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Life Story Work with Troubled Children and Young People. Richard Rose. Introduction to SACCS and the Mary Walsh Institute. UK organization providing specialised therapeutic treatment based in residential and foster care settings for children severely traumatized by abuse and neglect.
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Life Story Work with Troubled Children and Young People Richard Rose
Introduction to SACCS and the Mary Walsh Institute • UK organization providing specialised therapeutic treatment based in residential and foster care settings for children severely traumatized by abuse and neglect. • Outcomes approach based on the child’s recovery at the centre of our work.
Aims and Objectives • To establish an holistic understanding of children and their need for understanding their Identity • To give the children an opportunity to explore and engage in direct work around their history/current difficulties • To give carers and other professionals the opportunity to consider, reflect and contribute to the identity task
Tripartite approach to Life Story Work Child Therapeutic Parenting Life Story
Internal Working Model (IWM) • “I am good/bad, lovable/unlovable, competent/helpless.” • “Caregivers are responsive/unresponsive, trustworthy/untrustworthy, caring /hurtful.” • “The world is safe/unsafe; life is worth living/not worth living.”
Internal Working Model History Internal Working Model Development Environment
FANTASY FACT FICTION HEROISM
Life Story Process • Information Bank • Internalisation • Life Story Book
Information Bank - Meaning and Collating A C May 22 1992 May 1992 Jessica Born 7 weeks premature Mum has car crash, sent to hospital B • What do we need to know? • Is there an accident report? • Who else was in the car? • What is mum’s story? • Was this the reason for early birth? • What would the child want to know? • Did any one die? • What sort of car was it? • Were the police involved? • Could I have died? • Was anyone upset? • Why did mum crash the car? • What is safe to share? • Domestic violence issues • Reason for early birth • Details of the accident • Who was responsible • Pre-natal care • Birth details
Family Tree Drawing a framework of a family tree and sharing stories of those to be placed upon it can help discuss traumatic subjects around loss, separation and grief.
Robin Barbara Callum Ben
“The very fact that adults hesitate to share information about the past with a child implies to him that his past is so bad that he won’t be able to cope with it. Whatever the past was - the child lived through it and survived, and so can live with the truth. The truth can be presented in a harmful way that lowers the child’s self esteem or in a way that helps the child to understand and accept his past and thus raises his self esteem.” Vera Fahlberg, “ Helping Children when they must move”, 1981, pg. 51,
Establish Reliance • Time • Commitment • Vision • Focus • Integrity
Visual Processes • Produce work on paper • Share progress with all involved • Respect what is said and individualise it • Clarify how it is going to be used • Have it available on each session
“It is the process rather than the product which will reveal the most benefits for the children and young people involved” Tony Ryan and Roger Walker, “Life Story Work”, 1993, BAAF.
“A major aspect of direct work is listening for the child’s perceptions. Until we do this, we won’t know if we are to expand their information or correct their misperceptions” Vera Fahlberg, “A Child’s Journey Through Placement”
Case Examples Interpretation – “We had 6 white horses” Magical Thinking – “She would try and poison us” Realisation – “It didn’t give him the right to do what he did to me!” Release - “It was Alan!” Understanding – “So, it wasn’t that I was bad”
The Life Story Book The information has been collated, the interviews have been carried out, and the facts have been checked out. We have the rough materials ; the documents, the wallpaper, the stories of those involved and, above all the child’s perceptions. The book is the representation of all this, written by the worker and edited by the child.
Further Information Please feel free to contact me and ask for a copy of any presentations you have seen today – richardr@mwisaccs.com