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When early life trauma results in complex emotional, behavioural and psychological needs, care experienced children often need more than simply knowing their story.
Join this FREE live Practitioner Workshop
Discover an Evolutionary Approach to Therapeutic Life Story Work
Free Live Online Workshop
Join Laura Neal & Kim Matthews, creators of The Five Approaches to Life Story Work, as they introduce an evolutionary approach to Therapeutic Life Story Work that integrates behavioural science, psychological science and therapeutic practice.
Discover how this approach supports children and young people with complex emotional, behavioural and psychological needs resulting from early life trauma and how you can become a Certified Therapeutic Life Story Work Practitioner.
📅 Wednesday September 2nd 2026
11 am BST
For Social Workers • Play Therapists • Counsellors • Behaviour Analysts • Psychologists • Residential Practitioners • Education Practitioners •Fostering & Adoption Professionals
An evidence-informed approach to Therapeutic Life Story Work, integrating behavioural science, psychological science and therapeutic practice.
Check Out the BJSW Published Paper: What is Life Story Work? How defining approaches can bring clarity to research, training & practice (Neal & Matthews, 2024)
The Gap Between Need's and Practice
We Believe...
We believe every care-experienced child deserves access to Life Story Work. This belief led us to develop The Five Approaches to Life Story Work, a framework that helps practitioners match the right approach to the right child at the right time, increasing access through a range of lower-intensity approaches that can be delivered as part of everyday care and practice.
There will however always be children who have experienced such significant adversity that they require a more intensive therapeutic approach to support their emotional, behavioural and psychological needs. For these children we believe...
- Helping children understand and process what has happened can reduce confusion, shame and self-blame, supporting progress and long-term healing.
- Therapeutic Life Story Work should be available when children need specialist support to understand and process early life trauma.
- Children with the most complex needs deserve access to practitioners who are properly trained in Therapeutic Life Story Work.
- Practitioners should have access to evidence-informed training that equips them to deliver Life Story Work safely and confidently.
The Challenge
More children are presenting with increasingly complex emotional, behavioural and psychological needs but many practitioners don't feel equipped to meet them.
Today's practitioners are facing huge challenges:
- Children presenting with increasingly complex emotional, behavioural and psychological needs.
- Feeling underprepared to support children to understand and process early life trauma.
- Not knowing how to answer difficult questions about abuse, neglect, loss, rejection and why children are in care.
- Recognising that a child's understanding of their history influences how they experience and respond to trauma.
- Worrying that talking about the past might cause distress, leading to important conversations being delayed or avoided, sometimes for years.
- Watching children's difficulties having a greater impact on their mental health as confusion, shame and self-blame go unaddressed.
- Demand for specialist therapeutic support continues to grow, but there are too few practitioners trained to meet children's needs.
Why This Matters Now
Why is Therapeutic Life Story Work Evolving?
Children presenting with complex emotional, behavioural and psychological needs resulting from early life trauma are becoming increasingly common. While Life Story Work remains an essential part of supporting care-experienced children, many practitioners recognise that some children need more than opportunities to understand their story they also need support to emotionally process and integrate their experiences.
The publication of The Five Approaches to Life Story Work in the British Journal of Social Work recognised that different children need different approaches, delivered by different people, for different purposes. As practice continues to evolve, an important question is emerging:
When does Life Story Work become therapeutic?
In this workshop, we'll explore that question and introduce an evolutionary, evidence-informed approach that integrates behavioural science, psychological science and therapeutic practice to support children with complex emotional, behavioural and psychological needs.
What Participants Are Saying About Therapeutic Life Story Work
The Workshop
Who is it for?
This FREE workshop is delivered by Laura Neal and Kim Matthews and is designed for practitioners supporting care-experienced children and young people, including:
- Social Workers – supporting children in foster care, kinship care, residential care or adoption.
- Residential Practitioners & Managers – helping children make sense of their experiences within everyday care.
- Play Therapists, Counsellors & Psychotherapists – wanting to integrate Life Story Work into therapeutic practice.
- Psychologists & Behaviour Analysts – looking to combine psychological science with Life Story Work.
- Fostering, Adoption & Kinship Professionals – supporting carers to have safe and meaningful conversations about children's histories.
Learn directly from the developers of The Five Approaches to Life Story Work and discover the next evolution of Therapeutic Life Story Work.
You'll Discover
During this FREE live workshop, you'll discover:
- Why traditional approaches aren't always enough for children with the most complex needs.
- How Therapeutic Life Story Work helps children understand and process early life trauma.
- How behavioural science, psychological science and therapeutic practice can be integrated into Life Story Work.
- An introduction to an evolutionary, evidence-informed approach that integrates behavioural science, psychological science and therapeutic practice.
- Practical examples of Therapeutic Life Story Work in action.
- Learn how you can become a 'Five Approaches' Certified Therapeutic Life Story Work Practitioner and discover the pathway to formal certification that practitioners in your field are now pursuing.
Reserve Your Spot
Your FREE Workshop
Join practitioners across social care, psychology, therapy and residential services for this FREE live workshop exploring the future of Therapeutic Life Story Work.
📅 Wednesday September 2nd 2026 - 11 am
💻 FREE Live Online Workshop
⏱ 60 Minutes
🎓 Presented by Laura Neal & Kim Matthews
📚 Developers of The Five Approaches to Life Story Work
🔬 Introducing an evolutionary, evidence-informed approach to Therapeutic Life Story Work
👥 Once places are filled, registration will close.
Reserve Your Free Place
Complete the short form below to receive your workshop joining details.
Presented by Laura Neal & Kim Matthews
Developers of The Five Approaches to Life Story Work
Authors published in the British Journal of Social Work
