Therapeutic Life Story Work (TLSW) is a way of helping support children or adults (often care experienced / adopted) to explore and make sense of their early life history. Very often young people with a fragmented sense of their early life can struggle in the present moment. That could present in a variety of different ways, such as difficulty making relationships, emotional regulation issues or attachment insecurities. This can also make looking forward to the future feel difficult or uncertain.
The model of TLSW used by Beyond the Waves is the Richard Rose Model (2012) of Therapeutic Life Story Work International (TLSWi). Anna has the Diploma in TLSW and is a Certified Practitioner of TLSWi.
It will usually involve the young person, their parenting parent / carer, and the therapist. The idea being that the space is used to share and explore and the child and thier parent / carer develop their attachment relationship.
Using a Strengths-based approach, TLSW can help the young person or adult to make sense of thier past; to consider how it can affect and impact them in thier present and consider their future. Underpinned by psycho-social approaches, play theory, attachment, neuroscience and Theraplay / PACE principles.
There are three phases of the approach
Information Gathering
Checking the Sources of Information Creating a Narrative
- Reading of care / case files, chronologies
- Reaching out to people in the early life, such as first foster carers, schools and birth family members
- Creating a bank of information and creating a narrative chronology before beginning the intervention
Direct Work
Young Person, Parent and Therapist
- Regular sessions using a variety of tools underpinned by attachment theory and neuroscience
- Starting in the present day, developing emotional literacy and helping the child to feel comfortable and to see that adults can bare witness.
- Exploring their early life up to present day
- Using creative tools on the wallpaper to see the journey.
- All are active particpants, we have fun!
Creating the Life Story Book
Helping to externalise the internal world
- Co-creating a book documenting our sessions together
- Helpful for the young person and family to reflect back on
- Developed with the young persons preferences and likes and interests
- By co-creating the book, the young person has ownership over it
- Supporting young people to have positive endings
“The value and power of the life story
Bruce Perry (2012)
approach to reconstructing and
reconnecting a child using personal
narrative cannot be underestimated”
Beyond The Waves 