How People Change: The Short Story as Case History

This is a manual to help practicing physicians and medical students make use of short stories to help their patients adapt to their illnesses and participate in their treatment. The sixteen stories selected here are analyzed to show how they illustrate the process of change, as defined by Erik Erikson’s description of the life cycle. Physicians and medical students can turn to these cases as examples of how others have dealt with challenges and debilitating conditions, and encourage their patients to follow similar paths to bring about change in their lives.