Storytelling for Practitioners: Moving Beyond “Back to Normal”

Some risks are simply too hard for people to face head‑on. When hazards intensify or become part of everyday life, adaptation can feel overwhelming, if not impossible. Survivors often describe recovery as a return to “the way things were,” even when that familiar normal may no longer be safe, or available.

This fallback makes sense when an event is rare or when the risk stays within a tolerable threshold. A landslide that has stabilized may not require mitigation. A second‑home cottage that isn’t relied on for equity may not justify major investment. Risk tolerance is personal, and so is resilience. What feels acceptable to one household or community may be intolerable to another. As professionals, we can guide, but we cannot fully understand what is right for those at risk.

This creates a paradox: people must confront their own risk, yet doing so is often emotionally difficult, if not impossible. So how do individuals and communities move forward?

Storytelling offers a way in

One answer lies in storytelling. Porter Abbott notes that humans are “well‑practiced” in using stories to resolve conflict, define goals, and imagine pathways forward. Even simple childhood narratives — “I will give my brother a toy and he won’t cry”— show how stories help us externalize problems and picture solutions. (Abbott, H. Porter. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Cambridge University Press, 2002.)

Storytelling gives individuals and communities a safe place to explore difficult futures. Wishes and imagined outcomes can become the starting point for personal and collective risk reduction. Behavioral psychologist Gabriele Oettingen’s research shows that envisioning desired futures can lower stress and clarify goals. She cautions, however, that dreams alone can become an end in themselves. Her work suggests that people must pair their visions with an honest look at obstacles and a plan for achievable action. (Oettingen, Gabriele. Positive Thinking Inside the New Science of Motivation. Penguin Random House, 2025.)

Although Oettingen’s research focuses on individuals, the same process can help communities find common ground. Shared stories can frame conflicts as external to identity, reduce emotional pressure, and reveal values that guide collective action. Narratives help people understand one another — an essential ingredient in resolving conflict around climate adaptation.

Risks are rising — and so is the need for new approaches

This matters even more as climate change accelerates. NOAA estimates that by 2050, up to $106 billion in U.S. coastal property may be below sea level. More than 128 million people live in coastal counties, and coastal ecosystems support industries, recreation, and global trade. The rate of change will continue until a new balance is reached — one that may not favor the communities and ecosystems we depend on. (Climate Change Impacts on Coasts. US EPA, February 2025.)

We must do all we can to reverse these trends, and storytelling can help. A changing climate demands adaptable cities, sustainable farming, places of refuge, and new forms of green energy. It also creates opportunities for new jobs and new ways of living with water.

Creating and sharing stories can lower stress, reduce blood pressure, and help people externalize conflict. Stories reveal shared experiences and values, making it easier to find common ground. They help shape choices and interactions, and they can guide communities toward action.

One way forward

Recognizing the power of storytelling, Resilient Shores: Adapting to Climate Change through Storytelling, emerged as a way to help people and communities talk about climate change and its personal impacts. Written by Bob Freitag, Gerald Murphy, and Dave Carlton, the book introduces readers to the fictional town of Troy Beach — climate‑threatened community struggling with stronger storms and rising seas. It is written for people and communities who find it difficult to talk about climate change and its personal impacts.

The book shows, rather than merely instructs, how communities can use storytelling to adapt to rapid change. Framed as a Sherlock Holmes mystery blended with Homeric myth, it follows Troy Beach as it pieces together clues, missteps, and breakthroughs after Hurricane Apollo. Planning tools such as buyouts, Transfer of Development Rights (TDRs), and Tax Increment Financing (TIFs) appear naturally through the choices of the characters. Conflicts are presented as stories — an approach we all use instinctively.

The quest of Troy Beach is personal, emotional, and visceral. It mirrors the experience of many communities today. Storytelling provides a lifeline, helping people reflect on issues, debate options, face conflicts, and imagine resolutions. It offers a familiar way for individuals, institutions, and communities to confront unfamiliar risks.

For communities facing rising water and rising uncertainty, storytelling is not just communication; it provides a less threatening way to confront severe risk. It offers a practical tool for becoming resilient.

About the authors

Bob Freitag, CFM is a former Director of the Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research (IHMP) and an instructor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington (UW). A member of ASFPM since 1986, Freitag was awarded the Jerry Louthain Award for Distinguished Service to ASFPM in 2020.

Gerald Murphy, JD, AICP, CFM is a regional planner and legal scholar whose work spans land‑use law, community planning, regulation drafting, floodplain management, infrastructure finance, post‑disaster redevelopment, and resilience. Through UF, he partners with local governments to assemble interdisciplinary teams that develop planning strategies for climate change, extreme weather, sea‑level rise, “peril of flood,” and other twenty‑first‑century challenges. 

Dave Carlton, PE, CFM is the founder of DKCarlton and Associates, PLLC, specializing in water resources, floodplain and stormwater management, and habitat restoration. He has over 40 years of experience assisting communities nationwide and authored numerous flood and habitat plans in Washington. He received ASFPM’s Jerry Louthain Award for Distinguished Service and is a former chair of the Committee and the Exam Workgroup. For twelve years, he has served as a primary consultant to FEMA’s Community Rating System, teaching CRS courses nationwide and supporting program improvements.