life story work - next generation case · pdf filelife story work has moved beyond the ......

02 9218 2343www.my-story.org.au

Barnardos Australia I Practice Development Centre I ABN: 18068 557 906 I MS_15_00234

important for children who have often experienced discontinuity in placements, caregivers and relationships during their time in care.

The lack of a consistent adult to support the child recalling difficult memories and making sense of their experiences leaves many young people in care with a negative and damaged identity (Rose & Philpot, 2006). For this reason, the construction of a personal narrative which allows for causal links to be established to answer why things have happened to the child is critical (Horrocks & Goddard, 2006). The aim of Life Story Work is to support children to develop a coherent identity often following experiences of trauma and abuse. The Life Story Work framework allows practitioners to guide and support a child to talk about difficult thoughts and emotions.

Life Story Work has moved beyond the traditional approach of simply giving factual information to a child to working with them collaboratively to understand their

Life Story Work is a chronological account of a child’s personal history and time in care.

The process is designed to enable children to explore, question and understand the past events in their lives. Life Story Work has the potential to support a child in their journey through care and to develop a coherent personal narrative (Ryan & Walker, 2007). This personal narrative facilitates the organisation of a child’s thoughts, perceptions, interactions and moral choices. It becomes a guiding organising principle that assists an individual to construct an understanding of new experiences and of themselves. Importantly for children people in care it can assist them in developing a healthy self-esteem and a foundation upon which they can navigate life’s ups and downs (Buchanan, 2014).

Life Story Work has traditionally been recorded in hard copy format such as a Life Story Book and is given to the child to keep. Now, with the growing number of digital tools at our disposal, and the prevalence of digital case management systems, practitioners have the opportunity to use technology to capture a child’s story.

Digital Life Story Work offers a number of advantages over traditional life story work such as longevity, ease of access, security and the ability to interact with the child in a format with is more familiar and engaging for them. At its core Life Story Work (digital or otherwise), provides practitioners with a framework for recording and safekeeping information. A process that is critically

“It could have been written quite harsh. But the way it was put down in the book really broke it down and made it easier to hear…It would have been one hell of a punch otherwise.”

Luke, 18.

Life Story WorkWritten by Ella JohnstoneBarnardos Practice Development Centre

It has been suggested that knowledge about our social and genetic origins, together with the ability to integrate this with our own lived experience is essential for developing a coherent sense of self (Smith & Logan, 2004; Habermans & Bluck, 2000).



experiences. The importance of ensuring the participation of foster carers, birth parents, siblings & important people to the child is now emphasised. As Life Story Work seeks to integrate both positive and negative information it has the potential to provide a balanced sense of identity. By not missing out information such as why a placement broke down or why their parents were unable to care for them means the child does not need to fill the gaps with their own guesses and assumptions.

Honest and open sharing of information helps to eliminate what has been referred to as “magical thinking” and the potentially idealised fantasies that this can generate (Ryan & Walker, 2007; Rose & Philpot, 2006). Recent research into young people’s experiences of Life Story Work found that they believed the work had helped them to achieve a more accurate picture of their life prior to care. They also identified that the Life Story Work process had facilitated strong positive relationships with their case workers and carers. Importantly they also reported that it had provided them with an opportunity to deal with the emotional and behavioural difficulties that they had experienced (Buchanan, 2014).

“I was a bit annoyed when I first asked to see my file, because they were, like, they’d have to take lots of bits out, and I was, ‘Well, that’s to do with me, why can’t I know?”

Ellie, 19.

“It’s kind of a broken image because, like I said, most of them

(birth family) haven’t been there...it’s really distorted and really

complicated.” Luke, 18.

Collecting and giving important personal artefacts to a child through Life Story Work provides a sense of empowerment that fosters an internal sense of consistency in spite of placement instability. The organised collection and preservation of personal items may also reduce the loss of such items which has been identified by children as a key feature of living in care (Ward, 2011).

No single Life Story Work model has yet been identified but research suggests a gradual, developmentally appropriate approach is required to achieve the best outcomes for the child. Research highlights the importance of ensuring that Life Story Work is undertaken as an individualised piece of work which is collaborative and is returned to often (Buchanan, 2014)

Life Story Work offers a method by which to structure meaningful contact and interactions with birth family members who may be able to collaborate in the construction of the child’s narrative. Life Story Work can play a role in helping to offer children a foundation upon which to make an informed choice about potential contact, and possibly challenge idealised fantasies about reunion with birth family relatives.

Life Story Work provides the opportunity for a child to have an interested and trusted adult who can assist them to make sense of highly personal and often critical information.

“She (the social worker) was able to sit down and not give it to me all in one go but just break it down over different times when she’d come down, so I’d be able

to handle it better.” Gemma, 18



Items to include in Life Story Work

Milestones & achievements (Year 10 certificate, Learners Licence)

Drawings, artworks Photographs(of the child, friends,

family and other significant people/things)

Video (dance performances, school presentations,

sports match)

Audio (school concerts,

favourite childhood songs, nursery rhymes)

Writing (poems, stories) &

school reports

Concert tickets Letters postcards & cards

Special events (e.g. school formals,

birthday parties, sports carnivals)

Prized possessions (charm bracelet, teddy,

collectables)

Genogram / Family Tree Birth Certificate(Adoption Certificate)



Key components of Life Story Work

Life Story Work can be used by practitioners as a framework to guide their practice in working with children and young people. Practitioners can utilise Life Story Work as a way of working or process which strives to assist children to make sense of their personal and family history.

Gathering information

Placement instability can mean case files could be the only substitute for missing or incomplete histories for children in care. Practitioners must endeavour to gather key information to supplement these records in order to construct a coherent personal narrative for the child.

Strategies• Encourage the child to contribute directly

to the Life Story Work process (poems, drawings, photos of friends ect.)

• Consult with previous case workers and carers where appropriate to gather information.

• Undertake online research to gather visual aids and documentation such as photographs of schools the child has attended, houses the child has lived in and the hospital they were born in.

• Take the child on an outing to gather information together to document their history.

• Encourage foster carers, birth parents, siblings & important people to the child’s life to provide information & contribute where possible.

Preparing young people

It is important that children are consulted and choose to engage in Life Story Work at a time that is right for them. Allow them to ask questions and direct the pace of the work – rather than instigating the work as a result of organisational timeframes.

Strategies• Take the time to establish a strong rapport

with the child before you begin Life Story Work so that they feel comfortable to talk about sensitive topics covered and ask questions.

• Engage the child in a conversation around “What is Life Story Work?”

• Ensure that the information communicated is appropriate for the developmental age of the child.

Engaging young people in the process

The language used by a practitioner is very important. The use of sanitised language to describe complex experiences such as domestic violence and abuse is unlikely to fit with the child’s lived experience of the situation.

Strategies• Use an individualised Life Story Work

template that communicates to the child that the work is designed specifically for them – this will promote ownership and participation.

• Utilise a strengths based approach to ensure that any negative information is contextualised.

• Seek creative strategies to create meaningful records through a variety of methods (e.g. timeline, photographs etc).



“The value and power of the life story approach to reconstructing and reconnecting a child cannot be underestimated.” Perry, B (2012) Life Story Therapy with Traumatised Children

Communicating sensitive material

Life Story Work can require practitioners to share highly personal and potentially distressing information with a child and this can be a difficult thing to do. For example the reason the child had to enter care can understandably be very stressful for them to hear. The ability of the practitioner to provide this information in an honest but sensitive way is crucial.

Strategies• Use Life Story Work as a framework to

give the child information in a gradual way, this will allow the child to process the information more effectively.

• Complete the Life Story Work process

over a period of time, this may be weeks, months or years depending on the individual needs of the child.

• Repeat information to ensure that the child understands and is allowed the space and time to ask questions.

• Employ a variety of case work tools to discuss challenging subjects & memories with children.

• Utilising supervision, practitioners can be supported to identify and understand their own barriers to disclosing information to children, and therefore remove a potential obstacle to the successful delivery of Life Story Work.

ConclusionThe literature demonstrates that a coherent personal narrative supports the development of a positive sense of self and identity development. Life Story Work is the purposeful facilitation of the creation of a personal narrative through the gathering of key information and experiences in order to achieve a sense of resolution (Schofield & Beek, 2006).

The research suggests that Life Story Work can help children develop a coherent personal narrative. This can affect their behaviour and their ability to approach the future in a positive way. This could offer long-term benefits to potentially reduce placement moves and crisis intervention and the accompanying stress and instability for children in care. If children can be supported to achieve narrative coherence – which includes both difficult and happy memories – using Life Story Work as a framework for practice could potentially lead to an improvement in long term outcomes for children in care.



How MyStory can assit you with Life Story Work

MyStory is a guided practice case management system built using next generation technology. MyStory allows practitioners to capture a child’s Life Story Work in a single location and build on it over time. MyStory provides a “Digital Memory Box”, this digital storage means practitioners can collect and store key information and documents which are necessary for Life Story Work. Utilising digital tools makes Life Story Work more appealing to children and young people and encourages and facilitates a collaborative process.

Research indicates that for younger children a ‘memory store’ approach can be a good starting point for Life Story Work. MyStory therefore allows practitioners to prepare for more intensive work in the future.

Buchanan, A (2014). The Experience of Life Story Work: Reflections of Young People Leaving Care.

Child and Family Social Work. 11 (3), 264-272.

Habermans, T. & Bluck, S. (2000). Getting a life: The emergence of the life story in adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 126 (5), 748-769.

Horrocks, C. & Goddard, J.(2006). Adults who grew up in care: Constructing the self and accessing care files.

Perry, B (2012). Life Story Therapy with Traumatised Children.

Rose, R (2012). Life Story Therapy with Traumatized Children: A Model for Practice.

Rose, R. & Philpot, T. (2006).The child’s own story: Life Story work with traumatised children. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Ryan, T. & Walker, R. (2007). Life Story Work: A practical guide to helping children understand their past. London BAAF.

Smith, C. & Logan, J. (2004). After Adoption: Direct contact and relationships. London: Routledge.

Ward, H. (2011). Continuities and discontinuities: Issues concerning the establishment of a persistent sense of self amongst care leavers. Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 2512-2518.

References

life story work - next generation case · pdf filelife story work has moved beyond the ......

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