Therapeutic Significance of the Modified MSSM Method Incorporating Alternating Narrative Creation

Adaptation to a Junior High School Girl with Selective Mutism

Abstract

This paper examines the therapeutic significance of the Mutual Scribble Story Making Interactive Story Method (MSSM-ISM), in which a client and therapist alternately create a narrative. The analysis is based on the case of a junior high school girl with selective mutism and school refusal. The alternating narrative, grounded in imagery generated through scribble drawings, was non-invasive and enabled communication with the immediacy and concreteness of written language. Within this exchange, the client was able to experience assured and predictable responsiveness from the therapist, while also expressing her individuality freely through the story. These conditions created a safe and immediate space for self-expression. The process is considered to have functioned therapeutically by fostering a sense of being understood and validated, even in the absence of spoken language.