Narrative and Dramatic Approaches to Children’s Life Story with Foster, Adoptive and Kinship Families Using the Theatre of Attachment Model

Narrative and Dramatic Approaches to Children?s Life Story with Foster, Adoptive and Kinship Families outlines narrative and dramatic approaches to improve vulnerable family relationships. It provides a model which offers new ways for parents to practise communicating with their children and develop positive relationships.

The book focuses on the Theatre of Attachment model - a highly innovative approach which draws from a strong theoretical base to demonstrate the importance of narrative and dramatic play for sharing the children?s life history in the family home with their adoptive, foster or kinship parents. An emphasis is on having fun ways to work through complex feelings and divided loyalties, so as to secure attachment. This practice model aims to raise children?s self-esteem and communication skills and to combat the profound effects of abuse, neglect on trauma on children?s development.

This book will be of great interest for academics, post-graduate students, universities and Training bodies, service providers and practitioners involved in social work and creative therapies, child psychologists, child psychotherapists and public and private adoption and foster care agencies.

List of figures

Foreword

Introduction

1. Theatre

2. Safety

3. Role

4. Story

5. Attachment, trauma and play

6. Life story and Theatre of Attachment

7. Finding a balance

8. Conclusions

Bibliography

Appendices

Index

Joan E. Moore is a freelance and published dramatherapist, play therapist and supervisor and independent social worker, England, UK.