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Therapeutic storymaking or TSM is a short-term method for groups of individuals who have specific need for therapeutic help. Developed, practised and taught by Alida Gersie over a number of years, the method is closely related to dramatherapy and other arts therapies. Suitable for various kinds of client groups ranging from those with mental health problems to frail, elderly people, it draws on the basic belief that we are our stories and that our functioning in the world is closely related to our varying abilities to know and to tell them.
In two previous books, Gersie described the use of stories and storytelling activities in therapy and education and in bereavement counselling. The current work feels like a kind of homecoming. Focusing squarely on the beliefs and techniques of TSM itself and giving numerous short and long descriptions of the method in practice, it clearly sets out the three different kinds of story which Gersie acknowledges as part of the process - the traditional tale represented by myth and folk-tale; the personal autobiographical story; and the fantasy-type story which can be created on the spot by individuals. This analysis in turn facilitates helpful accounts of various ways of working with these three types of story, a clear view of the potential within them and an understanding of how different stories and types of story relate to each other and to people generally. The book also deals well with the system of response tasks which Gersie has created as a technique by which individuals in groups may respond to the stories they hear and, through so doing, address the needs of the individuals who tell them, often, initially, with considerable timidity and fear.
The resulting method has significant differences from group therapy as classically practised. In group therapy, there is no agenda. Although, in the short-term groups