Therapeutic Life Story Work

Therapeutic life story work is a trauma-informed therapy to support individuals who have experienced separation and loss. It is particularly effective for individuals who are or were in the care system, i.e. foster care or residential care. Therapeutic life story work provides a space to explore a person’s origin and past life experiences. This can help a person make sense of who they are, why they do what they do and how life experiences can shape who we are today. Many children who have experienced the care system can have a false narrative, filing in the blanks of their life with fantasy or fiction. Over time, this becomes their reality and their life journey can become distorted. Therapeutic life story work can help create a factual narrative which incorporates their history while separating facts from fiction. For children, this work is preferably completed alongside the foster family/carers and involves in person sessions. During the sessions, a life story book is developed which documents an individual’s journey through their life.

Some sessions will take place with people who hold knowledge on the young person’s past e.g. family members, previous school teacher, social care worker. These interviews are needed to collect factual information that can be explored during therapeutic sessions. Access to previous reports and files is also required

€120 (50-minute per session/interview)