Can stories help us—help our loved ones—deal with major problems such as preventing affairs, ending alcoholism, or exiting a very destructive relationship?

Many of us already consume stories about such situations: films, novels, songs, even book-club discussions. But passive exposure is rarely transformational. Insight alone does not reliably change what we do when temptation, insistence, or fear takes over.

What if stories could be used more deliberately—as tools for self-directed learning and preventive practice, rather than as retrospective commentary on lives already in trouble?

I have added a chapter on self-directed learning from stories to my third book, Discontinuities: Love, Art, Mind. The chapter appears in the part of the book titled On Stories, and develops the idea that stories—especially films, novels and music—can function as instruments for story editing, bibliotherapy, and productive practice. The focus is not on appreciation, but on how stories can be used before problems escalate, as well as when decisive change is required.

Discontinuities: Love, Art, Mind is already available for sale on Leanpub, a Canadian ebook platform, and is being published incrementally. The book and chapter are still in draft form.

A draft of the chapter is available on my Substack: Self-Directed Learning from Stories – Luc Beaudoin