Children who live with their birth families have the right to know about their past and are able to clarify events in terms of the present. They are also able to absorb family stories. Children separated from their birth families are often denied this opportunity and their past becomes lost and even forgotten. 

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Without this grounding in the past, many children find it difficult to develop emotionally and socially. If adults do not or cannot discuss this with them children often reason that they have been bad. 

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I offer Therapeutic Life story work which facilitates the giving back some of this missing past to children, enabling them to accept their past and go forward into the future with an increased sense of security. 

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Therapeutic Life story work begins with the child and is structured around, their needs, emotions and their lived experience including the facts relating to their past. The children take an active part in the creation of their life story, and it can be recorded in many forms.  After the completion of a life story, children often feel a greater sense of identity an improved sense of pride and self-esteem.

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The therapeutic life story work uses therapeutic principles and supports work on attachment theory and can be part of my play therapy practice or as a stand-alone piece of work. 

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Life story work can be directed by the court or be part of a support package for children are in the care system or who have been adopted. 

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