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THE MUTUAL STORYTELLING TECHNIQUE, 3, 4 devised by the author as a method of communicating with the child patient at his own level, is applicable in a wide range of childhood disorders and at various stages of their treatment. In this article, the basic technique is described and its specific contribution to the alleviation of unresolved Oedipal problems in children is discussed.
Eliciting stories is one of the time-honored techniques in psychotherapeutic work with children. Like the dream, the self-created story is a royal road to the child's unconscious. When the child tells us stories, (either directly or with dolls, drawings, or play), we have a valuable source of information about his inner conflicts, frustrations, wishes, defenses, and so forth.
Such stories are usually far easier to analyze than comparable productions of the adult, namely, dreams and free associations. The child's life is less complex, his experiences are more limited, and his repertoire of symbols and defense mechanisms is much smaller. The child therapist is therefore in the fortunate position of having laid out before him, often in unequivocal terms, the core problems of his patient. What does the therapist do with this information? Many answers have been proposed; the question involves an area which is still fraught with controversy.
Although Anna Freud 2 and Melanie Klein 5 differ markedly in