acceptance, Reframing Negative Attitudes, Changing
Patterns of Behavior, Learning from Experience, Attaining Goals,
Cultivating Compassion, Developing Wisdom, Caring for yourself,
and Enhancing Happiness. Each of the stories was preceded by
an outline of its therapeutic characteristics: Problems
Addressed, Resources Developed and Outcomes Offered.
This format makes it easy to teach and to learn. By listing the
therapeutic characteristics prior to telling the story and
reviewing the therapeutic characteristics afterwards, the pattern
of the development of therapeutic stories (described in Part three
of the book) becomes evident. The stories themselves are
delightful. They are filled with humor and insight.
Part Three is Creating Your Own Metaphors. It includes
How to Do It and How Not to Do It and Using the PRO-Approach to
Create Your Own Healing Stories. These sections are a
structured review of what is intuitively suggested in Part Two. I
found this very useful in translating the intuitive feelings that
were stimulated by the story formats into concrete story-making
skills. The students were able to follow the suggestions and easily
generated their own stories. Part Three ends with Story 101. This
is a wonderful story that is worth the price of the book. It
combines the essence of Erickson with the heat of Burns.
The book concludes with a significant list of References And
Professional Literature On Metaphors. These include folktales,
cross-cultural myths, legends, stories for children, religious and
spiritual stories, videotapes and internet websites. This section
reminded me of Erickson's observation that it was well and good for
a therapist to trust his unconscious, but the unconscious needs to
be fed regularly. Burns truly provides more than enough nutrition
to keep the unconscious well fed.
My test ride of the book was a resounding success. Both the
beginning students and seasoned therapists loved the content and
format of 101 Healing Stories. They found it easy to
understand, entertaining and they were able to create their own
stories that heal. If you want to develop your storytelling skills
to the level of an art, I can recommend no finer book. And, it is a
good read!! (Review by Richard Landis)
"George W. Burns is indeed a master in the art of using stories for healing purposes." (Metapsychology Review, January 2003)
"This is George Burn's best book yet. He leverages years of professional therapist experience to help individuals uncover insightful and practical solutions to the everyday life challenges encountered in the real world. The stories and metaphors hit the mark again and again." --Dr. Brian Alman, Author of Self-Hypnosis, Six Steps to Freedom and Thin Meditations