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Reviewed By: Melanie Morgan (www.adoption-net.co.uk)
Date: 6 January 2006

Written by the Deputy Director (Richard Rose) of Practice Development in SACCS , for seven years he was a Senior Child Protection Social Worker and achieved the Practice Teacher Award and a PGCE in social work education. He is also experienced in residential social work has a PQSW child care award and a BPhil in child care.

Terry Philpot is author and editor of several books, including (with Anthony Douglas) Adoption: Changing Families, Changing Times. He writes regularly for The Times Education Supplement, The Tablet and other publications, he has won awards for journalism, and was former editor of Community Care, his work will be well known to many social workers.

I read this book whilst sailing round the Caribbean in November, when I was enjoying my carer's break after a busy summer with four children. One of whom has a huge attachment challenge, brought on by major multiple losses in his young life, and will possibly be starting life story work in the near future. It made compelling reading, which I read cover to cover stopping only to take a sip of something cool and refreshing, and then I started thinking about the tasks that the writers sets us, the reader, which was quite provoking. Not only did I reflect on the child I care for, but as encouraged reflected on my life too, and the child within me. As I am a healthy and robust individual with no concerns about my past I was able to do the exercises with both interest and enthusiasm.

The book is an introduction to the process of Life Story Work, and intended for everyone who works with children and young people who have suffered trauma or been involved with multiple moves, either through the life styles of adults with whom they lived or through local authorities with whom they have been in care. The aims of the book are "to enable workers to recognise and work with children who suffer from problems of early trauma and associated attachment, and help them recover." To do so, they explore their past and hopefully avoid a whole lifetime of mourning. By doing so it is also envisaged that such children can grow up to avoid the criminal justice system and mental health services. Life story work is a therapeutic tool dealing with the child's inner world and his/her perception of external reality.

SACCS is the only organisation in the UK to employ qualified social workers to work solely in life story work with children. SACCS say "we need to think in terms of life story work and not life story books, because the books used to omit too much of a child's past that is very significant. Children, just as much as adults need to develop coherent narratives and whilst this can be difficult it is essential for recovery. There are examples of children's own stories with successful conclusions.

The importance of identity race, culture and attachment are discussed and there are exercises to think through yourself, followed by two case studies and a challenge to your professional and personal values, interactive work to do with a colleague and a reflective journal piece of work. Developing your own reflective account, your family tree and life story were powerful exercises for me, and I actually enjoyed doing them.

So what is a life story book and what isn't it?

It's not a life story book like an autobiography in the usual way, but will be roughly chronological and factual. Telling what happened during the period of internalisation. The worker tells the story in the child's voice and puts it together with the child's assistance, it's therapeutic because it helps the child to look back at the past and come to terms with it.

Activity

Do your own life story. Try just one day and ask a colleague to read it back to you, begin a discussion and identify the changes to the story as you see appropriate. A familiar tool to those of us who work in health and social care, but also an interesting and revealing one.

Life After Life Story

Life story work continues throughout the child's life, it's important to recognise there is a past, a present and a future, and that when a child arrives in our home to be looked after, they are not leaving behind and starting a new life, but travelling a path through life which is a journey recognising the rough with the smooth, and a wholesome future through therapeutic intervention from the highly skilled team of staff that provide such services. By doing so, they can realise who they are, where they have come from, and where they dream to be to be in life, with a plan to support that dream to come to fruition.

Do I recommend this book?

Yes I do, it's easy to read and a good reference for multi disciplinary teams of staff and foster carers alike.

This book was reviewed by Melanie Morgan RN RMN DATS

A single parent of three young adults Nadia, aged 22 principal of the Nadia Jane School of Dance, Nigel aged 21 who works with children aged 8-15 years at risk of offending, and Holly aged 17 who is at college full time studying Health and Social Care. She's foster carer to two children aged 11 and 12 years and periodic respite carer for other foster carers looked after children.

Melanie is a Safe Guarding Support Nurse in the West Midlands and previously worked as a CPN in Mental Health In Reach in a female prison.

Melanie's hobbies are live theatre and going to the movies.