Open access. Book review. Spirituality and Narrative in Psychiatric Practice: Stories of Mind and Soul Edited by Christopher C. H. Cook, Andrew Powell and Andrew Sims. RCPsych Publications, 2016, £30.00 (£27.00 for College members), pb, 204 pp. ISBN: 9781909726451 Telling stories is probably as old as human culture. Our ancestors used storytelling to entertain, instruct and make sense of their experience. A psychiatric history, when well taken, should be more than a fact-finding mission to provide a diagnosis and treatment plan. To be effective in providing treatment, helping with healing and promoting recovery, we need to know what matters to our patients. This includes the realm of belief and practice encompassed by the broad term spirituality. A book then that explores both spirituality and narrative is welcome.