Nested in centuries of oral traditions, across cultures, are human expressions of experience in story. The very ground of who we are, how to connect, ways to survive, these are reflected in myths and fairytales. Trauma experience, the story of wounding and healing, is reflected in tales about human-nature-animal engagement. We watch through the lens of metaphor as characters are thrown to the powers of nature. They engage with unconscious elements, our instinctual/ intuitive selves, animal companions that are threats and helpers. We grasp something is wrong, a threat to life, forces that diminish-humiliate, alienate and manipulate. We follow the characters into the experience of trauma, existential crisis, of loss and being lost, alone and estranged, hopeless and yet still open. We identify characters and their limits, qualities holding one blind to dangers, challenges and risks, practiced confrontations, discovery, reclamation of truth, and transformation. As the story unfolds, we recognize hope, an opportunity for growth and healing.
Fairytales, like Shakespear’ plays, offer a theater of life. In fairy tales there is innocence and vulnerability, misuse of power, heroes and heroines, hope and despair, developmental challenges, stubborn obstinance, release and renewal. Fairytales, myths, and folktales offer a window to shift perspective, think and emote in new ways, let go of what must be released, reclaim what is true, and practice safe, validating engagement.
This 6-hour virtual session will feature experiential work to follow a thread of insights through the psychology of fairy tales, therapeutic metaphors, trauma, and existential experience. Using story in the therapeutic moment, we will transfer images from fairytales to gestalt and active imagination. We will explore imaginary portals-in-time, identify existential trauma, and state permissions to counter alienation, shame and humiliation. We will practice therapeutic features of narrative such as focus, flow, metaphor, resonance, amplification, active imagination, and collaborative storytelling.
We remain mindful, allow process, keep safe the client’s journey to reclaim and transform alienated, traumatized parts of their lives – no longer alone in the woods.
