Fairy-tale therapy (skazkoterapiya)

Domain VIII · Creative & expressive arts therapies · T. D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva · St Petersburg, Russia

What it is

Skazkoterapiya ("fairy-tale therapy") is a Russian approach that uses fairy tales, myths and parables, both ready-made and newly composed, to help children and adults understand themselves and change behaviour. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva calls it "лечение сказкой" (treatment by a tale): a joint…

Format

• Who it is for. Mainly children. One source says it is not useful before about age 2, that from 2 years simple therapeutic tales can soothe and model behaviour, and that from 3 years it can be combined with other arts methods. A school master-class gives an upper range of about 11–13 years for…
• Course phases. The sources give no fixed session count or phase criteria. A workable course:

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Professional frame. No source opened describes fairy-tale therapist (сказкотерапевт) as a regulated profession in Russia, the UK, the US or the EU. The training route is through the St Petersburg school and the International Union of Fairy-Tale Therapists. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva notes that bringing out a tale's deeper meanings needs "особая подготовка" (special training). Practise it only inside your own regulated…
• What it is. Skazkoterapiya ("fairy-tale therapy") is a Russian approach that uses fairy tales, myths and parables, both ready-made and newly composed, to help children and adults understand themselves and change behaviour. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva calls it "лечение сказкой" (treatment by a tale): a joint uncovering, with the client, of knowledge that is therapeutic for them at that moment. It is a method and a training…
• Variants. Japanese and other national variants, and the term "satitherapy", are not confirmed in the sources. The Institute of Fairytale Therapy in St Petersburg is not drawn on directly. The sources confirm only that Zinkevich-Evstigneeva is the author of complex fairy-tale therapy and president of the International Union of Fairy-Tale Therapists (Международный союз сказкотерапевтов).

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Children adding their own summary points.
• Losing the tale's energy in over-explanation.
• Specific, owned situations, not generic answers.
• Concrete examples from life mean transfer is happening.
• Intellectualising. Bring it back to images and feelings.

Problems the guide addresses

• Safeguarding, consent and parents (children)
• Distress and overwhelm during a tale
• Stuck clients
• Resistance and non-adherence
• Ruptures
• Method-specific difficulties

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.