The Healing Power of Story

Some of the stories we tell ourselves can have negative consequences for both our emotional and physical well-being. But what if we could rewrite our stories to better our lives?

That’s the concept that Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Ph.D., explores in his co-authored book, “Remapping Your Mind: The Neuroscience of Self Transformation through Story.” It’s also the concept that Mehl-Madrona will talk about as the featured speaker for the kick off of the FAU Brain Institute’s Neuroscience Seminar Series for the fall semester.

Mehl-Madrona is a physician with American Board certifications in family medicine, psychiatry and geriatrics. He is a clinical associate professor of family medicine at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, executive director of the Coyote Institute for Studies of Change and Transformation, and author of several books. A Native American of Cherokee and Lakota heritage, he specializes in weaving the wisdom and traditional healing perspective of Indigenous cultures with his work as a physician.

In his latest book, Mehl-Madrona applies current neuroscience research on memory, mind mapping and brain plasticity to the field of narrative therapy — a type of counseling that views people as separate from their problems and emphasizes the stories that we develop and carry with us through our lives.

Identifying and questioning noisy chatter in our minds can be key to mental health, he said. Many Indigenous cultures understand chattering internal voices as “characters” of stories informing a person’s self-worth and relationships with the world. These narratives are powerful, affecting how the human brain responds physiologically to stress and conflict, Mehl-Madrona said. “Mostly we just roll with noisy chatter in our minds,” he said. “If a narrative is positive, it can sustain health, but if a narrative is routinely negative, it can harm social and family relationships.”

Mind mapping is one way of paying attention to the chattering characters, identifying their origins. “These characters exist in stories that we need to flesh out,” he said. Ultimately, that can lead to an increased understanding of the stories we tell ourselves, how much weight we give them, and how to reshape them in a healthier manner, he said. For instance, if you have a character who’s telling you that you’re worthless and you should kill yourself, then you’d want to resist that character, he said. “But if you have a story that conflict is inevitable and you should practice radical acceptance and letting go, then you might cope a lot better.” Mehl-Madrona said he urges his patients to find a new story for how they react to the world. This approach doesn't just help mental health. He often treats patients who have hypertension, using biofeedback and psychological therapies to reduce blood pressure.

Psychotherapy and modern medicine could benefit from the insights of traditional healing, he said. “The storytelling approach to physiology of the brain is an Indigenous perspective that should be allowed to coexist with the biomedical-positivist-reductionist-essentialist perspective,” Mehl-Madrona said. “Eventually, we will understand much more fully the neuroscience of story and appreciate that narrative work can change brains and change lives.”