Story building is a way for kids to discover,express and develop a coping strategy for any emotionally charged issue causing emotional discomfort. 

It is very difficult for most adults to talk about and discover coping skills for emotionally charged problems.  Now imagine you are a child trying to handle an issue over which you have no control.  

Using picture drawing to initially determine the scenario, we then use the child's own imagination to determine the direction of the story and resolution of the issue.  There is a moral or message to the story and it is applied therapeutically to the child's situation.

Story building is very effective for children who have  difficulty:

• talking about their feelings
• accepting responsibility for problems they incur
• interacting with their sibling positively
• managing health issues over which they have no control
• dealing with loss or grief or divorce
• living in stressful conditions created by family members
• managing bullying
• discussing feelings which may be embarrassing
• recovering from a trauma

"Watching this process unfold is a beautiful testimony to children's ability to intuitively resolve internal conflicts."

Click here to view a story written by a child who  had been involved in an explosion on a boat ..

 

Click here

to view a story from a  boy who has difficulty making friends and being happy in school.

When a story is finished it is put in format for the child to illustrate.  It takes approximately 1-4 sessions to write the book in person.