Using Stories / Arts

PLANTING, GROWING and HARVESTING STORIES

We are pleased to present a pictorial introduction of our goal for having people recognize the importance of creating coherent narratives (stories that make sense). Through the use of collage images and photos we are able to view the growth of one middle class child and experience some of his growth opportunities. We desire that all children be afforded similar preferred experiences within their own cultural contexts.

We welcome you to this instructional section on how to build and use stories.  Whether you are a healthcare provider, parent, teacher of a special needs children, or a youth or adolescent yourself, people seek to interpret both their good and bad experiences using the language of metaphors (symbols representing something important) and story creating, telling, and working through process.   From one of our favorite children’s books, Crow and Weasel by Barry Lopez, Badger instructs the two adolescents in story telling and reminds them that stories have a way of taking care of people.  We need to take care of them and give them away when they are needed.  Sometimes a person needs a story (hope) more than food to stay alive.  We believe that sometimes a person needs tools to reshape their own story in helping them become more alive.

Story Selections

• Cultivating, Nurturing, and Caring for Families with Narrative Medicine
  "fixing stories" makes medicine a narrative practice
• The Foundations of the Narrative Approach
  weaving instinctual tales from the cultural past into hopeful threads of identity
• Pre-Verbal and Visual Expressions
  our rhythmic dance with others can be Speechless and without words
• Using the Expressive Arts
  expressing enriched experiences by children making up a story
• Listening, Re-Telling and Holding New Conversations
  There is always another story to be uncovered and told
• Reading, Writing and Children’s Literature
  Reading and writing for better health-includes booklists, articles, journaling and scrapbooking
• The Anatomy of a Story
  our life depends on how good a good story is told
• Michael’s Story Reflecting ABLE Team Outcomes
  your story becomes our story