Creative Life Story Work Podcast

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...

Artist Elena Miller is an expert in using play and creativity to help children and young people explore their lives and their futures. Elena joins us on the podcast to explain how play and creativity can make life story work more inclusive and can give children empowerment, choice and control. You'll hear practical ideas for creating safe, playful spaces that build agency and connection. And Elena shares real life examples...

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. 

He...

How can therapeutic letters support healing, truth-telling and connection?

Ciara McClelland from Trauma Informed Consultancy Services explains how letters can help young people feel seen, heard and understood. How they can reach people in a way that conversations can't, and how they can help us say things that might be difficult to talk about in person. 

Listen to this episode of the Creative Life Story W...

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 wo...

In this episode of the Creative Life Story Work podcast, Dawn is joined by Blue Cabin Associate Artist, Nic Golightly, to explore the power of creativity in life story work. 

Together, they challenge the myth of 'I’m not creative', uncover everyday acts of imagination we often overlook, and share how playful approaches can spark confidence, connection and curiosity. 

From mistakes to masterpieces, Nic reveals...

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 l...

Clinical psychologist Dr Karen Treisman MBE joins us to talk about genograms and why they matter in trauma-informed care. 

Genograms are a visual representation of a family tree, which are often used in therapeutic settings. Karen shares how we can extend the traditional genogram model to make it into something much more creative, relational and meaningful. Hear how you can incorporate different materials -- from househ...

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 ca...

Sing Our Story is a personalised song-writing programme created by London-based charity, Groundswell Arts. Groundswell Arts and Blue Cabin are now collaborating to deliver Sing Our Story in North East England, with a focus on care-experienced babies and children.

Joseph Robb (head of service, looked-after children at Darlington Borough Council) explains why he wanted Darlington to be part of Sing Our Story and how the s...

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 e...

Michelle Ewing is a Therapeutic Life Story Worker with Leicestershire Children and Family Services, which recently received an Outstanding rating from Ofsted.

Michelle joins us to share how the local authority provides consistent and high quality life story work for care-experienced children and young people. She gives an insight into the role of a Therapeutic Life Story Worker, her training with Professor Richard Rose,...

Lessons from lived experience

Trainer 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 challen...

Social Work consultant and Trauma Informed Consultancy Services trainer, Natalie Wyatt, explains the wide-ranging effects of domestic abuse on children and young people, from developmental delays in infancy to risk-taking behaviors in adolescence.   

We explore how trauma-informed approaches can help rebuild trust and attachment, and look ahead to potential changes in how we support children and young people. 

Listen...

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 adopt...

We welcome Mary-anne Hodd to the podcast to discuss adverse childhood experiences (also known as ACEs). Mary-anne explains how neglect, abuse and household dysfunction in early childhood can have an impact on later-life outcomes for care-experienced people -- and how we can support young people to start to heal. 

Mary-anne is a care-experienced trainer and consultant with Trauma Informed Consultancy Services who combine...

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-separa...

How can social workers and foster carers create records that have a positive impact on people's lives? 

We welcome Dr Lisa Cherry to the podcast to discuss how we can take a trauma-informed approach to recording information about a child or young person's life. 

Lisa has been working in education and children's services for more than 30 years and in this episode she shares advice for both social work professionals an...

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 Counci...