by Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, PhD. Major life shifts, including the curing of disease1, do occur following transformative spiritual experiences2. Spirituality has been defined as those aspects of human striving that relate to God, the Divine, the Universe or Largest Whole, Higher Beings, and/or those things that we have construed to be sacred. Spirituality is a […]
Stories of Spiritual Transformations
by Fran Yardley. A number of years ago, a beloved storyteller named Nancy Duncan taught me a valuable technique for eliciting stories and poems from others. She said to start with the phrase “Once upon a time…” and explore what that brings up. Then move to “Then one day…” and do the same thing. Finally,
From “Once Upon a Time” to “Now I Know”: Healing Story at the Adirondack Arts & Healing Retreat
by Sheila Wee. Every now and then storytellers may be asked to come up with a tale to address a very specific medical issue. In 2003，I was asked by the Singapore Health Promotion Board to create a story about asthma to perform at a Polyclinic (community health clinic) event for World Asthma Day. The story
The Three Little Sheep: A Healing Story Redux
by Melany Cueva, R.N., Ed.D. The intent of the Readers’ Theatre, created for my doctoral dissertation, was to open hearts and minds of Alaskan residents to address cancer issues through the reading aloud of, and simultaneous listening to, a scripted conversation. As story, Readers’ Theatre embraces a holistic, interconnected process of living and learning as
Stories Embrace: Readers’ Theatre for Cancer Education in Alaska
by Barbara Esrig. I have been the Writer-in-Residence with the Shands Teaching Hospital Arts-in-Medicine program and involved in an oral history project at this Gainesville, Florida, facility since 1999. Every week I go to patients bedsides and ask them to share their life stories. I tell them that in every room there is an amazing
Playback Theatre: Putting Story on Stage as an Opportunity for Healing
by Lani Peterson Psy.D. The first Public Voice Project (PVP) was launched in November of 2004 by the City Mission Society in Boston. Over the course of four evenings, seven formerly incarcerated men met for the purpose of exploring the use and effects of storytelling. My participation with PVP was as the storytelling coach. Carla
The Public Voice Project: Creating a Storytelling Program with the Formerly Incarcerated
by Lorna MacDonald Czarnota. For the past ten years, I have worked with at-risk youth. One of the facilities I visit regularly is a residential treatment center or minimum- security detention center. Although it originally housed only girls, three years ago the facility added two boys’ cottages. It currently houses up to 30 boys in
Healing Storytelling: An Old Technique that Reaches the Young
by Susan Kaplan, M.S.W., M.P.A. “So nice to know that I am not alone! exclaimed one mother. “Now we can create something that is meaningful to us and not fight about it!” Earlier in the evening, she had shared with the participating families how explosive struggles between her and her daughter had stopped the planning
Peace in the Family: Stories and Skills to Build Healthy Families
by Nancy Mellon. A sturdy Israeli lawyer and devoted father, Hanan experiences the great joy of storytelling almost every day with his young children. He insists that he would have missed this pleasure were it were not for his wife, Tsipori, who has been practicing storytelling as a healing art for several years in the
by Suzanne Montz Adams. I used to think that myths were simply old stories that had little relevance for twenty-first century dilemmas. Yes, I admired their wildly imaginative content, the occasional unexpected twist, and the characters’ fantastical feats; but important to me personally? Not a chance. There was a slight glimmer of contemporary relevance, however,
