Life Story Work | New Day Play Therapy

What is Therapeutic Life Story Work?

Therapeutic Life Story Work (TLSW) is a piece of work which aims to provide the young person with information about their life and earlier years which they may not fully understand or be aware of. It is usually delivered alongside the parent/carers to support both the young person and the parent/carers in developing ways of acknowledging and exploring difficult events and experiences in a safe therapeutic environment; increasing understanding of past experiences and their impact upon present behaviours; and strengthening attachment relationships by building trust and security through the shared narrative.

“There are things in life that we cannot change; our heritage, history and life experiences.
What we can change is our understanding and perceptions of these things" - B.Betts & A.Ahmad, 2002

The 3 Stages of TLSW

Funding Options

If you are the parent or carer of a fostered or adopted child then you may be able to request funding from your local authority or through the adoption support fund.

Due to the length of TLSW (roughly 12 months) it can feel quite costly if you are funding it yourself, with total fees coming up to £5000 for the year.

I use the Richard Rose model for TLSW and this is broken down into 3 stages which are outlined below.

Stage 1: Information Bank

During this stage I will gather information about the young person by reading documents and interviewing those that have been involved in the child's life. This can include biological parents, previous carers and other professionals such as social workers. This stage can take up to 3 months. I will work closely with the current parent/carer throughout this stage so they are aware of what information will be shared, but the child is not yet directly involved.

Stage 2: Direct sessions

Once the information is collected, the young person will receive 18 life story sessions, taking place at their home every other week. The parent/carer is also involved in these sessions and we work as a three, first hearing the child's story and then the stories I have collected in Stage 1. The young person is supported to process the information shared and reflect on their feelings along the way.

Stage 3: The Life Story Book

Once the sessions have finished, the life story book is created to capture the work that has been done and record the young person's story. Ultimately, they are the editor of this book and are involved with what information is or is not included so they feel able to share it with others. The creation of this book can again take several months as it is put together in sections.