Skills and Knowledge for Life Story Work with Children and Adolescents

Life story work allows care-experienced and adopted young people to understand their histories and come to terms with their feelings about the past.

This accessible guide helps therapists and social care professionals to develop their skills to support children and families through their life story journey. It builds on the fundamental 6-step model for practice to incorporate elements from a variety of therapeutic approaches, from DDP to creative therapies. Theoretical explanations, case vignettes, and practical suggestions provide guidance on practice-based issues in life story work, such as working with parent/carer-child dyads, incorporating a birth family perspective, talking about traumatic stories, managing endings and constructing the life story book.

Essential reading for anyone undertaking life story work, this guide enhances a time-tested model with up-to-date research and new ideas for overcoming the most common challenges practitioners face when delivering life story work.

Katie Wrench is dual qualified as a social worker and art psychotherapist. She is Head of Clinical Services at BUSS (Building Underdeveloped Sensory Systems) Ltd., and has been offering training to local authorities across the UK, IFAs and third sector organisations since 2015. She co-authored Life Story Work with Children who are Fostered or Adopted (2013) - a model which has successfully been rolled out across England and Wales. She is also the author of Helping Vulnerable Children to Stay Safe (2016) and Creative Ideas for Assessing Vulnerable Children and Families (2018).