Speaking in a non fiction manner is reporting. I woke up, went downstairs, and opened the fridge to find no milk to make a cup of tea: so I had to go out to the corner shop to buy some more. Facts. The bare minimum to get the ideas across in the most succinct way. The way men and women write emails.

To speak in a non fiction way, like a novelist is to add a sensitivity, and feelings to the story.
I woke up, dreaming of a hoilday on the coast where my mother lived, after my Dad had died. I went downstairs ………………………

The challenge is to try and facilitate the person to speak about their childhood as a novelist rather than a narrator. To give a colour and depth to past events. Then they can relive traumatic events, in a safe holding environment as an adult with more power and control. This takes courage and perseverance.

When traumatic events can be re-framed, or re-experienced the feelings can gain an adult perspective and the heat taken out of them. To live a life less affected by the presenting past.

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