The Tree of Life (Ncube, 2006, 2017) is an approach, based on Narrative Therapy, which uses the metaphor of a tree for a person’s life to help children and young people tell their story in a creative, non-threatening way.
By using the metaphor of the tree – the child can draw out their life: roots representing their history, culture, background, the trunk their skills and abilities. The leaves become the significant people (and animals) in their lives, the branches hopes and dreams, fruit – things that they have given and received.
They have an opportunity to share their stories with others and reflect on ‘storms’ that affect their lives and explore how they can ‘weather’ these with resources available to them in the form of insects and woodland animals.
Next Steps
