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Healing Articles

"Problems are not going to get solved until we sit down with somebody else and really listen to their stories, so we can get to understand each other rather than blowing each other up. The more we put labels on people, the more we’re destined not to know them. When you really know somebody else’s story, you can’t hate them anymore. It’s a wonderful tool for peace."
-- Storyteller Nancy Duncan

 

Storytelling has been used around the world for centuries to heal people. The articles below describe various uses of storytelling and healing, including:

For more information about the uses of storytelling in healing, see:

  1. Storyteller Tries to Ease Tsunami Victims' Pain Japanese Times (Tokyo, Japan), May 14, 2011

  2. The Psychological Power of Storytelling Psychology Today (New York, NY), January 16, 2011

  3. Telling Stories: Creating Community One Story at a Time Tucson Citizen (Tucson, AZ), March 2, 2010

  4. Enter the World of Storytelling ExpressBuzz (Chenai, India), February 10, 2010

  5. Learning to Listen The New York Times (New York, NY), December 29, 2009

  6. Story Time The Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), November 14, 2009

  7. Festival Connects Storytelling, Peace-building Winnipeg Free Press (Winnipeg, Canada), May 6, 2009

  8. Champaign-Urbana Group Revives Art of Storytelling Daily Illini (University of Illinois, Champaign, IL), April 7, 2009

  9. Life Stories: Children Find Meaning in Old Family Tales Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), March 11, 2009

  10. Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One Newsweek (New York, NY), February 16, 2009

  11. The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a Good Yarn Scientific American Mind (New York, NY) , September, 2008

  12. Once Upon a Time There was a Sickness ABC Online (Australia), April 17, 2008

  13. Youngsters Enjoy a Special Story on World Storytelling Day The Shields Gazette (South Shields, UK), April 15, 2008

  14. Empathy Is What Makes Us Sane: Ira Glass at Lisner Auditorium DCist.com (Washington, DC), April 15, 2008

  15. The Stories We Tell that Could Build a City (The Oregonian, Portland, OR), April 6, 2008

  16. Health Department Hopes Personal Stories will Inspire Change Daily Herald (Provo, UT), March 26, 2008

  17. Storytelling Can Make a Difference in Conflict The Times of India (New Delhi, India), October 1, 2007

  18. Outside Voices: Siobhan Darrow On The Value Of Storytelling CBS News (New York City, NY), December 15, 2006

  19. We Can Heal the Wounds The Fiji Times Online (Suva, Fiji), December 3, 2006

  20. Storytelling is Great Tool in Tourism and Reconciliation City Vision (Western Cape, South Africa), November 9, 2006

  21. Cathartic Tales Malaysia Star (Malaysia), January 24, 2006

  22. Storytellers to Honor Dr. King January 15 Palisadian-Post (Pacific Palisades, CA), January 13, 2005

  23. Storytelling Known for Healing Nature Billings Gazette (Billings, MT), December 8, 2004

  24. Storyteller Shows Health Officials a New Way to Communicate with Alaskans Anchorage Daily News (Anchorage, Alaska), December 7, 2004

  25. Storyteller Nurses 'Their Spirits' Baton Rouge Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA), November 7, 2004

  26. Clarinetist Mends Her Heart Through Performing Palm Beach Daily News (Palm Beach, FL), October 20, 2004

  27. National Endowment For The Arts Grant Will Benefit Local Homeless Youth Westchester.com (Westchester, NY), October 20, 2004

  28. Telling the Holocaust Story The Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem, Israel), September 6, 2004

  29. He's Found Escape in Life and Onstage The Boston Globe, August 27, 2004

  30. Teaching Through Stories: Televised Play Brings Cancer Information to Native Alaskans Capital City Weekly (Juneau, Alaska), August 24, 2004

  31. The Moral Clout of Storytelling The Seed, July/August, 2004

  32. Storytelling Helps Victims of Trauma Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, FL), August 21, 2004

  33. Visual and Performing Arts Take on a Bigger Role in Patient Recovery The Washington Post, August 17, 2004

  34. Solace Found in the Telling of a Tragic Tale Times Union (Albany, NY), August 13, 2004

  35. Tall Tales Told at Civic Center Arizona Sentinel, August, 2004

  36. Across the Land, Plots are Thickening LA Times, July 29, 2004

  37. Her Final Story The Reader (Omaha, Nebraska), June 25, 2004

  38. Lives Retold St. Petersburg Times, June 14, 2004

  39. Victims To Voice Pain The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland), May 27, 2004

  40. Narrative and Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine, February 26, 2004

  41. Creative Expression Workshops for Immigrant and Refugee Children Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, February, 2004

  42. You Can Be a Great Storyteller USA Weekend.com, January 18, 2004

  43. Food for Thought Atlanta Jewish Times, December 29, 2003

  44. Diagnosis Goes Low Tech The New York Times, October 11, 2003

  45. Even in a High-Tech World, Storytellers Can Still Spin a Good Yarn Chicago Tribune Online Edition, July, 2003

  46. Narrative Voices And Repertoire at a Healing Crossroads in South India Journal of American Folklore, Summer, 2003

 

For more information about the uses of storytelling in healing, see The Healing Story Alliance, a Special Interest Group of the National Storytelling Network.

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If you know of articles which should be included in this collection, please email them to kate@katedudding.com.