Creative Life Story Work Podcast

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.

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/

In this episode we meet Jessica Parker, director of Trauma Informed Consultancy Services, to discuss how we can support young people affected by eating disorders. We talk about misconceptions and worries practitioners might have; the importance of language; and how understanding attachment and trauma can shape our approach. And Jessica shares advice for organisations wanting to foster a safe, supportive environment. Hear a new episode of the Creative Life Story Work podcast on the first Thursday of each month.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.Check out the training we have coming up, including an online Live Classroom with Jessica Parker on trauma-informed approaches to eating disorders >>

How can digital tools help young people store important memories, documents and stories? And how can care-experienced voices guide their use? Find out how artists Rosie Reid and Ruth Mary Johnson worked with three young care leavers to experiment with an app called The Vault (developed by Articulate Cultural Trust). Hear how they played, created, and tested The Vault, to see how it could be used to complement life story work. Find out more about The Vault experimentRosie and Ruth have shared more about their work with the young researchers in this blog post here.You can learn more about the All About Me themes, which are mentioned in the podcast episode, here.And find out more about the Rose Model of Therapeutic Life Story Work here. 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.Check out the other training we have coming up, with online Live Classrooms​,​ delivered by our brilliant ​expert trainers>>

Psychologist Amy Payne joins us from Australia's Blue Mountains to talk about Therapeutic Life Story Work with adults. We discuss how she has adapted the Rose model of Therapeutic Life Story Work for different ages and Amy shares examples of its use. Find out how Therapeutic Life Story Work can help adults manage transitions in life and plan for the future. Discover how to retain elements of creativity and playfulness in life story work with adults, and how it can help you map out multi-generational stories taking in grandparents, parents and children. 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.Sign up to Amy's live classroom by clicking hereCheck out the other training we have coming up, with online Live Classrooms​,​ delivered by our brilliant ​expert trainers>>

This month we are talking about Think, Feel, Do Bears - how they were developed and how they can be used during life story work. Amy Payne and Karen Vance, two of the practitioners who created Think, Feel, Do Bears, join us from Australia. They take us back to 2016, when the first Think, Feel, Do bears were made, inspired by conversations at the 2016 Australian Childhood Trauma Conference. Find out how the bears can help children and young people talk about their thoughts, feelings and actions. Hear about some real-life examples of them being used by children, young people and adults, and learn how the bears can help children and young people's voices be heard.Sign up to Amy and Karen's upcoming Live Classroom by clicking here 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.Check out the other training we have coming up, with online Live Classrooms​,​ delivered by our brilliant ​expert trainers>>

Timelines are a powerful tool in life story work. They can bring play into the process; they can link past, present and future; and they can help prepare children for change. And they provide a safe way to explore a life story. Listen to our conversation with Polly Baynes, who has worked with children and families for 37 years, for some brilliant advice on how to get started with using timelines. Polly shares her own experience of kinship care as a child and what she's learnt in her wide-ranging career. She ends with a series of top tips for foster carers and social work professionals who want to start using timelines with children and young people. Sign up to Polly's online live classroom event by clicking hereFind 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.Check out the other training we have coming up, with online Live Classrooms​,​ delivered by our brilliant ​expert trainers>>

Lessons from lived experienceTrainer Mary-anne Hodd joins us on the podcast to share her experience of being a child in care - including the challenges she faced and the people who made a positive difference.The conversation touches on so many points, from how it feels to receive your files as an adult, to Mary-anne's advice for other care-experienced people.Listen in to learn more about the challenges care-experienced children and young people face in forming their identities, how we can support them better, and how we can create environments where children can create, thrive and be themselves.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.Check out the training we have coming up, with online Live Classrooms​,​ delivered by our brilliant ​expert trainers>>

This special podcast episode was recorded live at the Georgian Theatre in Stockton, where we gathered for the premiere of a wonderful new film called All About Adoption. The film was made by a group of young film makers from Tees Valley, through a new partnership between Blue Cabin and Adoption Tees Valley. Hear from some of the film makers about what they wanted friends, teachers and social workers to know about adoption, and what it was like to receive a standing ovation after their first screening. We ask audience members what they thought of the the film, and Blue Cabin Associate Artist, Nic Golightly, give an insight into the creative process. Find out more about Adopt Bats at wearebluecabin.com/project/adopt-bats/

What role can social workers play in supporting children affected by parental separation? Parental separation might be widespread (around 3.5 million children a year are living in separated families), but it can still have a big impact on children and young people, affecting behavioural outcomes, physical health and more. We welcome Natalie Wyatt to the podcast to talk about how we can help children thrive, post-separation. Natalie shares what children and young people she has worked with have told her about what's important to them, and the factors which can affect children's lives, longer term. Hear a new episode of the Creative Life Story Work podcast on the first Thursday of each month.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.Want to learn more from Natalie Wyatt? Check out the training we have coming up, with online Live Classrooms by Natalie and other brilliant trainers>>

In this episode of the Creative Life Story Work podcast, host Dawn welcomes Christian Brock, co-founder and managing director of Virtual Memory Box, to discuss how technology is being leveraged to support life story work for care-experienced children and young people. They delve into the functionalities and benefits of the Virtual Memory Box, including its web platform setup and its co-production with South Tyneside Council. Christian shares insights on the personalization and accessibility features of the tool, and highlights how it augments traditional life story work. The conversation also touches on the emotional impact and positive feedback from users, alongside advice for tech entrepreneurs looking to develop meaningful tools for community support.Find out more about Creative Life Story Work membership at www.creativelifestorywork.com00:00 Introduction to Creative Life Story Work00:51 Meet Christian Brock: Co-Founder of Virtual Memory Box02:29 The Concept and Features of Virtual Memory Box03:16 Collaborative Development with South Tyneside Council08:23 User Permissions and Access Control11:41 Data Ownership and Accessibility12:44 Break: Blue Cabin's Creative Life Storywork Membership14:32 Impact Stories and Feedback18:08 Future of Digital Technology in Care Systems19:28 Advice for Tech Entrepreneurs20:33 How to Engage with Virtual Memory Box22:11 Conclusion and Farewell

How can we adapt Creative Life Story Work for young adults? In 2023, we worked with care-leavers and young researchers to develop All About Us, a life story work pilot project for care-leavers. We talk with theatre-maker and Blue Cabin Associate, Ruth Mary Johnson, and Faye Marsh from Darlington Borough Council, about the practicalities of gathering feedback from care-leavers in Darlington and South Tyneside. Find out how their input shaped the project and how All About Us is different from the sessions we deliver with younger children and their trusted adults. Hear a new episode of the Creative Life Story Work podcast on the first Thursday of each month.Find out more about Creative Life Story Work membership at www.creativelifestorywork.com

We were very happy to catch up with Professor Richard Rose in Darlington, to talk about the role he's played as a critical friend for Darlington Borough Council and other organisations. Hear how having someone to share honest, constructive feedback is helping to shape life story work strategies.Find out more about Creative Life Story Work membership at www.creativelifestorywork.com