Therapeutic use of storytelling for older children who are critically ill.

Like play, a story can be functional and therapeutic in the care of children dealing with chronic illnesses such as cancer, even when patients' courses prove terminal. Examples include both oral telling and reading of stories, picturebooks, novels and accounts of natural phenomena, as well as children;s recounting of desires and fantasies. The field of therapeutic stories offers unlimited opportunities for both practitioner and parent to learn better ways to support children's own inner processes of imagination and motivation, to strengthen and to provide comfort.