On Feb. 3, three patient storytellers—Dee, Rubin, and Janet—joined Dr. Annie Brewster and Dr. Jonathan Adler for a live healing story session. The event was hosted by students from Harvard Medical School advanced elective titled "Harnessing the Healing Power of Stories: Narrative Theory and Narrative Practice.” The storytellers worked with the Harvard Medical School students to craft inspiring stories that transcend illness as a celebration of hope, human resiliency, and dignity.
On April 6, 2025, HSC hosted its third annual event, titled “Healing Healthcare Through Shared Stories: Elevating Patient and Provider Voices". The event included keynote speeches from healthcare provider Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett and health advocate and nonprofit founder Cheryl Harding.
As health systems have become increasingly corporate, patients and providers are feeling more disconnected than ever. Provider burnout rates are at an all-time high, and patients are not getting what they need. The goal of this event was to highlight the humanity of both patients and providers by fostering a community of understanding, connection, and healing. To heal healthcare, patients and providers need to come together as allies.
This event featured patients and their healthcare providers sharing personal stories side by side, highlighting the challenges and triumphs they have experienced separately and together. This shared storytelling session offered a unique perspective on the patient-provider relationship, emphasizing the importance of empathy, communication, and mutual respect.
This dialogue focused on identifying the aspects of healthcare that feel broken and exploring potential solutions to mend these fractures. By elevating these voices, we aim to inspire change and promote a more healing and supportive healthcare experience for all.
At our recent collaborative storytelling event, Kimberly Warner, author of upcoming memoir Unfixed: A Memoir of Family, Mystery, and the Currents That Carry You Home (October 2025), shared her inspiring personal health journey alongside one of her healthcare providers, Edythe Vickers, N.D., L.Ac.
Starting in January 2024, Health Story Collaborative had the privilege of working with The Boston Home, a long-term care community for adults with advanced Multiple Sclerosis and other progressive neurological disorders, to facilitate multiple Healing Story Sessions for their community. Several brave residents have taken on the challenge of narrating and sharing their stories with their fellow residents, caregivers and staff at The Boston Home. We are honored that they have agreed to share their written stories here for others to engage with and find connection and compassion.
On April 13th, 2024 Health Story Collaborative had the honor of facilitating a Healing Story Session at SCIboston's annual fundraising gala, with two amazing members of their community, Dianne Viktus and Matthew Klos. Listen to their stories as they share the trauma, pain and challenges they have faced on their journey with a spinal cord injury, and also the hope and healing that carries them forward.
On May 28, students from the Harvard Medical School advanced elective, "Harnessing the Healing Power of Stories: Narrative Theory and Narrative Practice," taught by Dr. Annie Brewster and Dr. Jonathan Adler, hosted an evening of transformative story sharing. Watch a recording of this event to hear about the lived experiences of three individuals navigating health, wellness and life. Their stories transcend illness as a celebration of hope, human resiliency, and dignity.
On March 3, 2024, we held our second annual event, “Reclaiming Our Mental Health Stories”, during which we shed light on the experiences of individuals navigating their mental health journeys, which are often stigmatized, dismissed, and underdiagnosed. Experience the power of storytelling as you listen to Marina, Nathalie, and John, three courageous storytellers who shared the challenges and insights they’ve encountered on their journeys with mental health.
On February 4 2023, we held our inaugural annual event, “Making the Invisible Visible”, during which we shed light on the experiences of individuals navigating “invisible” chronic illnesses which are poorly understood, challenging to diagnose, and often dismissed by the healthcare establishment. Experience the power of storytelling as you listen to Katy Morly and Lili Fox-Lim, two courageous storytellers, who shared the challenges and insights they’ve encountered on their journeys with chronic lyme disease and myaligic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
Listen to a transformative story sharing event, hosted by students from the Harvard Medical School advanced course elective, "Harnessing the Healing Power of Stories: Narrative Theory and Narrative Practice," taught by Annie Brewster and Jonathan Adler of Health Story Collaborative.
You will hear about the lived experiences of two individuals, one navigating an advanced neurological condition and the other mental illness and substance use. The third storyteller's story is not featured in this video due to personal privacy preferences, but they are present in the discussion.
During nurses month, on June 22nd, 2022 we honored the stories of Nicole Horigan, RN, BSN, Clinical Nurse and John Bagley (patient). They met during John's first visit for a clinical trial treatment for prostate cancer and their special relationship is a testament to what can happen when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and open.
During nurses month, on June 16th, 2022 we honored the stories of Lauren Aloisio, RN, BSN, Clinical Nurse, PACU and Jonathan (patient) and Nancy Gardner (patient's mother).
The bond that exists between Lauren, both a nurse and cancer survivor and her patient Jonathan, a cancer patient, is truly remarkable and a reminder of the tremendous power that connecting and listening to one another can have on our ability to heal.
Uniquely present to the intimacy of direct patient care, nurses have always been on the frontlines of healthcare, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 5th, 2021, Health Story Collaborative hosted a “live” virtual storytelling event at Mass General Hospital as part of the 2021 Nurse Recognition celebration.
Our goal was to honor both patient and nurse voices and to highlight nurse-patient relationships.
Featured storytellers included:
Michelle (Mitch) Vassilopoulus, RN, a staff nurse in the Wang Center for Perioperative Care who was deployed to COVID units early in the pandemic, during the months of March and April, 2020.
Rhea Photopoulos, a Nurse Practitioner in the Tucker Gosnell Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers in the MGH Cancer Center and her dear friend and college roommate (28 years ago!), Annalisa di Palma. During the pandemic, Annalisa’s mom, Carol, was admitted to MGH for worsening ovarian cancer and was ultimately discharged home with hospice. She died on July 15th, 2020. Rhaea played a significant role in Carol’s care and comfort and the end of her life.
In partnership with Inspire, Health Story Collaborative hosted a virtual Healing Story Session to celebrate —and invoke — resilience in the face of illness. The event featured two patient advocate storytellers, Estela Lugo and Christopher Anselmo, whose lives changed when they started sharing their patient journeys.
On June 22, 2020 Health Story Collaborative hosted its first virtual Healing Stories Session in partnership with Inspire and the Society for Participatory Medicine. The event featured two extraordinary storytellers living with chronic disease and progressive disability who shared their experiences of navigating unexpected and unpredictable challenges.
