Life story work with looked after and adopted children: how professional training and experience determine perceptions of its value

Abstract

This study identifies perceptions on the features that are of greater or lesser value to successful life story work with looked after and adopted children. Using a Q-methodology approach, 29 participants from professional and service-user backgrounds ranked 57 statements designed to chart their views on the features they thought important for successful life story work. Participants clustered into three groups based on their views. In all three groups, respondents indicated that good life story work should involve helping a child to express and manage emotions that arise during the work. However, on other issues opinions were more varied. One group thought that life story work needs to provide a safe and supportive exploration of a coherent life narrative. A second one held that it needs to be a child-led, ongoing approach based on here-and-now relationships. The final group highlighted the need for a comprehensive and adaptable record. Links are made with attachment theory and existing models of life story work. Clinical and research implications are provided with an emphasis on the role for clinical psychologists in this work.