The TEAM approach to resilience

A unique narrative approach to building resilience aimed at children and young people aged 7 and upwards that builds resilience by activating childen and young people's support systems.

Team of Life offers a way to involve the whole school community in building resilience. Schools select the staff they wish to lead on the implementation of Team of Life and who will be trained to deliver our unique resilience programme as well as provided with tools that enable them to involve the school community through Team of Life activities.

Promoting positive mental health and school belonging

Increasing pro-social behaviour and helping to reduce absenteeism

Since the pandemic, mental health problems have increased in the UK. A recent survey undertaken by NHS found that 20% of children aged 8-16 had a ‘probable mental disorder’ (NHS England, 2024), which is an increase of 50% compared to 2017. Schools have also recorded the highest ever exclusions and suspensions in academic year 2022-23 (gov.uk, 2024). Team of Life helps promotes a sense of belonging and social cohesion. Children learn to recognise and build their support networks and become more aware of their strengths and achievements. Research by the University of Liverpool has shown that the Team of Life helps children to be less socially withdrawn, feel less isolated increased pro-social behaviour.

A strength-based approach

Underpinned by Narrative Therapy

Using the universal language of sport rather than the language of problems, Team of Life invites people to identify key sources of support or ‘team-mates’ in their lives. The use of sporting metaphors helps develop rich, strength-based stories and skills for tackling problems, avoiding obstacles, and achieving goals in life. This builds resilience by building a sense of social support and connected identity. The collective knowledge and resources of teams are acknowledged and shared in playful and creative ways that recognise the contribution people make to one another's lives.
Image of team-mates on a football pitch

A truely unique resilience programme

Our 6 session programme is a systemic intervention that enables children to activate their support network

Can be delivered by any member of the children's workforce following 7 hours training delivered in person or on demand.

Jayne Hart, Education Mental Health Practitioner, Wirral Mental Health Support Team

“Before the Team of Life I didn’t feel like I fitted in with other young people. I had worries about joining the group; what if I said something silly and everyone laughed? What if I didn’t fit in? But it’s like starting the next chapter in your life where you don’t feel alone because everyone is in the same boat. In the Team of Life I learnt skills to manage my worries that I can keep using and I grew in confidence. I made some great friends there who I go out with after school. I also am now part of a drama group and I have a lead role in the play. Overall, I am just more confident and I am doing things now that I would have been too worried about doing; like singing on stage!” 
Team of Life participant


“I would tell other parents who are thinking about their child taking part to definitely do it! Since taking part in the Team of Life people have noticed a change; he is socialising more outside of school with friends. I feel more positive about his ability to progress in the future.” Parent 

"Great, easy to follow resources, step by step." Teaching Assistant


"Really well designed, professional and accessible." Education Mental Health Worker

"Excellent resource pack" Faculty Assistant

"Helpful resources, very appealing" Behaviour Manager


Key Features

  • Children decide who they would like to think of as being in their ‘team of life’ from among their family, friends and other people who are important to them

  • Recognising the skills in their teams helps them to build confidence

  • Drawing how they worked together with their team to achieve a goal is an innovative way of telling stories of achievement and hope

  • People are reminded that celebrating goals with a team is much more fun than on your own!

  • Being part of a team makes it easier to think about how to tackle problems together

Example activity

Goal Maps

An example of one of the narrative  activities in the programme are Goal Maps. Goal Maps are a really important part of the programme as they help children and young people to share the story of how they worked together with their team to ‘score’ an important goal in their life.

“The goal maps, it kinda gave me an idea of other ways to reach my goals and people I could use ‘cause I have many goals but normally I don’t ask people to help me out, I try and do it solo, but it doesn’t always work out, so it really made me think about other people I could ask for help if I need to achieve a goal.”


Outcomes

Research, led by University of Liverpool in partnership with Cheshire & Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust found groups led by staff in schools trained to deliver Team of Life helped children to:

  • Feel less isolated

  • Be less socially withdrawn

  • Show more pro-social behaviour such as kindness and friendliness

Beneficiaries

Team of Life can be beneficial for anyone. It can be helpful to all of us to think about the important people in our lives; those whom we have learned from or who have helped us through life. Children and young people who have become or are at risk of becoming socially isolated are particularly likely to benefit, including children who have experienced:

  • Losses, trauma, or hardship

  • Low-level mental health problems

  • Concerns in relation to transition to secondary school

  • Difficulties with friendships

  • Problems related to self-esteem

Impact

Team of Life has the potential to involve everyone in the school community in building resilience and a cohesive school environment where everyone knows they are part of a team

  • Capturing Student Voice and empowering children and young people

  • Improving behaviour, reducing exclusions and suspensions

  • Reducing absenteeism by creating a safe and supportive environment

  • Involving parent/carers through shared language and celebration

  • Involvement of older students as peer mentors, enabling contribution

  • Involvement of staff teams in Team of Life, building team cohesion and individual awareness of support networks

Team of Life Whole School Package

Includes everything you need to involve the whole school community in building resilience

  • Programme delivery

    Schools select staff members to lead on the implementation of Team of Life in their school. These staff members complete facilitator training to become Team of Life Coaches and can deliver the programme.

  • Community involvement

    Staff and families are introduced to Team of Life through a short online course and can be involved as members of children's teams and through Team of Life activities such as ceremonies to celebrate children's teams and goal stories.

  • Developing a team culture

    Team cohesion and wellbeing among staff teams can be enhanced through Team of Life activities that help build a sense of camaraderie, highlighting how teams work together to achieve goals.

Team of Life Facilitator Training

Staff leading on the implementation of Team of Life complete a 7 hour facilitator training to become Team of Life Coaches, enabling them to:

  • Learn about Narrative Therapy and the Team of Life and how to foster the principles underlying the approach

  • Develop skills that can be used within day to day conversations with children, families and colleagues

  • Run our Team of Life Programme within their school

  • Build resilience, reduce social isolation among students

  • Develop a culture within school that prioritises team-work, relationships and reduces stigma

Small Schools

Up to 500 students on roll

Includes facilitator training and follow up support for up to 5 members of staff, introductory training for parent/carers, and all school staff.
Team of Life Resilience Programme

Large Schools

Over 500 students on roll

Includes facilitator training and follow up support for up to 10 members of staff, introductory training for parent/carers, and all school staff.
Team of Life Resilience Programme

Online Delivery Support

Includes slides and video content

Slides narrated by young people help to engage children and young people who are taking part in Team of Life. The online support ensures smooth delivery and helps to reduce planning time for facilitators.



Downloadable Resources

Session plans and printable handouts for a cost effective sustainable approach

The materials to support delivery of the programme are included. Facilitators are free to download, print and re-use these resources as often as they wish. 



Testimonials

Andrew Hastings - Secondary Behaviour Improvement Teacher, TESSA, St Helens Borough Council

"I am now looking forwards to promoting Team of Life to all 9 high schools in St Helens. I will be using the course across schools for those who are at risk of being permanently excluded. I work closely with referred families and i genuinely believe that narrative therapy may build bonds between school, students and parents."

Sabahat Malik – Senior Practitioner, Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

“I have delivered the Team of Life programme as an EMHP to primary school and secondary school pupils. The engagement, progress and positive impact was quick and very much noticeable after the first few sessions. I had great pleasure in delivering Team of Life and loved seeing the fruitful impact it had on children and young people who were in need of the support. The impacts of Team of Life are lasting and truly changing lives. Most of all, the CYPs absolutely loved it and took away valuable, everyday life skills.”

Laura North, Family Worker Buckinghamshire Mental Health Support Team

"One child said ‘ I feel so much happier than I was’’. A child tackled a problem of bullying – loved his advice, ‘’When you are bullied, it is good to tell an adult because holding on is not good’’. From delivering Team of Life I feel it not only empowers the young people but it lets those working with the young person’s to know more about the great support there is surrounding the children! I am amazed that through the Team of Life you uncover so much about the child’s voice, and that promotes empathy and understanding and builds relationships!"

Jayne Hart, Educational Mental Health Practitioner, Wirral Mental Health Support Team

“I have delivered Team of Life to 4 groups of young people ranging from year 3 to year 6. I find it is a lovely piece of work. I have seen how some young people have flourished and gained confidence to join clubs in and out of school, plus take part in assemblies and school performances. SENCO's have commented that they can see a difference in the young people who have taken part in Team of Life.”

Dr Laura Tozer, Clinical Psychologist, Buckinghamshire Mental Health Support Team

“The Team of Life training provided by Riverbank Psychology was incredibly helpful to our team. The experiential learning enabled the team to fully embrace the Team of Life approach and we all hugely enjoyed the training whilst learning a great deal. The training provided the opportunity for the team to learn about each other, consider who is in our own ‘team of life’ and reflect on our values. I would highly recommend this training to anyone who is looking to run Team of Life.”

Claire Owens, Director, Next Chapter CIC

“The Team of Life provides a common language that most students understand… I consistently witness students experiencing an appreciation and understanding of the value of support networks and how this has a positive impact on their lives. I have been particularly struck by the importance of stories, which comes from a narrative approach and how this can be used for children to tell their story, with a deeper understanding of how their experiences shape their attitude towards the future, finding key positive learning experiences from difficult circumstances.”

Dr Hayley Lugassy, Educational Psychologist, Cheshire East Council

"We are keen to begin implementing this wonderful intervention as soon as possible.”

Stephanie Davey, Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner

"I loved watching the young people grow in confidence throughout the programme and start to share more about their lives with us.’’ 

Lucy Rothwell, Education Mental Health Practitioner, Alder Hey Mental Health Support Team

Last week we were trained in the Team of Life, which is a strength focused, narrative approach. We thought about how we could use this approach in schools to help CYP identify support systems, strengthen friendships and increase self-esteem. Thank you @riverbankpsych

Course Reviews

Read what practitioners are saying about our online training

5 star rating

St Helens Outreach Specialist Taskforce

Andrew Hastings

Thank you for the opportunity to participate on your pilot course. My colleague and I work with the most vulnerable and sometimes hard to reach students in t...

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Thank you for the opportunity to participate on your pilot course. My colleague and I work with the most vulnerable and sometimes hard to reach students in the borough. We realise that our students have experienced multiple disadvantages from birth and struggle to communicate with professionals in education. Education is viewed as a non essential in some of their households and educational underachievement is entrenched across generations. Through utilising team of life we endeavour to offer students a safe space where they can discover their voices, their support mechanisms and build a positive relationship with my colleague and I. Thank you once again for enhancing the "toolbox" that we carry when we deal with young people.

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5 star rating

Excellent course

Nadia Laffey

This course was excellent and provided me with all the knowledge and training to run Team of Life sessions myself. The content was a mixture of videos and te...

Read More

This course was excellent and provided me with all the knowledge and training to run Team of Life sessions myself. The content was a mixture of videos and text and provided lots of examples, which made the course come to life. I have run one session so far and the feedback has been great. The young people enjoyed working as teams and coming up with different ideas. It will be beneficial for them. Thank you for providing such an excellent course.

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5 star rating

Team of life

Anita Davis

5 star rating

*****

Patrick Shellien

*****

5 star rating

Narrative Therapy

Caitlin Holland

Really enjoying this course, learnt so much already

Really enjoying this course, learnt so much already

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5 star rating

What is Team of Life

Lauren Taylor

Excellent structure and resources with relevant additional readings

Excellent structure and resources with relevant additional readings

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"But I'm not sporty!"

Team of Life provides a common and universal language for all children, whether or not they like sport

Perhaps you are thinking that Team of Life is for children who are interested in sport? Our research has shown that this is not the case; Team of Life has been used with children of different genders and children who are not so keen on playing or watching sport still benefitted and enjoyed taking part. As it is a highly playful approach children can play with the metaphor and go with alternative interests if they wish. Team of Life also provides a space for some of the problems within the sporting arena to be explored. The exploration of positive sporting values within the programme can also potentially ignite interest in sport among children who have "switched off" from sport. 

In addition, don't worry if you don't know a lot about sport yourself, the language used in Team of Life is simple and we will give you all the tools you need to draw on the sporting metaphors that are used.  

"Quite a lot of people like sports but even if you don't, you still know what it means without having to ask, you sort of understand"  Year 7 Team of Life participant.


Training Options

If you would like to discuss training options for Team of Life, for example if you are interested in commissioning in person training or represent a group or chain of schools please contact us to discuss your requirements

FAQ's

  • 1. Are there any specific qualifications required to deliver the Team of Life Resilience Programme?become a certified facilitator?

    No specific qualifications are required to attend the training and become a facilitator. Any member of the children's workforce can train.

  • 2. Are there any ongoing costs to delivering the programme

    Access to the Team of Life Online Platform is valid for one year. Following this a small additional fee (currently £40) is charged in order to have continued access to the platform including the online delivery support, regular updates, refresher training, facilitator community and Q&A. The downloadable resources can be printed for use with young people. There is no additional charge for this.

  • 3. How is training delivered?

    Training is delivered through an on demand self-study online course. Live online and Face to face options are also available, please contact us for further information about these.

  • 4. Can I copy or share the Team of Life resources with colleagues?

    No, this would be a copyright infringement. The resources are for individual use by the person who has undertaken training. This is important to ensure that people delivering Team of Life have the necessary understanding of the approach. If you would like to purchase training as an organisation please contact us on [email protected]

  • 5. Can I attend training as a team?

    Yes! We highly recommend attending training in person as a team as you get added team building benefits due to the experiential nature of the training. Why not take time as a team to think about your shared values, support networks and goals? Contact us for more information.

  • 6. What age are the Team of Life Children’s Programmes aimed at?

    The programme is aimed at any age and is suitable from the age of 7 and is 6 sessions long.

  • 7. Is Team of Life just for children?

    No, Team of Life is for everyone. You can use the approach with families, individuals, adults and staff groups to help build resilience and teams.

  • 8. Do you have to like sport to take part?

    No, our research has found that children enjoy and benefit from taking part in Team of Life whether or not they like sport. Team of Life doesn’t involve any sporting ability. It uses sporting metaphors which provide an easy to grasp universal language that is familiar to people of all ages. Space is provided to share knowledge and experience of sport good and bad.

  • 9. Is Team of Life aimed at boys?

    No, our research has shown that girls enjoy and benefit from Team of Life just as much.

Our Trainers

Co-founder Riverbank Psychology Victoria Eames

Dr Vicky Eames has worked as a clinical psychologist within both NHS adult and child & adolescent mental health services. She is an honorary research fellow at the University of Liverpool. Having worked within the mental health field in the NHS and independently for more than 25 years she is passionate about exploring ways of responding to trauma and developing resilience within community settings. Inspired by the work of David Denborough, Vicky trialled the Team of Life Collective Narrative Practice approach in schools and mental health services on the Wirral, leading to the development of leading to the development of the Team of Life Resilience Programme and Facilitator Training.

Co-founder of Riverbank Psychology Mariangels Ferrer

Having qualified as a psychologist in Spain in 1993, Mariangels has lived and worked in the UK for over 20 years including ten years in NHS inpatient and community paediatric settings. In addition to her qualification as a clinical psychologist, she has completed master's degrees in both Systemic Family Therapy and Narrative Therapy and Community Work. Mariangels offers training and supervision of practitioners in narrative and systemic practice across the UK as part of the teaching faculty of the Institute of Narrative Therapy. She delivers groups in schools in Trafford utilising the 'Tree of Life' and is engaging Genetic Counsellors from different parts of the UK with Narrative ideas through supervision, group intervention and training.

Schools Lead Robin Johnson

Robin Johnson has 25 years teaching, pastoral care and senior leadership experience in schools. He has been a form teacher for most of his teaching career as well as a Head of Year, Head of Department and Assistant Headteacher. He is also a children’s author of a novel called Red Sky at Night in which ginger children save the world from alien invasion.

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