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Of thorns and roses: The use of the “brier rose” fairy tale in therapy with families of gifted children

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Abstract

Fairy tales have been used successfully in addressing difficult therapeutic issues in indirect ways. This paper describes how the Grimm's tale “Brier Rose” can help engage families with an academically gifted child in family therapy. The metaphor concepts of derivational search, indirection, and embedded commands are briefly discussed, the fairy tale is summarized, and the story is applied to the three metaphor concepts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child Development and Family Studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

    Volker Thomas PhD (an assistant professor of marriage and family therapy)

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  1. Volker Thomas PhD
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Thomas, V. Of thorns and roses: The use of the “brier rose” fairy tale in therapy with families of gifted children. Contemp Fam Ther 17, 83–91 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02249306

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02249306

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