The Healing Power of Storytelling

Who among us doesn’t enjoy a good story? Some tale of our personal lives or the lives of others. Storytelling can be particularly significant when the story helps someone else to grow and overcome something difficult they are going through in their life such as a serious illness. 

True storytelling is an art form. However, there is an emerging field called narrative communications and the professionals in that field are identifying the effects of telling stories on the health and happiness of patients. It is through the connected feeling a person has when hearing a story that helps patients get through the tough news of a diagnosis or helps them to make changes to some strongly ingrained behavior in order to improve their health; like smoking or a drastic change in diet.

So why does this work? Well, storytelling is very human experience. From the earliest time, it was a way our ancestors told about the important moments in their lives and the lives of those around them. It was necessary for survival. It was also the earliest form of learning. It helped people make sense of their lives and the world they shared.