World Storytelling Institute

Nungambakkam, Chennai
Dr Eric Miller, Director

(PhD in Folklore, MSc in Psychology),

98403 94282,  044 4005 5027
info@storytellinginstitute.org
www.storytellinginstitute.org

 

 

Welcome!

 

 

Upcoming Events

(May 2023 onward)

via Zoom Videoconference

and in Chennai

 

Info about regularly-scheduled Storytelling activities by various individuals and organisations in Chennai is here.

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1) One-on-one Training in "Storytelling Therapy." 

 

This process includes the trainee undergoing Storytelling Therapy.  That is, one learns this method in-part by undergoing it oneself.

 

8 weekly (60-minute) one-on-one sessions.

Days and times to be arranged. 

Via Zoom, or at Dr Eric's office near

Nungambakkam High Road, Chennai. 

 

Reviews of this training are here.

 

The process provides:

1) Training in "Storytelling Therapy" – which can be used for Counselling, Life Coaching, Personality Development, etc.

2) Counselling and Life Coaching utilising Storytelling Therapy.

3) Coaching in Story Composition (Creative Writing), because composing a Healing / Transforming story for oneself is an essential part of the Storytelling Therapy process.

 

The Storytelling Therapy method has 8 steps:

1) Tell one's "Life story".

2) The listener may share similar experiences.

3) Identify turning points, outstanding elements, and themes in one's Life story.

4) Seek to bring to mind metaphors for aspects of one's Life story.

5) Gather "Associative stories" in relation to each of the identified themes in one's Life story.

6) Add to and otherwise modify any of the above-mentioned stories.

7) Speak to and as characters in one's memory and imagination.

8) Compose a "Healing story" (and/or an "Inspiring / Encouraging / Guiding / Integrating / Transforming story".)

 

As part of Step No. 7 ("Speak to and as characters in one's memory and imagination"), the "Active Imagination" technique that was first developed by Carl Jung would be used.

 

Storytelling Therapy involves ways to use stories, and the process of storytelling, to increase people's feelings of well-being. 

 

The kinds of stories used in the Storytelling Therapy process include Animal Fables; Fairytales; episodes of Epics; Stories from participants' favorite Movies, Plays, and Novels; Historical Stories; Personal-experience Stories; and Original Creative stories.

 

Fairytale Therapy, one type of Storytelling Therapy, would be a part of this training.

 

The Storytelling Therapy process includes looking at traditional stories in one's own culture for characters and situations that could serve as metaphors for one's psychological tendencies.  Why should such metaphors appear only in the form of characters from ancient Greece (Oedipus, Narcissus, Eros, the Furies, etc)?  More about this approach is here.

 

This training is given by Dr Eric Miller. 

 

Dr Eric's Education:

*  MSc in Psychology, U. of Madras (2018).

*  PhD in Folklore, U. of Pennsylvania (2010).

*  One-year Course in Counselling,

     Chennai Counsellors Foundation (2016).

*  Six-week Course in Life Coaching,

     Soul Symphony (based in Chennai) (2020).

 

From 2017 to 2020, Dr Eric taught this material in a group Course, 3 times each year.  A Poster about the Course is here.  Now Dr Eric gives this training one-on-one.

 

No previous training is required.

 

Training Fee: Rs 24,000.

 

If possibly interested, please contact Dr Eric.

Contact info and additional info about this training is here.

 

 

2) Workshop on "Storytelling"

(for Adults).

 

10 weekly group sessions, on Sundays,

7pm to 9pm. 

 

The next edition of this Workshop would

occur 25th June to 27th August 2023.

 

A focus of this edition of the workshop is going to be on using techniques of Carl Jung and others to access from one's personal and collective unconscious material that one could use to create stories.

 

Via Zoom videoconference.

 

Facilitated by Dr Eric, WSI Director.

 

Graduates of this Workshop could continue for Certification as a Professional Storyteller.

 

Additional info about this Workshop is here.

 

 

3) "Storytelling by and for Adults."

 

This is an open-mic storytelling series via Zoom (on the first Monday of each month, starting at 6pm India time).  Admission is free.  To register, please send an email to info@storytellinginstitute.org

 

Upcoming Session: Monday 5th June 2023.

The program is here.

 

Links to recordings of tellings (and discussions) in our past sessions (July 2020 onward), are here.

 

A  theme for tellings in this series is letting characters speak for themselves (in monologue and dialogue).

 

If you have already attended a session of this series, you are registered and would reveive the Zoom links via email. If you have not yet attended a session in the series --

To register, please send an email to

info@storytellinginstitute.org

 

Facilitated by Dr Eric, WSI Director.

 

For the first seven years of this series

(beginning in 2013) this series occurred

in a Cafe Coffee Day in Chennai.  From

April 2020 it has occurred via Zoom videoconference.

 

 

4) Workshops on "Psychodrama and Storytelling".

 

One workshop was titled,

"Exploring Fairytales through Psychodrama". 

The fairytales and commentaries we used are here.

 

Stories we would be working with in an

upcoming workshop (no dates yet) include:

*  Silappathikaram (Epic of the Ankle Bracelet) (Tamil Nadu, India).

*  Odysseus and the Trojan War

(ancient Greece).

*  The Tempest

(England, 1610, William Shakespeare's final play).

 

Workshop Facilitators:

Ms Magdalene Jeyarathnam (Psychodrama),
     TED Talk.

Dr Eric Miller (Storytelling).

 

 

5) "Creative Writing" Coaching

for Teenagers and Adults.  

 

Facilitated by Dr Eric, WSI Director.

 

Additional info is here. 

 

 

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Additional Storytelling Workshops for Adults

Date and Location: By request.

Trainer: Dr Eric, WSI Director

"Storytelling Workshop for People in the Business World"

"Storytelling Workshop for Teachers"

 

"Developing a Culture of Partnership",

2-day or 3-day Storytelling Workshop for Adults.

1) Storytelling.

2) Storytelling for Coaching and Counselling

(Personality development, Self-actualisation, Fulfilling one's potential, etc)

3) Storytelling for Teaching and Learning Languages, and any other academic subject.


"Storytelling for Parents and Children Together"

"Introduction to Storytelling, and Coaching Your Storytelling"

"Story Workshop for Screenplay Writers" (and Others in the Fields of Stage and Screen).

Storytelling Workshops can be custom-made for

1) Educators,

2) Parents,

3) Parents and Children together

(Family Storytelling Workshops),

5) Psychological Counsellors,

6) Soft / Life / Communication Skills Trainers.

7) Members of Communities or Organisations. 

 

These Workshops could include video recording and playback for study purposes.