Dramatherapy with Myth and Fairytale

Book excerpt: Myths and fairytales are our rich heritage; a veritable feast of ancient wisdom passed down through the ages in the memorable form of stories. While almost any story will have deep meaning to some individuals, some of the time, this book presents a collection of stories that these maestros of dramatherapy have found to have a powerful effect almost without fail. These are the 'golden' stories of Sesame. The authors introduce the Sesame approach and describe the advantages of using myth and fairy tale as a central theme in a therapy session. The Sesame approach has been found to produce striking results with myriad client groups, including individuals with learning difficulties, offenders in psychiatric settings and children with emotional and behavioural difficulties and adults in mental health care. Dramatherapy with Myth and Fairytale provides a treasure trove of timeless stories that can be adapted and applied to the needs of different client groups and the style of each therapist. It also includes introductory exercises, warm-ups and scene setting suggestions. The book will be an invaluable source of inspiration for dramatherapists and dramatherapy students, creative arts therapists, storytellers, psychotherapists, Jungian psychoanalysts, teachers and play therapists.