What is Storywork?
Storywork is the process of writing and reading a story from your past in the presence of a witness who has already gone to the depths of their own stories of heartache and harm. The embodied listener is able to hold your story with truth and honesty while extending the utter kindness and compassion of God because they have had the same gift given to them.
This modality of healing was founded by Dr. Dan Allender. The method is formally called “Narrative Focused Trauma Care” and is based on the belief that our stories—especially stories of harm, heartache, and trauma from early life—deeply shape who we are and how we live.
Often, the pain we carry from the past remains hidden or unspoken, but it continues to affect our emotions, relationships, and sense of identity. Allender’s approach invites each of us to revisit and explore our stories of wounding in a safe, compassionate space.
By naming the truth of what happened and how it impacted us, we begin to loosen the grip of shame, fear, and false beliefs we’ve carried. This work is not about staying stuck in the past, but about finding healing through it—discovering that even in brokenness, there is beauty and purpose.
Telling the truth of our story allows us to reclaim our voice, connect more deeply with others, and live with greater freedom, joy, and integrity. In short, it’s about becoming more fully alive and living more freely into who you were created to be.
FAQs
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Many who engage in storywork describe it as transformative, life-giving, and deeply healing. Because this work centers on living into fuller truth, freedom, and connection, it carries significance well beyond the session fee. Consistency—like with a 10-session commitment—allows trust, nervous-system safety, and meaningful depth to emerge over time, making the investment both practical and powerful.
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For individual coaching, Cypress Storywork offers a 10-session package to ensure consistency and safety. Sessions are typically scheduled weekly, with each one lasting about 50–60 minutes.
For Storywork Groups, we meet for 10 weekly sessions, each about 2 hours, with 4–6 participants. This structure allows enough time for trust, safety, and meaningful narrative exploration to take root.
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Storywork coaching can bring greater clarity, healing, and hope into your life. By revisiting stories from your past, you begin to recognize how those experiences shape the way you show up today. Many clients find that storywork improves relationships, reduces shame, strengthens faith, and increases self-awareness. It creates space for you to live more authentically and freely, grounded in both truth and kindness.
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At Cypress Storywork, individual Storywork Coaching sessions are $120 each.
Storywork Groups (Storygroups) are $60 per person, per session. Group sizes are intentionally small (4–6 participants) to foster trust and depth in the process.
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Yes. Healing, transformation, and growth take both time and commitment, and storywork coaching provides a framework for lasting change. The investment ensures a consistent space for your story to be heard and for new meaning to take root. Many clients describe storywork as life-changing—helping them move beyond surface-level coping toward deeper healing, restored relationships, and renewed purpose.
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Cypress Storywork coaching is facilitated by a trained Storywork practitioner who has studied the Narrative Focused Trauma Care (NFTC) model from the Allender Center.
My name is Janine McGann and you can learn more about me here. I am currently NFTC Level 2 Trained and Nervous System Regulation Certified. I am currently enrolled in NFTC Level 3 and will apply for full certification upon completion of Level 3 in the Spring of 2026.
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You will be invited to engage 2–3 central stories from your life, often from your family of origin, your sexual development, or experiences of loss and heartache. These stories are chosen because they hold deep impact on how you show up in the world today. Together, we’ll work through them with care, curiosity, and compassion.
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Storywork coaching is not therapy or clinical counseling. Instead, it is a narrative-based coaching process that creates space for self-reflection, spiritual integration, and trauma-informed care. Many clients find it complements therapy, but it is distinct in focus—it centers on engaging your personal stories in a guided process of writing, sharing, and reflection.
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Yes, storywork coaching can be done both in-person and virtually. Many clients choose virtual sessions for convenience and accessibility, while others prefer in-person connection. Storywork Groups are also available in either format.
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Unlike performance- or goal-based coaching, storywork coaching focuses on the stories that shape your identity and relationships. This approach is rooted in the Narrative Focused Trauma Care model, which integrates psychology, theology, and community to help you engage both the beauty and the brokenness of your life story.
Serotiny
sə-ˈrät-nē
The process by which some trees only release their seeds in response to intense heat or fire.
The external force of fire is what activates a hidden, life-giving process within the tree. This is true of some Cypress trees.
Serotiny can help us understand this healing process.
Storywork coaches aim to act as agents of release and renewal by cultivating conditions where the internal, buried stories can safely emerge. I do this through a combination of somatic practices (body regulation and trauma release) with storywork coaching.
Without fire, the cone stays sealed.
Without a witness, the story often stays trapped.
The fire in serotiny must be intense enough to soften resin—but not so hot it destroys everything. Like the paradox of serotinous fire, as a Storywork Coach, I bring an attuned presence, curiosity, and gentle pressure—just enough to invite vulnerability without overwhelming the nervous system.
Healing requires warmth, not destruction. Storywork “burns away” shame and self-contempt with maternal compassion.
Fire clears the ground for something new. Through coaching, I disrupt old patterns and survival strategies that may have once protected, but now prevent growth.
A maternal presence makes space for something new to take root.
I use my maternity to mid-wive new stories of rest and hope.
Fire doesn’t create the seeds—it just releases them. As a facilitator, I don’t impose meaning— I help you uncover and integrate the truth you’ve always carried while inviting you to feel deeply and be present in your body.
The story was waiting.
It just needed warmth, presence, and pressure.
Serotinous trees wait years for the right fire; they’re patient until the moment comes. I won’t rush disclosure or force your nervous system to go faster than it feels safe. I deeply honor timing, attunement, and readiness. For many people, these were lacking in childhood.
The fire comes when the forest can handle it.
The story is told when the soul is ready.