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Models for Writing Short Stories for Spiritual Care

"It takes more than medicine to heal," according to Dr. Daniel Aronzon, pediatrician and CEO of the Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie. As of 1998, accredited health-care providers are required to make spiritual care accessible to all patients in response to The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, which sets industry standards in the United States. Writing therapy involves processing negative, unresolved emotions that are often at the root of spiritual unrest and illness. Writing short stories is an expressive therapy for people to safely vent their feelings and begin to heal from mental, emotional and physical stress and illness by identifying the causal links between the elements of the story.

  1. "Final Scenes"

    • Spiritual vignettes offer support to families and patients who are grieving.

      In her book, "Final Scenes: Bedside Tales at End of Life," Janet Stark depicts various end-of-life scenarios in a collection of 80 short stories. Each story is a short vignette with a simple lesson on how volunteers, family members, health professionals and spiritual health-care providers (chaplains) can ameliorate the lives of patients and their families. The death of Stark's grandmother influenced her to write about end-of-life-care issues. Common themes in "Final Scenes" include dealing with loss, finding hope in a better world, finding laughter amid tears and compassionate individuals that go above and beyond the call of duty. Stark works with volunteers and chaplains in a hospital palliative care department and states that her stories were written to provide comfort, hope and healing.

    Blue Butterfly

    • The "Blue Butterfly" is a symbol of spiritual transformation.

      "Blue Butterfly" is a short story, which was made into a movie, about a little boy with inoperable brain cancer who chases the Blue Butterfly in the rain forest, believing that it possesses the answers to the universe as well as the ability to heal the boy's cancer. The movie offers a spiritual perspective on what is meaningful in life as well as the unstoppable spiritual will of a child to overcome.

    "Two Weeks"

    • Spiritual stories offer insight and consolation for the experience of losing a loved one.

      The movie "Two Weeks" was adapted from a story about a mother with four adult children facing terminal cancer, played by actress Sally Field. This movie portrays the grief, pain and surrender of family members and the person dying of cancer.

    Expressive Therapy

    • Terminally ill children must deal with many conflicting emotions.

      The Barnes-Jewish Hospital Hospice of Missouri offers expressive therapy opportunities for children with life-threatening illnesses like cystic fibrosis. The expressive therapy program encourages seriously ill children in their pediatric ward to write and illustrate stories to help them safely express their feelings. The BJC believes that terminally ill children experience an intense set of feelings in their short lives and that by encouraging them to tell their stories, they are better able to deal with the fear of the unknown, changes in lifestyle and abilities as well as an intensified love for family in the final stages of their young lives. In the words of an adolescent girl battling cystic fibrosis named Rachel, "Creating this art and these stories has helped me let out my feelings, deal with my illness and continue to fight and hope."

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