‘The Storying Spiral’: a narrative-dramatic approach to life story therapy with adoptive/foster families and traumatised children

ABSTRACT

‘The Storying Spiral’ is a new model called ‘Theatre of Attachment’, used with fostered or adopted children in their homes. It focuses on encouraging communication through dramatic play. Examples from the author’s original doctoral research [Moore, J. (2018). Using story and drama with adoptive and foster families in their homes (unpublished PhD, Leeds Beckett University)] illustrate how trauma symptoms can be reduced and positive attachment encouraged through dramatization of scenes from the children’s past life. The model grew from the author’s earlier work [Moore J. (2006). Theatre of attachment; using drama to facilitate attachment in adoption. Adoption and Fostering, 30 (2), 64–73]. As the study children were aged 6–9 years, to show how this intervention works with older children a case study demonstrates its application with a 13-year-old boy. The approach was effective in significantly reducing his trauma symptoms, raising his self-esteem and securing his attachment to long-term foster carers.

KEYWORDS:

• Play
• drama
• story
• attachment
• children
• therapy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr. Joan Moore is a freelance Dramatherapist and Play Therapist with foster and adoptive families, applying her ‘Theatre of Attachment’ model of life history therapy, mainly in the child’s family home, sometimes in school. Joan’s doctoral study at Leeds Beckett University is on use of narrative and drama to support permanent placements. She supervises creative arts therapists and her publications include Moore J. (2014) ‘Emotional Problem Solving using Stories Drama and Play’, Hinton House; Moore J. (2012) ‘Once upon a time … stories and drama to use in direct work with adopted and foster children’, BAAF; Corrigan and Moore, (2011) Listening to Children’s Wishes and Feelings’, BAAF, and forthcoming, Moore J. (2019) ‘A Narrative-Dramatic Approach to Children’s Life Story with Foster, Adoptive and Kinship Families: using the “Theatre of Attachment” model’, Routledge; also peer-reviewed articles in Journal of Dramatherapy and Journal of Adoption and Fostering plus chapters in S Jennings, ed. (2009) Dramatherapy and Social Theatre, Routledge and R. Rose ed. (2017) Innovative Therapeutic Life History Work.