What is Therapeutic Life Story Work?
Children who have been removed from their homes often feel fragmented and confused, with many questions about their journey.
Therapeutic life story work is essential in helping the young person make sense of their journey and, importantly, have their life story told in their own words. The journey gives them a safe space to ask questions, have a voice and feel heard. In creating a solid therapeutic relationship and environment, the young person can express their emotions and feelings and see how past experiences have shaped their inner world in the here and now.
All of this allows the young person to feel supported to reconstruct and reconnect; therapeutic life story work is a relationship journey with the past, themselves, those around them and the future.
The young person being involved in the shaping and creation of their story helps in creating a new internal working model in terms of :
How do they see themselves?
How do their caregivers see them, and how do they see their carers?
What does the world offer them, and what they can offer the world?
Healing and building resilience.
How it works?
First step - I find out as much as possible about the child. This is the information-gathering stage.
Second step - this information is shared with the child's carer. We use the concept of Therapeutic parents, as a carer looks after not only the child but everything around the child. We will develop clear session plans, which are shared before each session. Each session is done at the carer’s home and with the young person and the carer. This allows the carer to hear the young person’s story in a way that feels safe to that young person.
The third step is to engage with the young person alongside the carer. I don't work with the child in isolation but together as one. Through this informing, sharing and thinking, the three of us bring about s synergy. This helps them interpret and reflect upon their journey in a safe and contained way.
The sessions occur fortnightly, typically involving 12 to 18 sessions over nine months.
The final stage is the creation of the Life Story Book. This includes information gathered from the above steps. The young person is fully involved in this process, choosing the layout, fonts and illustrations. The young person s
Benefits
Making sense of their journey and the questions they may have
Having a life storybook that is in their words and evolves over time
Strengthening attachment and relationship with the primary carer.
Understanding behaviours and what triggers/purpose they serve - using targeted therapeutic interventions
Develop a new internal working model of themselves and their world.
About Me
The Social Worker has traditionally delivered life story work. Therapeutic Life Story Work takes traditional life story work and deepens this to meet the needs of children who have experienced complex and prolonged trauma.
The founder of the model, Richard Rose, has trained me. I have many years of experience working with children, supporting and working with their carers and social workers, etc.
My training is founded on an in-depth understanding of trauma and attachment ruptures, using the work of Dan Hughes, Bowlby, and the latest neuroscience developments as the backbone of my work.