Creative Life Story Work Podcast

We welcome clinical psychologist and author, Dr Karen Treisman MBE, to the podcast. Karen draws on her extensive experience working cross-culturally to explain why creative methods are so powerful in refugee and asylum-seeking contexts. We explore how life story work can combat the fragmentation and dehumanisation that displacement can bring, helping young people build identity and belonging. Karen also shares some practical, creative ideas and activities you can use during life story work.
Check out the online Live Classrooms we have coming up,​ delivered by our brilliant ​expert trainers!
Find out more about Creative Life Story Work membership here, and sign up to our mailing list here, for regular updates on our training and resources.
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Free resources to support life story work with refugee and asylum-seeking children and young people have been created by three organisations working together: Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB), Therapeutic Life Story Work UK (TLSWUK) and Blue Cabin (the charity behind Creative Life Story Work).
In this episode, Michael Nwoye (CFAB) and Paula Price (TLSWUK) join the podcast to share the story behind the resources: how they came to be, what shaped their development, and how practitioners can use them to facilitate meaningful, culturally sensitive life story work.
You can access the free resources here.
Check out the online Live Classrooms we have coming up,​ delivered by our brilliant ​expert trainers!
Find out more about Creative Life Story Work membership here, and sign up to our mailing list here, for regular updates on our training and resources.

Clinical psychologist and author, Dr. Karen Treisman MBE, joins us on the podcast to explore emotional regulation. Karen shares a compassionate, human perspective, moving beyond one-size-fits-all techniques to focus on anchoring, presence and the nervous system. She discusses co-regulation in social work, why our own regulation matters, and how small everyday 'micro moments' can make a meaningful difference. Karen also offers creative, sensory-based approaches and insights into helping children feel safe, understood and supported.

Chair of Therapeutic Life Story Work UK, Paula Price, joins us on the podcast to talk about delivering life story work in school settings. Paula discusses working with teaching staff, challenges particular to working in a school, and how life story work fits within a school environment. She also shares insights into building trust with children, creative approaches, and moments that show the power of using play during life story work - when it has helped children to talk about difficult things which they may never have spoken about before.

Blue Cabin (the charity behind Creative Life Story Work), and Mary-anne Hodd (a care-experienced independent consultant and Therapeutic Life Story Work practitioner) are exploring life story work for care leavers aged 16-25. Mary-anne explains what the three-year Between Chapters project will focus on including why life story work matters for care leavers, how it differs from working with younger children, and what some of the gaps in support are. Mary-anne brings her own lived experience to the project and shares advice for other care leavers who are interested in life story work. 

Find out more about Between Chapters here: https://wearebluecabin.com/project/between-chapters/