Exploring the Value of Culturally Adapted Therapeutic Stories as a Tool for Intervention in Chinese Primary Schools

The therapeutic use of stories and storytelling has been studied in western countries for decades. Throughout the last ten years, Chinese researchers and practitioners also have devoted attention to using therapeutic storytelling in psychosocial counselling. However, there is still a dearth of research on using this therapeutic technique with primary school students. This study aims to address this research gap by exploring Chinese primary school psychological counsellors’ understanding and experience of using stories and storytelling therapeutically. In addition, this study seeks to develop an in-depth understanding of how culturally adapted therapeutic stories can be used in Chinese primary school psychological counsellors’ practice.

Twelve psychological counsellors serving primary school students were recruited as participants. I created four therapeutic stories and delivered an online presentation to each participant to introduce the basic concept of therapeutic story along with the stories devised by me. The participants were expected to use the stories in their practice, and eight of them actually did so. The participants attended a semi-structured individual interview to reflect on their experience (if any) and express their understanding of implementing therapeutic storytelling. By applying a constructivist grounded theory method of analysis, three core categories emerged. First, the participants found that therapeutic storytelling facilitated the establishment of an effective therapeutic relationship. Second, the participants believed that therapeutic storytelling is compatible with a wide range of therapeutic approaches and preferred to use it as an auxiliary therapeutic technique. Third, the participants thought that taking part in this study promoted their professional development.

This study conceptualises how therapeutic storytelling contributes to establishing an effective therapeutic relationship, and proposes a spectrum of therapist directiveness when implementing therapeutic storytelling to integrate the various approaches to using this technique. Based on the analysis of data, this study offers a set of possibly useful guidelines for using therapeutic storytelling in Chinese school settings.