News Summary

• Children who have been injured, ill, or suffered some emotional trauma can become fixated on the problem.
• Stories are inherently soothing.
• They give attention to a child in distress, and they do so without drawing her focus.
• The emotional intimacy helps them to feel connected, calm, and sometimes a little stronger.
• It might strike some readers as grandiose to claim that storytelling can be this effective.
• But if we grasp the intimacy at the core of the storytelling relationship, we begin to see how the tool can help us dial in and connect our kids in rapid and effective ways.