Book of the Month Feature – January 2023

Helping traumatised children develop the story of their life and the lives of people closest to them is key to their understanding and acceptance of who they are and their past experiences. The Child’s Own Story is an introduction to life story work and how this effective tool can be used to help children and young people recover from abuse and make sense of a disrupted up-bringing in multiple homes or families.

The authors explain the concepts of attachment, separation, loss and identity, using these contexts to describe how to use techniques such as family trees, wallpaper work, and eco- and geno-scaling. They offer guidance on interviewing relatives and carers, and how to gain access to key documentation, including social worker’ case files, legal papers, and health, registrar and police records.

This sensitive, practice-focused guide to life story work includes case examples and exercises, and is an invaluable resource for social workers, child psychotherapists, residential care staff, long term foster carers and other professionals working with traumatised children.

Click on this link if you are interested in purchasing this book.