Page 172 [172]
Part V. Digital Media and Storytelling in University Courses ] 171
Storytelling covers the practice of clinical psychology at many levels. Ihe
clients current problems, conditions, and their perceived causes are also
told in a narrative structure, revealing their narrative identity by telling their
life stories. The therapist uses the context revealed by the fragments of the
narrative to move towards a diagnosis, which is a narrative that thematizes
both the causes and the therapy. At the third level is the narrative in which
the therapist shares with his supervisor or records in his case diary the events
of his dialogue and collaboration with the client. Finally, the therapist may
intentionally include storytelling exercises in the therapeutic process. In the
narrative therapy process, the client and therapist reframe views of non¬
adaptive behavioral patterns into a narrative that offers a hopeful and rational
possibility for change. Like narrative therapy, the point of multi-step group
therapies (such as voluntary sessions of Anonymous Alcoholics) is to make
life style change part of the individual’s narrative identity while members
support each other, learn from each other and become resilient together
through sharing everyday stories (Kottler, 2015).
The autobiographical narratives play an important role in the process of
diagnosis, as the episodes reveal the connections between the self and the
characters in the life story, as well as the typical life situations of the narrator.
Ecsi (2018) considered the narrative categorical analysis of stories as a more
effective classification method than the scaling survey in ADHD diagnosis, as
children’s narratives provided deeper insights into behavioral characteristics
than the standardized test. In turn, detailed problem identification can
contribute to the design of a targeted therapy.
Narratives also come up in therapy when the therapist recommends a book
to the client whose protagonist is in a similar situation. This helps to reveal
to the client more nuanced details of the life situation and the perspectives of
others (Kottler, 2015). Kottler (2015) argues that bibliotherapy is essentially
a focused group therapy in which the participants critically evaluate the
work, and compare and reflect on the events and processes with their own
experiences. Especially in crisis situations, bibliotherapy can have an effective
therapeutic effect. The individual or group sessions are based on literary work
that deals with the clients’ problem. As the analysis of the narrative helps
to bring to the surface the experiences that the client has had in a similar
situation, it clarifies his or her approach to the issue. The narrative acts as a
catalyst, and by articulating what the work means to the client, it also initiates
a process of self-reflection, which can help in formulating coping strategies
(Rubin, 1979; Gulyas, 2019).
Not only written stories, but also stories represented by any medium, such
as film, TV shows, video games can be used in a therapy. Stories provide an
opportunity to decode patterns of social interaction during therapy. The
group analyses the actions and reactions of the characters, which can be
put in parallel with the life events of the clients. Sometimes, literary or film
narratives allow for the reliving of experiences that would be risky but can