The Power of Story: Helping Kids Heal and Thrive

How can storytelling help kids heal? In this episode, we talk to Dr. Sharon Zaffarese-Dippold to explore how story helps children make sense of their experiences, build resilience, and move toward thriving, including simple, everyday ways to begin using it at home. She is a psychotherapist with 27 years of experience in counseling and author of the “Garbage Bag Life” series, which emphasizes her journey through foster care.


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  • Can you tell us a little about your own journey and why helping children make sense of their stories became such an important part of your life?
  • What did you wish the adults around you had understood about what you were carrying as a child?
  • Why are stories such powerful tools for helping children heal?
  • What is it about a story that often feels safer than direct conversations, especially for children who have experienced trauma, loss, foster care, adoption, or family disruption?
  • What happens when children don’t have a coherent story about their lives?
  • What are some of the questions they may silently wrestle with?
  • Many parents and caregivers are afraid of saying the wrong thing around a child’s story. What do you suggest?
  • What does it mean when a child moves from “What’s wrong with me?” to “What happened to me?”
  • What are some simple ways parents and caregivers can build storytelling into everyday family life?
  • Stories can be used for more than understanding a child’s history in adoption, foster care, and relative care. They can also help children recognize their strengths, resilience, and a sense of belonging.
  • How can parents and caregivers use storytelling to build family identity?

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Music Credit: Michael Ashworth; Podcast Producer: megownsoundworks.com; Photo by Stiven Rivera from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-woman-speaking-on-a-microphone-in-a-class-17558086/