The power of storytelling in adventure therapy

While universal across human cultures, storytelling has especially entered into educational and therapeutic practice as a technique for self-reflection and growth. The authors propose a pedagogical approach to using story that is developmental and cross-disciplinary. The research upon which this paper is based adopted a phenomenological case study approach in evaluating the benefits of storytelling. Findings show that the pedagogies appeal to our primeval sense of story, to our innate need to 'story' our lives, and potentially provide opportunities for participants of all ages, in all sectors of society to understand themselves and the world around them, and to complete developmental tasks on the basis of this understanding.