Changing Narratives – The Art of Therapeutic Storytelling (Stefan Hammel, Germany)
It seems that storytelling has always been a part of hypnotherapy a well as of systemic therapy and other forms of solution-focussed short term therapies. Erickson was a true master of finding and chosing therapeutic stories and tayloring them to the needs of his clients. Without doubt, the use of metaphors and anecdotes, known since the times of the ancient orient, has stayed one oft he most effective forms of consultation till this day. Stories can be introduced by the therapist or they can be one of the client’s which the therapist has picked up and reframed. The conversation partners can also develop them together.
But how do I discover useful stories and how do I narrate them? What makes a story useful for therapy after all? This seminar will give you techniques for developing useful therapeutic stories spontaneously during a session and for presenting them in a way so they can unfold their therapeutic potential. It is the target of the presentation give impulses on how to…
- invent therapeutic stories in line with your clients‘ needs and his or her view of life
- find anecdotes opening up new options for unique situations at any time
- formulate narrations for achieving therapeutic results
- transform problem-focussed metaphors told by clients into solution-focussed metaphors that integrate into their construction of reality
Stefan Hammel, born in 1967, is working as Ericksonian hypnotherapist, systemic therapist, protestant chaplain, head of the Institute for Hypno-Systemic Counseling in Kaiserslautern, Germany, as well as author of books and media for hypnotherapeutic and systemic practice. The focal point of his work lies in the field of family therapy, depression, anxiety and trauma, as well as working with patients and their families in hospital. In his therapeutic approach the use of metaphors, utilisation techniques, multilevel communication and nonverbal techniques of pacing and leading form a network of therapeutic interventions for changing the focus of attention towards resource perspectives. He provides a blog on therapeutic storytelling and narrative interventions on stefanhammel.com/blog.
Publications in English:
Stefan Hammel, Transforming Lives with Hypnosystemic Therapy. A Practical Guide. London, Routledge 2025.
Stefan Hammel, Guidebook of Therapeutic Utilization. Upcycling Life with Hypnosystemic Therapy. Mainz, impress 2025.
Stefan Hammel, Therapeutic Interventions in three Sentences. Reshaping Ericksonian Hypnotherapy by Talking to the Brain and Body. New York, London, Routledge 2020
Stefan Hammel, Handbook of Therapeutic Storytelling. Stories and Metaphors in Psychotherapy, Child and Family Therapy, Medicine, Coaching and Supervision. New York, London, Routledge 2019
Stefan Hammel, The Blade of Grass in the Desert. Storytelling: Forgotten Medicine for Healing the Soul. A Story of 100 Stories for Counseling and Therapy. Mainz, impress 2012.