#26: Storytelling as Medicine (Caren Neile)

In my expanded definition, “medicine” is anything that heals the body, mind, emotions, or spirit. As a physician, this includes the Western medications that I prescribe, but it goes beyond to include so much more. In every conversation, it is important to define the context and agree upon the definitions that we are using. Here my context is the expanded definition of medicine: anything that heals the body, mind, emotions, or spirit.

Where will you find your medicine?

For me, storytelling is a potent medicine that can heal on many different levels. I am so inspired by its power to heal that I now teach “Storytelling as Healing” at FGCU. In researching for this class, I spoke to many storytellers, and that’s how I got in touch with Caren Neile.

Caren Neile teaches “storytelling studies” at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida. She is a storytelling performer, an author of books, and a public radio host. She helped to start the Healing Story Alliance, a special interest group of the National Storytelling Network.

Join our conversation as we discuss “Storytelling as Medicine.”

In this interview …

  • What is storytelling?
  • The science behind storytelling as medicine
  • History of the Healing Story Alliance
  • … and more …

Find Caren Neile online at www.thepublicstoryteller.org.

Recorded: Thu Jan 3, 2019; Released: Sat Jan 19, 2019

Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann

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