What is All About Me?

The initial entry point into Creative Life Story Work for children and young people, All About Me provides them with the opportunity to explore who they are today, explore what is happening right now, and express their hopes and dreams for the future in a safe, creative space. 

Children and young people can either take part in All About Me Creative Experience in a group setting facilitated by an Artist and a Pastoral Support Worker, or engage in All About Me direct work with a trusted adult, such as a foster carer or social worker 

As the entry point into Life Story Work, All About Me is built around six themes: 

1. This is me 

The aim of this section is to support the child to think about themselves and to understand how they see themselves. It can provide you with an understanding of them through their eyes.

2. My favourite things

The aim of this section is to support the child to think about what is important to them. Rather than thinking about their favorite person, this theme is more related to things, like colours, hobbies, school or college, and toys. By exploring these things alongside a child, it will add to your knowledge about potential ways into other conversations

3. My feelings

The aim of this section is to support the child to explore their emotions in the present. This may include exploring what emotions are and different ways to identify them. Take every opportunity you can to help discuss and model emotions. Through this approach, the child you are supporting will understand the feelings you, and they, have. They will begin to name these as ‘I feel angry’ instead of ‘being angry’.

4. People in my life 

The aim of this section is to support the child to think about the people in their lives. This could include people they don’t currently see (i.e. birth family), friends, carers, relatives, as well as their current ‘family unit’.

5. Places I have lived

Many of the children we engage with have lived in different homes, with different families and may have had different carers. It is very helpful for children to consider, comment on and understand the physical journey of their lives and to make sense of the meaning behind the changes. Often children will blame themselves for the changes in their various moves and so this section can witness their thoughts and feelings around the places they have lived. It is a vital part of the All About Me approach, where unspoken shame, guilt, blame and confusion often resides. This section features a number of ideas and tools that you may find helpful to use

6. My future

The aim of this section is to support the child or young person to look ahead – not just a few moments, or the next few hours or weeks, but the next years, and to imagine, hope and aspire to be all they can be. There are many children that are stuck in the past and have no way of freeing themselves from confusion, hurt, shame or assumed responsibility, so thinking of what comes next is really helpful.

This section encourages you to talk with the child or young person about their future, which may include people, where they want to live, what they will be doing, hobbies etc. ‘In the next six months I would like to… I would like… to happen, I hope to…’.