ABSTRACT
The use of stories to convey thoughts, feelings, and behavior has an ancient and widespread history. For instance, folktales, such as Aesop’s fables, and Bible stories were designed to be instructive. Although current-day use of stories is rooted in many other theories (e.g., construct theory) (Viney, 1996), the recent surge in popularity has been attributed to developments stemming from work with the native peoples of New Zealand (see Monk, Winslade, Crocket, & Epston, 1997) and Australia (White & Epston, 1990). Expert clinicians within many different cultural groups suggest that an approach using stories or metaphors can be more useful than direct methods (e.g., LaFramboise & Rowe, 1983; Shon & Ya, 1982).
