For some people, investing in therapy might not be possible for various reasons. And one of my professional commitments is to offer alternative approaches to suit different category of clients.
The Tree of Life workshop is designed to offer psychological support to clients who needs to regain some self-esteem and confidence in their life.
What is it? Our life is influenced by the stories we tell about ourselves, they shape how we view ourselves and what we do. And we often get stuck into a simplified and problematic story, identifying with it. During this work, we will use the visual metaphor of the tree as a representation of your life. Each part of the tree representing a part of your life. You will (re)discover the richness and diversity of your life stories. You will explore your skills, competences, hopes, heritage and culture and identify who and what really matters to you. Your tree will shine a new perspective on your journey and give it more meaning. It will help you retrieve a sense of agency and make you feel more connected to others. Eventually, this will give you a grounded base to lean on when facing obstacles and problems in life.
Origin of this method: the Tree of Life therapeutic approach was co-developped by Zimbabwean and Australian narrative therapists, Ncazelo Millo Ncube and David Denborough, initially to support children affected by HIV in South Africa. It has now been used in many different settings and with different publics and keeps being adapted in creative ways all over the world. I had the chance to train to become a facilitator of this method directly with Ncazelo Ncube and I have witnessed, on a professional and personal level, how supportive it can be.
How? We will first meet for an initial one-hour-session during which we will discuss what we'll do together and I'll give you some instructions to draw your tree. The next two sessions will last 1h30 and will be spent working on the different parts of your tree. And we'll meet for a last one-hour-session during which I'll review and end our work together.