Healthy Options 10/2/19: The Power of Storytelling

Host/Producer: Rhonda Feiman
Co-Producer: Petra Hall
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

The power of storytelling, in personal and community-wide healing, and its importance for our social, emotional and physical well-being, especially in areas where communities have been torn apart by difference, or even, in the aftermath of war.

Key Discussion Points:
What is “civic empathy”?
Why is story work such a powerful means of helping to heal emotional pain?
How can telling our own stories -and listening to other people’s stories- help us heal ourselves and help restore health in communities in crisis, transition, or post-trauma?
What is the effect of hearing and then telling others’ stories, embodying another person’s story as your own?
How would finding common ground with people different from ourselves help us as a society and potentially, as a nation?
What are some story workshops where the outcome was greater empathy and understanding among disparate factions?

Guest:
Gerard Stropnicky, theatre artist, writer, director, and co-founder of the Network of Ensemble Theaters, the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, and CampEmerge, a camp for families touched by autism. He works with people all over the world who are experiencing conflict or are in crisis or post-trauma, who need to tell their stories to aid in healing and building peace in their communities.

Websites of interest:
belfastcreativecoalition.org/art-in-action-project/
animatingdemocracy.org/resource/community-practice-net-learning-place
vimeo.com/user57966289