How Can Reading the Odyssey Foster Psychological Growth?

I've been rereading the Odyssey lately. 

This is the third time I've read it and I find that each time I read it, I appreciate the story in new and different ways. 

This made me think about how reading the Odyssey can foster psychological growth.

The Odyssey

How Can Reading the Odyssey Foster Psychological Growth?

I have written in prior articles about using metaphors and how applying the "Hero's Journey" can be personally meaningful (see my article: How Does the Hero's Journey Help You to Cope With Big Changes in Your Life?).

The Odyssey is a foundational template for the "Hero's Journey". It is a classic example of the hero receiving the "call" to adventure, the trials the hero must undergo and the eventual return home with all the personal benefits of having gone on the journey.

The Odyssey can be thought of as a metaphor for each person's personal journey in terms of navigating difficult times in life and fostering self discovery and renewal:

• Promoting Resilience and Adaptability: Odysseus's challenges emphasize that overcoming problems requires endurance, strategic thinking and accepting help.  Similarly, overcoming personal challenges can promote resilience and adaptability, which are important life skills (see my article: Developing Emotional Resilience).

The Odyssey

• Reframing Personal Struggles: The Odyssey helps us to see that our personal struggles can be reframed in such a way to help us face the challenges as well as the future and whatever problems might lie ahead.

• Promoting Individuation and Integration: From a Jungian perspective, Odysseus's journey represents a process of integrating different aspects of the psyche to reach a state of wholeness and maturity.

• Creating Meaning and Connection: Odysseus's homecoming after 10 years at war and another 10 years of trying to get home emphasize the need for creating meaning, connection and peace.

Aside from fostering personal growth, the Odyssey is a wonderful read. 

About Me

I am a licensed New York psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT (for couples), Parts Work (IFS and Ego States Therapy), Somatic Experiencing and Certified Sex Therapist.

I have helped many individual adults and couples.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

Also See My Article:

How Does Imagery and Imagination Enhance Psychotherapy? 

How Reading Literature Can Have a Positive Effect on Your Brain

The Power of Storytelling

Storytelling has become a popular activity at many venues in New York City as well as around the world. Not only is it popular, it's also a powerful form of communication since ancient times, and there are many psychological benefits to telling and listening to stories.

The Power of Storytelling

The Psychological Benefits of Storytelling

• We are hardwired for storytelling.  We tend to think in terms of stories, and it's how we make meaning of our lives. 

• Listening to a story engages the imagination, and the brain processes the images and emotional experiences related to the story in the same way as it processes "real life" lived experiences.

• Whether the stories are about ancient myths, archetypes, relationships, overcoming adversity, or personal transformation, to name only a few storytelling topics, storytelling has a psychologically integrative function for the individual telling the story as well as for the listener.  

• Storytelling engages on an emotional level in a collaborative way as the storyteller makes him/herself emotionally vulnerable by telling a personally meaningful story. As the audience listens to the story, they often open up in an empathetic way to the storyteller and the story. 

• In developing and narrating the story, the storyteller discovers psychological connections from the past to the present and from one part of the self to other aspects of the self. 

• Storytelling helps to connect us in universal ways as the listener identifies with the storyteller and discovers aspects of him/herself in the story.  A personally meaningful story often transcends the boundaries of race, gender, age and other identities that often divide people.

• From an early age, most people are raised on stories. Young children love stories and they will often ask to hear the same story over and over again because it's soothing. Adults also find stories to be emotionally engaging.  There is also something soothing about anticipating and experiencing the structure of a story with a beginning, middle and an end. The audience anticipates that there will be an arc to the story with a resolution at the end, which is so comforting and satisfying to the mind.

Storytelling and the Moth

The Moth, a nonprofit group based in New York City, was founded in 1997 and it's dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling.  Currently, the Moth hosts storytelling events all over the United States and the world.  

The poet and novelist, George Dawes Green, and the original Moth storytellers wanted to recreate the atmosphere of telling and listening to stories on the porch where moths buzzed around in the evening light.  They began by calling themselves "the moths" and the organization has grown substantially from its origins more than 20 years ago.

In 2009, the Moth began a popular and critically acclaimed podcast and established a national public radio show. 

Since its inception, thousands of people have told their personal stories at the Moth all over the world.

There is an energetic flow between the storytellers and the audience, and this, in itself, is transformative for both the storyteller and the audience.

About Me

I am a licensed NYC psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP and Somatic Experiencing therapist who works with individual adults and couples.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

*Disclaimer: I am not on the faculty of the Magnet and I receive no compensation or benefit of any kind from them for mentioning them in this article.