The Power of Stories: Mythodrama: Conflict Management and Group Psychotherapy with Children and Adolescents Using Stories

Often lips are sealed, and delicate topics avoided, when children or adolescents are in a conflict situation or have experienced a trauma. Psychologists, psychotherapist, teachers are challenged and must find alternative ways to connect to the individual or group. Talking alone is not sufficient.

In this book-Volume 7 of the Zürich Lecture Series-a therapeutic method and conflict management approach is presented, which is successfully employed in group work with children and adolescents in despair or in a conflict situation. Mythodramas main focus are specially selected stories, which mirror the issues of the respective group, connect to the issues of the group, and serve as an entrance to the imaginal. The book describes how the stories are selected, told, enacted, and linked to the issues and concerns of the group or individual. Mythodrama is a potent method, based on Jungian psychology, which helps groups to move on, express their emotions, concerns, and get motivated to find solutions. Mythodrama has successfully been applied in groups consisting of traumaticised children or adolescents, violent youth, bullies, victims of aggression, adolescents with identity crises, etc. Mythodrama is also a method which is employed in conflict management in schools. The key elements of Mythodrama are Stories, Play, Imagination, Drama, and Concrete Changes.