Effective Life Story Narrative
Effective Life Story Narrative
Effective Life Story Narrative
Every young person in care carries a story -
but too often, it’s fragmented, confusing, or shaped by silence.
Effective Life Story Narrative is a practical, trauma-informed training designed to help foster carers and professionals support children and young people in making sense of their past, understanding their identity, and building a more secure sense of self.
This course moves beyond theory and into real-world practice—equipping you with the language, confidence, and tools to have sensitive, honest, and developmentally appropriate conversations about a young person’s life story.
What This Course Covers:
Why life story work is essential for identity and emotional wellbeing
How trauma impacts memory, meaning, and narrative
The SAFE model for effective life story work
How to use language that reduces shame and builds understanding
Practical tools including life story books, timelines, and memory work
How to respond to difficult questions with confidence and care
Managing complex or missing information safely
What you’ll gain by the end of this course, you will be able to:
Support young people to explore their life story in a safe and meaningful way
Use trauma-informed, non-blaming language
Build life story work gradually and appropriately over time
Respond confidently to sensitive or challenging conversations
Create a simple, practical life story engagement plan
Who This Course Is For:
Foster carers
Social workers
Residential care staff
Therapeutic practitioners
Adoptive Parents
Anyone supporting looked-after children
Course Details:
Duration: 1–2 hours
Format: Interactive training with practical exercises
Includes: Workbook, tools, and reflection activities
Certification: Certificate on completion
Why This Course Matters:
When young people don’t understand their story,
they often create their own explanations—
and those explanations can be filled with blame, shame, or confusion.
This course helps you gently rewrite that experience, not by changing the facts, but by changing how those facts are held, understood, and shared.