Information

Information

Assisting children to reach an acceptance of who they were, who they are and an understanding that they have the power to shape who they want to be

Why Choose Life Story Work?

Life Story Work helps children and young people make sense of their past, understand their present, and feel hopeful about their future. It’s not just about recording events, it’s about building meaning, resilience, and connection. Whether you’re a carer, social worker, or family member, I offer compassionate, evidence-based support to help children feel seen, heard, and valued.

Supervision and Practitioner Support. I offer individual and group supervision for TLSW practitioners, social workers, and professionals working in trauma-informed settings, online.

My supervision spaces are designed to:

Foster emotional safety and reflective practice
Support ethical decision-making and relational attunement
Encourage creativity, confidence, and practitioner wellbeing

If you're seeking supervision that honours both the complexity of the work and the humanity of the practitioner, I’d love to connect. If you're looking for compassionate and evidence-based support in Devon, Somerset, or Cornwall, I would love to hear from you. Let’s work together to create a meaningful and therapeutic journey.

“The very fact that adults hesitate to share with a child information about his or her past implies that it is so bad that the young person won’t be able to cope with it. Whatever the past was, the child has lived through it and survived. He or she has already demonstrated survival skills”

- Vera Fahlberg.

Stages of Life Story Work

Stage 1: The Information Bank

In this initial stage, I focus on gathering a comprehensive understanding of the child’s pre- and birth history. This involves carefully reviewing social work files, health records, and conducting interviews with birth parents, teachers, foster carers, and other important figures in the child’s life. Whenever possible, I incorporate photographs, memorabilia, and other significant items to enhance the narrative and provide meaningful connections to the child’s past. The insights gathered during this process allow me to design tailored interventions that address the child’s unique needs. Importantly, I also share this information with their parents, equipping them with a deeper understanding of the child’s emotional responses and behaviours. This collaboration fosters more empathetic and informed caregiving, creating a supportive foundation for the child’s healing and development

Stage 2: The Internalisation

The Internalisation stage involves a series of 12 to 18 structured sessions, scheduled fortnightly on the same day and time, with each session lasting no more than an hour. These sessions are held in the child or young person’s home whenever possible, ensuring a familiar and comfortable environment, and ideally include the parenting parent. The first six sessions focus on building felt safety within the relationship. This foundational step helps the child feel secure enough to express their thoughts, feelings, and questions about their past. Establishing this safety is key to creating a space where the child can engage fully in the therapeutic process. Our work is visually documented on wallpaper, forming a tangible narrative that evolves throughout the sessions. I incorporate a variety of tailored resources, selected to meet the child's individual needs and support their engagement. Through this process, the child has the opportunity to develop insight into how their responses to trauma—developed to protect and keep themselves safe—manifest in present behaviours. By exploring their personal narrative, the child begins to understand the communication behind these behaviours, fostering self-awareness and a positive sense of self. Strengthening Bonds Through Co-RegulationThis stage also plays a crucial role in strengthening the bond between the child and their carer. Working together, they lay the groundwork for co-regulation, which is essential in building deeper emotional connections. By becoming attuned to the child’s needs, the carer helps navigate and co-regulate emotions, creating an environment where healing and growth can flourish. As a result, both the child and carer move forward with a renewed sense of trust and resilience, paving the way for a stronger, more supportive relationship that nurtures the child’s emotional well-being.

Stage 3: The Life Story Book

The Life Story Book is the final stage of the therapeutic process and is created collaboratively with the child throughout our sessions. This book serves as a tangible and meaningful representation of the child’s journey, incorporating the key elements of the "wallpaper" we worked on during our direct sessions. The completed book is presented to the child upon completion of our work. It is designed with flexibility in mind and provided in a ring binder format, allowing the child to keep all the pages together or store specific ones elsewhere, based on their personal preference. This approach ensures the book is not just a record of their story but a resource they can engage with in a way that feels most comfortable and empowering for them.