Collective narrative practice and the Tree of Life

1. Introduction

Version followed: the four-part Tree of Life (Tree, Forest, Storms, Celebration) as described by David Denborough in Collective Narrative Practice (2008, Dulwich Centre extract), with operational detail (timing, group size, staffing, consent, referral) from the REPSSI/Catholic Relief Services Tree of Life: A workshop methodology for children, young people and adults, 3rd edition for a global audience (2016; original approach by Ncazelo Ncube-Mlilo and David Denborough, revisions by Lucy Steinitz). Team of Life follows Denborough's 2012 account of a three-day camp with young people from refugee backgrounds. Cross-cutting practices (collective documents, linking communities, outsider-witness responses, double-storied testimony, timelines) follow Dulwich Centre Foundation materials listed under Sources. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016; Denborough 2012]

What it is. Collective narrative practice is not a single therapy but a family of group and community methodologies developed by David Denborough and colleagues at Dulwich Centre Foundation (Adelaide), building on Michael White's narrative therapy, for responding to groups and communities facing significant social suffering where individual therapy may not be culturally resonant or available. The Tree of Life was developed by Ncazelo Ncube (REPSSI, Southern Africa) and David Denborough, with Cheryl White, at Masiye Camp, Zimbabwe, in November 2005, initially for children affected by HIV/AIDS; it has since been used with refugee, Indigenous, bereaved and flood-affected groups, with adults, older people, caregivers, and in UK mental health and recovery-college settings. It explicitly builds on, but differs substantially from, an earlier Tree of Life by Anne Hope and Sally Timmel (1984). Other "folk-cultural" methodologies in the same family include Team of Life, Kite of Life, Seasons of Life, Recipes of Life, Crossing the River and Beads of Life. [source: Tree of Life extract; Storyline of collective narrative practice; Tracing the history of Tree of Life; Diversifying and democratising]

How change happens. People first stand in a "safe territory of identity" built from a valued everyday metaphor (a tree, a football team); from there a "second story" of skills, values, hopes, heritage and relationships is richly described, so that hardship can then be spoken about collectively and indirectly (through metaphor, as shared hazards rather than individual disclosure) without re-traumatising. Responses to hardship are made visible (no one is a passive recipient), blame is relocated away from the person, and the newly described identity is witnessed, documented (certificates, collective documents, songs) and shared so that people can contribute to others in similar circumstances. [source: Tree of Life extract; Diversifying and democratising; Storyline of collective narrative practice]

2. Framework

This is a methodology set, not a staged course of therapy. The two fully described sequences are below, followed by the generic arc for a collective documentation project. [source: as tagged]

2a. Tree of Life workshop (four parts)

Part	Goal	Time (CRS/REPSSI 2016)	Move on when
Preparation	Consent/assent, staffing, referral map, prompts on flip chart	Before the day	Referral resources identified; all counsellors briefed and have made their own tree
Introduction	Talk about trees; voluntariness; confidentiality; show and put away an example tree	Short	Group understands it is voluntary and has agreed confidentiality
Part One: Tree of Life	Draw roots, ground, trunk, branches, leaves, fruits; write; tell own tree	4–5 h (draw ~1 h, write 1–1.5 h, tell ~2 h)	Every participant has named at least a few positive memories; trees displayed
Part Two: Forest of Life	Trees joined into a forest; written appreciations; counsellors retell each story	1–1.5 h	Each person's tree has been retold and acknowledged
Part Three: Storms of Life	Collective naming of hazards, effects, non-blame, responses, times free of storms	1–1.5 h	Responses to hardship and calm times have been named
Part Four: Our Trees / Our Lives	Holding on to hopes in storms; letters/drawings to caregivers; certificates; song	~1 h	Ceremony completed; decision made about trees; confidentiality restated

Format: usually one full day (~8 h); may be split over two days, with the break between parts. Denborough's Soweto example is a single day. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016; Tree of Life extract]
Group: ideal 12; ages 5–7 maximum 10 with more counsellors; older children/adults up to 16. Keep age groups separate (do not mix younger and older children, or children with adults); gender mixing by local culture and experience, with separation important for survivors of trafficking or sexual abuse. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Staffing: minimum two counsellors (lead plus support counsellor for one-to-one care, referral and follow-up); about 1:3 ratio, up to 1:4–1:5 with experienced staff. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Sequencing rule: difficulties are only approached (Part Three) after the safe territory and the second story are established in Parts One and Two. [source: Tree of Life extract]
Multi-session weekly formats in clinical settings (e.g. UK services) are reported but not described here; if you run weekly sessions, keep the same order and do not reach Storms before trees have been retold. [uncertain] [synthesis]

2b. Team of Life (Denborough 2012 version)

Three-day camp with 23 young people from refugee backgrounds, then an evening ceremony with families: (1) framing with sport and football exercises; (2) collective team sheet; (3) individual team sheets; (4) celebrating collective goals already scored (goal maps and re-enactments); (5) future goals and training, only after past achievements are honoured; (6) definitional ceremony with family audience; (7) acknowledging hardship by reading and replying to another team's "tackling problems" document. The Dulwich Team of Life page gives a four-step version: team sheets, celebrating goals, tackling problems, celebrations. [source: Team of life with young men; Team of Life Approach page]

2c. Collective documentation / linking-communities arc

Consultation and note-taking in people's own words → writing a double-storied collective document → formal read-back and revision (a small definitional ceremony) → sharing with at least one other community, which responds as outsider witnesses → returning responses to the originating community → identifying, strengthening and celebrating local initiatives. Pace is set by the community; the worker can build incrementally as resources allow. [source: Dulwich Centre Foundation NT submission 2011; Storyline of collective narrative practice]

Training and fidelity. No licence or certification requirement is stated. The CRS/REPSSI manual requires no university degree but asks that the lead counsellor have some psychosocial-support training, that every counsellor make their own tree and take part as a participant (ideally more than once), and that new counsellors co-facilitate several times with experienced ones before leading. Dulwich Centre runs Tree of Life workshops and collective narrative practice trainings. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016; Tree of Life workshops page] [uncertain]

3. Guiding principles

Start in a safe territory of identity. Begin with what is treasured (trees, sport, cooking) and with skills and heritage; only then approach hardship. [source: Tree of Life extract; Diversifying and democratising]
Double-storied testimony / double listening. Always hear the effects of hardship and, alongside them, the person's responses, values and hopes; the balance between the two matters. [source: Strengthening resistance; L1 Cairns handouts]
Collective, not individual, disclosure. Hardship is named as shared hazards facing "children" or "teams", not as personal accounts; do not ask for trauma details. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016; Tracing the history]
Speak through metaphor. Metaphor lets people convey hardship without speaking in the first person, reducing the risk of re-traumatisation. [source: Diversifying and democratising]
No one is a passive recipient of hardship. Ask what people do in response to storms and make those responses visible. [source: Tracing the history (citing White 2006); CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Relocate blame. Explicitly establish that children are not to blame for abuse, neglect, labour, marriage or trafficking. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Externalising. The person is not the problem; the problem is the problem; do not individualise or pathologise. [source: Storyline; L1 Cairns handouts]
Move away from catharsis. The aim is not "venting" trapped feelings but rich description of a second story. [source: Tree of Life extract]
Rich description and history. Ask how long a skill or hope has existed, who taught it, and what sustains it. [source: Tree of Life extract]
Re-membering and honouring. The dead remain members of a person's life (leaves, coaches); grief is also honouring. [source: Tracing the history; L1 Cairns handouts]
Contribution. Create ways for people who have endured hardship to make a real contribution to others in similar situations. [source: Storyline; Collective narrative practice page]
Witnessing and ceremony. Identity claims are strengthened when performed before an audience that responds without advice, judgement or praise. [source: L1 Cairns handouts; Storyline]
Make failure impossible. Prefer collective goals and achievements over individual ones, which leave more room for failure. [source: Team of life with young men]
Pace to silence. Notice listening even when people are silent; do not press for more words; treat small phrases as significant. [source: Team of life with young men]
People own their words. Ask permission to take notes, use their exact words, check the wording, and let them decide what is shared. [source: NT submission; L1 Cairns handouts]
Voluntary participation and confidentiality. No one is forced to draw, write or share; agree what may and may not be shared outside. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Avoid psychological colonisation; adapt locally. Choose locally resonant metaphors and adapt rather than transplant methods. [source: Tracing the history; Diversifying and democratising]
Democratise practice. Methods are designed so community members (aunties, uncles, leaders, foster carers, peers) can lead them. [source: Diversifying and democratising; Tracing the history]
Decentred worker, community-led, accountable. Work by invitation; the worker is a messenger and scaffold, not the expert. [source: NT submission]
Link to social action. Ask how the work can enable local action and social movement (Freirean conscientisation). [source: Storyline; Tracing the history]
Ethic of care over control. In sport-based work, deliberately elicit care to counter dominant masculinity. [source: Team of life with young men]

4. Intervention inventory

All example language is illustrative unless quoted and cited. Prompts are paraphrased from the sources; the manuals' own question lists (CRS/REPSSI Appendix 2) are not reproduced. [source: per item]

A. Tree of Life

A1. Preparation, consent and referral mapping

Purpose / when: Before any workshop; protects participants and sets up follow-up.
Steps: (1) Brief all counsellors on roles and process; assign a lead and at least one support counsellor. (2) Each counsellor makes their own tree in advance. (3) Identify local referral resources (government services, NGOs, community supports, child helplines). (4) Discuss likely sensitivities for this group in advance and plan questions that will not open uncontainable material. (5) Decide whole-group versus small-group sharing. (6) Write the tree prompts on a flip chart. (7) Obtain guardian consent (a separate meeting may be needed) and child assent; the organisation keeps signed forms. (8) Prepare handmade certificates with names; materials: large sheet per person, crayons/markers/paints, small paper for letters, tape, snacks, energiser list, a song chosen with participants. (9) Invite caregivers/community members to the closing if appropriate. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): To guardians: "Today is about the good things in your child's life: who they come from, what they're good at, what they hope for. We won't ask them to talk about bad things that happened to them."
Watch for: No referral pathway identified means you are not ready to run the group. In clinical services, add your service's safeguarding and risk procedures to the plan. [synthesis]

A2. Opening: trees, voluntariness and confidentiality

Purpose / when: Start of the day; builds a familiar, enjoyable entry point.
Steps: (1) Explain the group is meeting to encourage each other through the Tree of Life. (2) Short conversation about trees, their parts and forests; let children share what they know. (3) In Denborough's version, the children create a song or dance showing that, like trees, they give life. (4) Show your own example tree, then put it away so no one copies it. (5) State that participation is voluntary and no one will be forced. (6) Agree confidentiality with concrete examples of what may and may not be shared outside. (7) Questions. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "What trees grow near your home? What do they give to people and animals?" / "You can pass on anything today. Nobody has to draw, write or speak if they don't want to."
Watch for: Energy and laughter are signs the safe territory is forming; anxious silence suggests slowing down or an energiser.

A3. Roots: where I come from

Purpose / when: First drawing step; connects identity to heritage, culture and those who taught the person.
Steps: Ask participants to draw roots and write: where they come from (village, town, country); family history, family name, ancestry; who taught them most; a favourite place at home; a treasured song, dance or celebration. Elders may share their dreams for the young people. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Variations: If origins are unknown (abandonment, institutional care), use people who taught or loved them, favourite places, what gives strength, what they return to for strength; do not press. Children can ask caregivers later and add to their roots. Roots can also be built later by tracing skills backwards to who taught them. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "Who taught you the most in your life? It could be anyone: a grandmother, a teacher, a neighbour."
Watch for: Distress when family history is absent or abusive; shift immediately to the alternative roots rather than probing.

A4. Ground: my life now

Purpose / when: After roots; locates the person in the present.
Steps: Draw the ground and write daily life: who they live with, routines, chores, favourite activities, things they are sometimes made to do. Participants choose what to include. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016; Tree of Life extract]
Example language (illustrative): "What does a normal day look like for you? What do you like doing most?"
Watch for: Heavy burdens (child-headed households, labour) may appear here; note them for Storms and follow-up rather than exploring now. [synthesis]

A5. Trunk: skills and abilities

Purpose / when: Builds the core of the second story.
Steps: (1) Ask what they are good at: school and home skills, talents, caring for others, what others say they do well. (2) Counsellors note skills they have observed beforehand and during the day and offer them. (3) Ask for the history of each skill: how long they have had it, who taught it, special memories attached. (4) If naming one's own skills is culturally uncomfortable or hard, invite peers to suggest skills for each other, record collective skills, or name values and qualities instead. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "I noticed you helped Thabo with his crayons. Is helping others something you're good at? Who did you learn that from?"
Watch for: Working when the person adds skills unprompted or links a skill to a named person.

A6. Branches: hopes, dreams and wishes

Purpose / when: After the trunk; links identity to the future.
Steps: One hope per branch. Explore history (how long held), links to important people, and how they have held on to it through hard times. Hopes for others and the community can be included. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "How long have you had this dream of becoming a nurse? Who would be happy to know you still hold it?"
Watch for: Hopes that seem out of reach are not corrected; the focus is their history and what sustains them.

A7. Leaves: important people

Purpose / when: After branches; re-members relationships, including people who have died.
Steps: (1) Invite inclusive naming: family, friends, teachers, religious leaders, pets, heroes, imaginary friends, story characters, living or deceased. (2) Names of people who have died or disappeared may be written on leaves. (3) If a child is upset about someone who has died, ask whether they had lovely times together, what was special about the person, and whether that person would like to be remembered this way. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "What was special about your grandfather? Would he like to know you remember him like this?"
Watch for: Denborough describes retelling trees with "fallen" leaves (the original 2005 practice of making the dead fallen leaves) as harrowing for children; keep the dead as leaves on the tree, not fallen. [source: Tracing the history]

A8. Fruits: gifts received

Purpose / when: After leaves; documents care received and the person's contribution to others.
Steps: Gifts can be material or non-material (kindness, care, love). Participants may look back over other parts for ideas. Ask why the person gave this gift, what they appreciated about it, and what the participant may have contributed to the giver's life. Ensure every participant names at least a few positive memories. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "Why do you think your aunt cared for you that way? What do you think you've given her?"
Watch for: Reciprocity emerging ("I help her too") indicates the contribution theme is landing.

A9. Optional tree additions (published adaptations)

Purpose / when: To fit specific groups.
Steps: (a) Aboriginal Australian adaptation: add symbols (birds, clouds, flowers) for how the child cares for younger children, elders and others, and how they keep themselves safe. (b) Russian adaptation for older people: flowers as cherished memories, winged seeds as legacies, singing birds as gifts from others. (c) The CRS/REPSSI question appendix includes "gifts given (flowers)". No compost heap is described. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016] [uncertain whether other published variants exist]
Watch for: Do not write problems or "bugs" onto the tree: Denborough removed this because it reduced the distance between children's identities and their problems. [source: Tracing the history]

A10. Writing and telling the tree

Purpose / when: End of Part One; first performance of the second story.
Steps: (1) Participants add words or extra drawings; counsellors help young or non-writing participants, writing only what the participant instructs. (2) Each person tells their tree from the roots upward, either to the whole group (adults, older children) or in small clusters (younger children, people new to public speaking, some cultures). (3) Counsellors circulate, stay close to each speaker, and note affirming words and skills for the retelling. (4) Display all trees on the wall. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "Would you like to start at your roots and tell us your tree?"
Watch for: Counsellor notes in the participant's exact words are needed for A12 and certificates.

A11. Forest of Life: making the forest and writing appreciations

Purpose / when: Part Two; moves from individual to collective identity ("unity in diversity").
Steps: (1) Place trees together on the wall as a forest; stress each tree adds value. (2) Participants write positive things they heard about others' trees. (3) Respect preferences: if people do not want others writing on their tree, use sticky notes, comments taped beside it, or spoken appreciation. (4) Volunteers may share their trees; ask about the history of hopes, how they have kept them alive and who knows about them. (5) Discuss what trees in a forest share and how they support each other. Tea break follows. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016; Tracing the history]
Example language (illustrative): "What do trees in a forest do for each other? What did you notice that people in our forest have in common?"
Watch for: Negative or mocking comments; only positive comments are allowed.

A12. Counsellor retelling of each tree

Purpose / when: Part Two, after the forest; acts as a witnessing ceremony.
Steps: Counsellors (not participants) publicly retell each person's story using notes and the participant's exact words: strong roots, skills, hopes, gifts and relationships; name specific supporters; if someone has died or left, say they are still remembered with love. Do not rush; each retelling needs a counsellor, though small simultaneous groups are acceptable. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016; Tree of Life extract]
Example language (illustrative): "Lindiwe's roots go back to her grandmother's village, where she learned to sing. She is good at caring for her little brother, a skill her mother taught her..."
Watch for: The participant correcting or adding to the retelling is welcome and thickens the story.

A13. Storms of Life: hazards and their effects

Purpose / when: Part Three, only after Parts One and Two.
Steps: (1) Ask whether even beautiful trees and forests face dangers; let the group list them (cutting, burning, lightning, drought, ageing). (2) Ask whether children (or people like us) also face dangers; the group names them collectively (e.g. abuse, neglect, abandonment, street life, being forced out of school, hazardous work, early marriage, violence, bullying, stigma). (3) Explore effects of these problems in general terms (sadness, fear, withdrawal, difficulty at school, being troubled in one's heart). (4) Affirm that others feel the same and that children are not alone; ask how children can help each other and who in the community might help. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "Do children sometimes face storms too? What kinds of storms come into children's lives?"
Watch for: Individual disclosures; do not elicit detail in the group (see Section 5). Record hazards on a flip chart, not on trees.

A14. The blame questions

Purpose / when: Within Storms; relocates blame.
Steps: Ask whether trees are to blame for storms; then whether children are to blame for the storms in their lives. If anyone says yes, reinforce clearly that child labour, abuse, child marriage and trafficking are never a child's fault. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "Is it the tree's fault when lightning strikes it? ... And is it ever a child's fault when someone hurts them?"
Watch for: A participant who insists they are to blame may need individual follow-up. [synthesis]

A15. Animals in the storm and people's responses

Purpose / when: Within Storms; makes responses to hardship visible.
Steps: (1) Ask participants to name forest animals they like and are not afraid of. (2) Ask what those animals do when storms come (hide, shelter, huddle together, protect young ones). (3) Ask what children and people do when storms come and what else they could do; typical answers: talk to a trusted adult or friend, ask for help, pray, tell a teacher, neighbour or social worker, report to police, sometimes run away. (4) Reflect back that participants are not passive recipients of hardship. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "What do the birds do when the storm comes? ... And what do children do to look after themselves when storms come?"
Watch for: Unsafe responses (e.g. running away) are acknowledged as responses, then safer options are added collectively. [synthesis]

A16. When the storms pass

Purpose / when: Closing Storms.
Steps: In small groups (about five), discuss: Are storms always present? Are there times free of storms? What do we do when storms pass, and what else could we do? Include joyful times, supportive people and how each person contributes to others' happiness. Emphasise that calm times are precious and worth celebrating. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "When are the times in your life with no storms? What do you do to enjoy them?"

A17. Holding on to hopes during storms

Purpose / when: Start of Part Four.
Steps: Ask the group how we can hold on to precious hopes and dreams in difficult times; record answers on a flip chart; this becomes collective knowledge. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "What helps us keep our dreams safe when things get hard?"

A18. Letters or drawings of appreciation to caregivers

Purpose / when: Part Four; reconnects participants with families and improves communication and care.
Steps: Each participant writes a letter or draws a picture for a caregiver or someone important, describing their values, skills, hopes and dreams and inviting the caregiver to visit or respond. Drawings become thank-you cards for those with limited literacy; where caregivers cannot read, encourage children to read letters aloud. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "Who has cared for you that you'd like to thank? What would you like them to know about your tree?"

A19. Certificates and witnessed ceremony

Purpose / when: Part Four close; documents and witnesses the second story.
Steps: (1) Counsellors write an individual certificate per participant from notes of the day: hopes, dreams, skills, special people (for young children, write what you heard them say). (2) Invite community members (e.g. local clinic workers, caregivers) to witness the presentation; use the local language. (3) Close with a song chosen by the participants (some groups compose their own). [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Example language (illustrative): "This certificate is for Sipho, who is good at football and at making his sisters laugh, who dreams of being a teacher, and who remembers his mother with love."
Watch for: Generic certificates lose the effect; use the participant's own words.

A20. Optional closings: secret comments and peer certificates

Steps: (a) Secret comments: a sheet with each person's name is taped to their back; everyone writes positive comments only, signed or anonymous; sheets become keepsakes. (b) Blank certificates: each participant completes a certificate for someone else from what they heard, on that person's skills, hopes and special people. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Watch for: Check that every sheet receives comments; counsellors add to sparse sheets. [synthesis]

A21. Preserving trees, confidentiality and closing reflection

Steps: Decide as a group whether trees are exhibited or taken home (consensus; default is take home). Repeat the confidentiality reminder. Close with a reflection, e.g. passing a paper ball with each person naming one thing they thought about the day. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Watch for: Public display of trees containing names of the dead, abuse-related hazards or locations needs explicit consent. [synthesis]

A22. Energisers

Purpose / when: Between parts, when energy drops or the mood becomes heavy.
Steps: The CRS/REPSSI appendix lists group games (e.g. a juggling-ball game, finding things in common, a "touch something blue" game, an "I like you because" round). Group massage is listed with a caution to check cultural appropriateness first. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Watch for: Avoid touch-based games with survivors of abuse unless clearly optional. [synthesis]

A23. Extensions: intergenerational, environmental and child-protection action

Purpose / when: After a completed workshop, to turn collective knowledge into action.
Steps: (a) Intergenerational ritual: young people share their trees with elders, who then make their own; relationships may be re-authored without denying harm or conflict. (b) Environmental: explore hazards to local trees and nature and take collective action such as tree planting. (c) Child protection: children name local hazards and their existing protective practices; with consent, this collective knowledge informs workers and community forums (one Aboriginal Australian group's words were read at a public march against violence). [source: Tree of Life extract]
Watch for: Children's words used publicly only with their and guardians' consent and de-identified. [synthesis]

B. Team of Life (Denborough 2012; Dulwich Team of Life page)

B1. Framing with sport

Purpose / when: Opening, especially with young people (often young men) who are more comfortable with a ball than with talk.
Steps: Run football (or the group's sport) exercises first. Then introduce life as a team and ask who the most influential people in one's life are, living or not. Use sport as the shared language throughout. [source: Team of life with young men]
Example language (illustrative): "In football, nobody wins alone. If your life was a team, who would be on it?"
Watch for: Choose the locally loved sport (cricket was used in India; softball and Indigenous football teams elsewhere). [source: Team of Life Approach page]

B2. Collective Team Sheet

Purpose / when: First structured exercise; builds a shared safe territory before individual work.
Steps: (1) Draw a pitch on a large sheet. (2) Work through positions, writing the group's answers: goalkeeper (who looks out for us and guards our goals); defence (who protects our dreams and what is precious); attack (who encourages us to score); other teammates (whose company we enjoy); coach (who we learned most from, including people who have died, and what they taught); interchange (people who help on some days and not others, and how we learned the difference); home ground (where we feel most at home, remembered or dreamed); supporters in the stands (living or not); theme song; team values (what the team defends and believes in); team name. (3) When talk stalls, ask about the role in football first, then translate to life. (4) Defer hard questions and return to them later. [source: Team of life with young men; Team of Life Approach page]
Example language (illustrative): "What does a good goalkeeper do for the team? ... Who does that for you?"
Watch for: The group naming itself and joking about positions are signs of engagement.

B3. Individual Team Sheets

Purpose / when: After the collective sheet.
Steps: Each person completes their own sheet with the same positions. Where English writing is difficult, sit beside the person so writing is shared rather than solitary. [source: Team of life with young men]
Example language (illustrative): "Want me to write while you tell me? Who's your coach?"
Watch for: Spiritual figures and deceased family as goalkeepers or coaches are welcome (one young man named his mother and God as goalkeepers). [source: Team of life with young men]

B4. Celebrating goals: goal maps and re-enactment

Purpose / when: Before talking about the future; mini definitional ceremonies.
Steps: (1) List favourite ways of celebrating a goal. (2) Identify a goal already achieved, preferably a collective one (e.g. staying in school, friendships, making it to Australia); small contributions count. (3) Draw a goal map: who contributed, what skills, knowledge or values were used, where they came from, how they were trained, who taught them. (4) Re-enact: the person passes a ball through teammates standing in for the contributors and scores through a doorway or goal; the group performs the chosen celebration. [source: Team of life with young men; Team of Life Approach page]
Example language (illustrative): "Who passed you the ball on the way to this goal? What did they do?"
Watch for: Prefer collective goals; individual goals leave more room for failure, and the aim is a context where failure is impossible. [source: Team of life with young men]

B5. Future goals and training

Purpose / when: Only after past goals are honoured.
Steps: Name future goals the team is working towards, how they are training for them, and who they will involve. [source: Team of life with young men; Team of Life Approach page]
Example language (illustrative): "What's the next goal your team is going for? What training are you already doing?"

B6. Tackling problems and exchanging knowledge

Purpose / when: Late in the process; acknowledges hardship through sporting metaphor.
Steps: (1) Discuss hardships teams face. (2) Read another team's document about how they "tackle" problems (Denborough read one from Aboriginal young men in the Northern Territory). (3) The group composes a reply describing their own ways of tackling problems (e.g. remembering family, playing for those who cannot be present, encouraging themselves). (4) Record and send it, inviting further messages. [source: Team of life with young men; Team of Life Approach page]
Example language (illustrative): "When a team is under pressure, what does it do? What does your team do when life puts you under pressure?"
Watch for: A detailed problem-mapping protocol by team positions is not given. [uncertain]

B7. Celebration and definitional ceremony

Purpose / when: Final evening or session.
Steps: Hold a ceremony with families or other groups as audience; participants present their team sheets, goal maps and songs; audience members respond (in Denborough's camp a mother spoke of her pride, termed inter-generational honouring). Certificates may be given. [source: Team of life with young men; Team of Life Approach page]
Watch for: Pair with an ethic of care: Denborough deliberately elicited care to counter control-oriented masculinity in sport culture. [source: Team of life with young men]

C. Cross-cutting collective narrative practices

C1. Double listening and double-storied testimony

Purpose / when: In any conversation about hardship, individual or group.
Steps: (1) Map the effects of the trauma (nightmares, grief, fear, memory problems), adding as conversations continue. (2) Double-listen for openings to a second story: responses, what is held precious, moments when effects are incomplete; listen for what is "absent but implicit" (the value a complaint is contrasted with). (3) Ask for stories of these openings. (4) Thicken with five question categories: details (what happened, step by step); time (what led up to it, who would have predicted it, next step); meaning (what it says about the person, family, community); people (who joined, inspired, noticed); knowledge and skills (what was drawn on). (5) Keep both stories in balance; acknowledging past pain often lays the foundation for noticing resistance. [source: Strengthening resistance; L1 Cairns handouts]
Example language (illustrative): "You said 'betrayal'. What does that tell me about what you value? ... Is trust important to you? Where did you learn its importance?"
Watch for: Moving to resistance too quickly can feel dismissive; acknowledge first.

C2. Collective narrative documents

Purpose / when: To record a group's skills and knowledge for sustaining themselves through hardship, in their own words, so it can be returned and shared.
Steps: (1) Consult: work in smaller groupings (family, gender, elders), leave room for silence. (2) Ask permission to take notes; record exact words and phrases ("rescue people's own words"); ask occasional questions to draw out values and hopes implicit in grief. (3) Write a double-storied account: effects of hardship and ways people respond; group contributions into shared themes; describe values and their history; weave contributions together; plain language, no jargon; protect names and identifying details. (4) Read the document back formally to contributors (a small definitional ceremony); check wording, invite changes, finalise. (5) The community owns it and decides whether and how it is shared. [source: NT submission; L1 Cairns handouts]
Example language (illustrative): "Is it all right if I write down what people say, using your words? You'll hear it read back and can change anything."
Watch for: People recognising their own phrases in the read-back is the sign it is working.

C3. Linking communities: message exchange

Purpose / when: After a document exists; enables contribution and reduces isolation.
Steps: (1) Work with at least two communities facing similar difficulties. (2) Read one community's document to the other and invite a response. (3) The worker acts as a decentred messenger, convening mini definitional ceremonies so people hear how their words affected others. (4) Return responses to the originating community in whatever settings suit (homes, community buildings). (5) Support further connecting actions (e.g. shared remembrance days). In the Northern Territory suicide-prevention project the sequence also included identifying existing local initiatives, richly describing them and tracing their history and cultural links before they were witnessed elsewhere. [source: NT submission; Storyline of collective narrative practice]
Example language (illustrative): "A group of young people in another town heard your words. Here is what they wanted to send back to you."

C4. Scaffolding a response

Purpose / when: When people struggle to compose a message to another group (noted especially with young men).
Steps: Sit with them, often outside; read the document; ask what touched them, whether their situation is similar or different, and what they want to convey. Thicken with history-of-skill questions, who introduced it, what a lost loved one would say and what it means to them; invite them to see themselves through the eyes of lost loved ones. Keep it practical and purposeful; do not drift into individual counselling. [source: NT submission]
Example language (illustrative): "Which part of what they said stayed with you? What would you want them to know?"

C5. Outsider-witness responses

Purpose / when: Whenever an audience (another group, family, community members) hears a story or document.
Steps: Brief witnesses to avoid advice, judgement and praise, and to respond to: (1) what caught their attention; (2) what image it evoked of the teller's purposes, values or community; (3) what in their own life it resonated with and why; (4) where it has taken them and what difference it makes. Return these responses to the tellers. [source: L1 Cairns handouts; NT submission]
Example language (illustrative): "Rather than telling them what they should do, could you say which words stayed with you, and why?"
Watch for: Praise ("you're so brave") or advice; gently redirect to resonance.

C6. Re-membering conversation

Purpose / when: With leaves, coaches or supporters who have died or are absent; also as a training exercise.
Steps: Choose someone (living, deceased or from childhood) who would be proud of the person. Ask about (1) that person's contribution to their life; (2) what that person valued in them; (3) how they responded to that support and what it may have meant to the other; (4) what this says about the remembered person's identity. [source: L1 Cairns handouts]
Example language (illustrative): "What do you think your grandmother saw in you? What do you think you gave to her life?"

C7. Collective narrative timeline

Purpose / when: To introduce a group through shared histories of commitment (used in Dulwich trainings).
Steps: Each person names what draws them to their work or life direction (a wish, value or commitment) and gives it a name; recalls a story that strengthened it and where it came from; notes how long it has mattered and the year it began; names people linked to it (who taught it, who would be least surprised); names an image. Entries are placed on a shared timeline. A forward-looking round names key learnings, one next step (when, where, with whom), and hopes for others; an interviewer thickens, a note-taker rescues key words. [source: L1 Cairns handouts] Application to client groups (e.g. a timeline of a community's responses to hardship) is [synthesis]; a published client-group protocol is not drawn on here [uncertain].

C8. Narrative songwriting

Purpose / when: Where written materials are less accessible, or to carry outsider-witness responses; songs can be sung together.
Steps: Sources only name the practice (from narrative community gatherings in Australia and Ireland) and describe theme songs in Team of Life and songs about acts of courage and care in Rwanda; no step-by-step method is given. If used: build lyrics from participants' own documented words, check them with participants, and perform at a ceremony. [source: Storyline; Strengthening resistance; Collective narrative practice page] [uncertain] [synthesis for steps]

C9. Collective externalising conversations / narrative theatre

Purpose / when: Community conversations about a shared problem (originally HIV/AIDS in rural Malawi).
Steps: Workers play characters representing the problem and its antidote (e.g. a problem character and a care character); community members interview them, opening conversations between groups (older and younger, men and women). Developed by Yvonne Sliep and CARE counsellors; later versions by Barbara Wingard addressed diabetes, grief and lateral violence. [source: Storyline] Detailed facilitation steps are [uncertain].

C10. Narrative community gatherings and other honouring rituals

Purpose / when: Larger community responses (e.g. the 1995 Camp Coorong gathering for Aboriginal families who had lost members in custody).
Steps (as named): listening teams of counsellors who hear stories and then reflect back; a journey metaphor; naming injustice; documenting resistance stories; rituals celebrating survival and honouring the dead; shared symbols (e.g. a colour for remembrance in Rwanda). [source: Storyline; Strengthening resistance] Full gathering protocols are [uncertain].

C11. Other folk-cultural methodologies

Kite of Life (intergenerational conflict, Tamil community, Toronto), Seasons of Life, Recipes of Life, Crossing the River, Rhythm of Life, Narratives in the Suitcase, Smartphone of Life, Bicycle of Life, Beads of Life, Mat of Life / Fair Winds, River of Memory, River of Dreams (Rwanda). These are named in the sources but their procedures are not given; consult the cited papers before use. [source: Storyline; Diversifying and democratising; Tracing the history; Collective narrative practice page] [uncertain]

5. Handling problems

From the sources

A participant becomes distressed. The support counsellor gives one-to-one care, pauses the activity for that person if needed and helps them feel safe; follow up afterwards and refer using the pre-identified resources. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
A simple question opens uncontainable pain (and others become upset). Plan questions in advance to avoid this; problems are discussed only as shared, common issues, not personal disclosures. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Origins unknown or painful (roots). Do not press; switch to people who taught or loved them, favourite places, sources of strength, or build roots later by tracing skills backwards. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Cannot or will not name own skills. Invite peers to suggest skills, record collective skills, or name values and qualities; counsellors offer skills they have observed. [source: Tree of Life extract; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Grief about someone who died. Ask about lovely times together, what was special, and whether that person would like to be remembered this way; keep them as leaves, not fallen leaves. [source: Tree of Life extract; Tracing the history]
A child says they are to blame. Reinforce plainly that abuse, child labour, child marriage and trafficking are never a child's fault. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Silence, low talk, limited literacy. Do not press for more words than offered; treat small phrases as significant; sit beside people and share the writing; return to the sport or tree metaphor when talk stalls; defer hard questions. [source: Team of life with young men; CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Cultural objection to others writing on one's tree. Use sticky notes, comments taped beside it, or spoken appreciation. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]
Fear of failure in talking about goals. Use collective rather than individual goals; count small contributions. [source: Team of life with young men]
Sport culture reinforcing dominance. Deliberately elicit an ethic of care and create partnership with others (e.g. girls' groups as audiences). [source: Team of life with young men]
Message exchange drifting into individual counselling. Keep the conversation practical and purposeful, focused on composing the response. [source: NT submission]
The metaphor does not fit the culture. Adapt or invent a locally resonant metaphor rather than transplanting; this guards against psychological colonisation. [source: Tracing the history; Diversifying and democratising]
Counsellor strain from disclosures. The manual notes difficult disclosures affect counsellors; build in debriefing. [source: CRS/REPSSI 2016]

Clinician synthesis (not in the sources) [synthesis]

Disclosure of current abuse or risk in a group. Acknowledge briefly and warmly without eliciting detail in the group ("Thank you for trusting us with that. I'd like to talk with you about it at the break."), then have the support counsellor speak privately and follow your safeguarding procedure. Agree in advance how limits to confidentiality are explained in the opening.
Suicidal ideation or self-harm surfaces (e.g. in Storms or in adult groups). Move to private, standard risk assessment by a qualified clinician (ideation, intent, plan, history, protective factors), safety planning and lethal-means counselling (safe storage or removal), and agreed follow-up; do not explore this in the group. Note that the Northern Territory linking work was a suicide-prevention project but was framed as non-therapeutic community work, not risk management. [source for NT context: Storyline; NT submission]
Overwhelm or dissociation. Slow the pace, use an energiser or break, orient to the room and to the drawing, offer to pause or switch to a lighter tree part; the person can return to their tree later or take it home.
No one positive to name (isolated adults, care leavers). Widen the frame: pets, characters, historical or faith figures, a past teacher, someone who once showed small kindness, the group itself; or ask who would be least surprised by a skill.
Non-attendance in weekly formats. Keep trees safe between sessions, offer a brief catch-up so the person is retold before Storms, and avoid starting Storms with someone who missed the Forest retelling.
Group conflict, mocking or put-downs. Restate the positive-only rule and confidentiality; redirect to the forest metaphor (trees support each other); speak privately with the person; protect the targeted participant's tree.
Rupture with the facilitator (e.g. retelling felt wrong). Invite correction openly, change the wording on notes and certificates, and thank them; the participant's words take precedence.
Clinical adaptations (individual or family therapy, adult mental health). The tree can be used one-to-one with the clinician retelling and family members or carers as witnesses (foster carers acted as witnesses in a Swedish adaptation [source: Tracing the history]); keep Storms after the tree is complete; record trees in clinical notes only with consent.
Interpreters. Brief interpreters on the safe-territory sequence, the use of exact words, and the positive-only rule before the session.
Public display or sharing of documents. Get specific consent per item; de-identify; let participants withdraw items later.

Sources

Sources: