The foundations of the method contribute greatly to the domestic and international success of Metamorphoses Fairy Tale Therapy: V. J. Propp’s morphological theory, H. G. Gadamer’s hermeneutic spiral, and theoretical works on initiation rites, led by Propp’s folkloristic studies.

The work of Vladimir Yakovlevic Propp gave me the idea to develop the foundations of a possible fairy tale aesthetics in my PhD thesis, which I defended in 1997. In retrospect, I feel lucky that I received a manuscript for my 1986 thesis from my supervisor, Dr. Márton Istvánovits, which was only published in 2005, and which was previously unknown to only the two of us. Professor Istvánovits translated the work entitled The Historical Roots of the Magic Tale, but did not intend it to be published: he kept it in his own desk drawer, had it corrected and polished. This thin, soft-spoken man was a generous and extremely intelligent mentor, he allowed me, a twenty-year-old girl, to read and annotate this invaluable manuscript in the library of the Ethnographic Research Institute in the afternoons. By the time his book was published 19 years later (long after his death), fairy tale aesthetics had become fairy tale therapy, drawing on Propp’s book, among other things.
The Hungarian word “fairy tale therapy” did not exist in the public consciousness in 2005 – similarly to “fairy tale aesthetics” – if you typed it into a search engine, only one result came up. There was a class in Bárczi with this name, but as it turned out later, in this class the students studied the effect of fairy tales on children (I received the course materials, that’s how I know.) That’s how the fairy tale therapy domain name came to me, and in 2006 the fairy tale therapy website was also created. The name of the method was trademarked in 2008, but university accreditation only started in 2013 with the help of the Institute of Behavioral Sciences. Exactly twenty-six years passed between my first encounter with Propp and the recognition of the method in university circles. A lot of work, tears, frustration and perseverance were already behind me by then.
The uniqueness and uniqueness of a method is determined by the foundations on which it is built. The Proppian foundations clearly distinguish metamorphosis-story therapy from other methods, e.g. Márta Antalfai’s Treasure Hunter-story therapy, which has strong Jungian foundations. I am grateful to Vladimir Jakovlevics Propp, whom I mention as the “father of story therapy” in my classes, I hope he is not angry with me for it. And I will cherish Propp’s spirituality and the honesty and generosity embodied by Professor Istvánovits until the end of my life. Thank you also for the spiritual support from beyond the grave!