Rewriting Your Own Fairy Tale: What Jung, Bettelheim, and Neurodivergence Teach Us About Ourselves

Once Upon a Time, I Realized Fairy Tales Were About Me

As a kid, I was obsessed with fairy tales. Not just the sanitized Disney versions—though I did love a good dramatic transformation scene—but the old, dark, weird ones. The ones where forests swallowed people whole, where witches lived in edible houses (practical but suspicious), and where the youngest child—the one everyone underestimated—always turned out to be the hero.

I didn’t know it at the time, but those stories were doing something important in my brain. They weren’t just entertainment. They were mirrors.

Much later—after years of feeling like I was somehow on the wrong frequency from the rest of the world—I was diagnosed as neurodivergent (AuDHD, to be exact). And suddenly, all those fairy tale themes made even more sense. The outsider who doesn’t fit in? The long, winding journey to self-acceptance? The need to decode hidden messages in the world around you? Yeah. That tracks.

It turns out Carl Jung and Bruno Bettelheim were onto something. Fairy tales aren’t just old stories—they’re psychological roadmaps. And if you’re neurodivergent, creative, or just someone who thinks deeply about life, you might find that your own story is more of a fairy tale quest than you realized.

The Archetypes We Carry: Why Fairy Tales Feel So Personal

Carl Jung had this theory about archetypes—universal symbols that live in our collective unconscious. They pop up in myths, folklore, and, yes, fairy tales, because they represent big, fundamental human experiences.

Here are some you might recognize (and relate to):

🔹 The Hero: The one who is called to adventure, faces obstacles, and transforms. (Spoiler: That’s you.)
🔹 The Shadow: The hidden, rejected parts of yourself (or the villain you secretly relate to).
🔹 The Wise Guide: That friend, therapist, or old mentor figure who gives you cryptic but useful advice at the right time.
🔹 The Forest: The unknown. The messy middle. The part of the journey where you’re lost, confused, but about to grow.

For neurodivergent folks, these archetypes take on even deeper meanings:

• The Hero? That’s the kid who grew up masking but eventually found their own way.

• The Wise Guide? Maybe it’s the first person who saw you for who you really were.

• The Shadow? The parts of yourself you were told to suppress but are now learning to embrace.

And the forest? Oh, we know the forest. It’s sensory overwhelm, burnout, uncertainty, and the feeling of being completely lost. But here’s the thing—you never stay lost forever. Fairy tales teach us that you always find your way through.

Fairy Tales as Narrative Therapy: Rewriting the Story We Tell About Ourselves

Bruno Bettelheim, a psychoanalyst who studied fairy tales, believed that these stories help children process emotions they don’t yet have words for. But honestly? I think adults need them just as much.

Especially if you grew up feeling different.

Neurodivergent people often internalize stories about themselves that aren’t true:
🚫 "I’m too much."
🚫 "I don’t fit in."
🚫 "I need to be more ‘normal’ to succeed."

But what if we rewrote those stories?

Narrative therapy is all about reframing the way we see ourselves—and fairy tales are a brilliant way to do that.

Therapeutic Exercises: Using Fairy Tales for Self-Exploration

Here are some ways to use fairy tales as a tool for personal growth and self-reflection:

✨ Rewriting Your Own Fairy Tale – Pick a story you relate to, and change the ending. How would you rewrite it to reflect your real strengths?

✨ Who’s Your Archetype? – Are you the hero on a quest? The shapeshifter who defies expectations? The guide who helps others find their way? (Hint: You can be more than one.)

✨ The Dark Forest Exercise – Think of a time in your life when you felt lost. What helped you find your way? What was your "magic object" (a skill, a mindset shift, a support system)?

✨ Symbol Journaling – If your struggles were a villain, what would they look like? If your creativity was a magical gift, what powers would it have?

These exercises help us step outside of ourselves and see our journey with fresh eyes—which is basically the whole point of therapy.

Final Thoughts: Fairy Tales Aren’t Just Stories—They’re Survival Guides

For neurodivergent, creative, and deep-feeling people, fairy tales can be more than just childhood nostalgia. They can be tools for self-understanding, for reframing our struggles, and for giving ourselves permission to be exactly who we are.

Because, in the end? You are not the side character in someone else’s story. You are the hero of your own.

And if you want a little help stepping into that role, I’ve created something just for you.

✨ Explore my Printable Fairy Tale Narrative Therapy Cards – a tool for self-reflection, journaling, and rewriting your personal story, one page at a time.

🔹 Your story isn’t finished yet. What happens next is up to you.