FREE 'Team-builder' tool
For use with individual children or families
Team-builder
Narrative Conversational Tool
This activity is for practitioners to play with individual children or families with whom they are working. It supports conversations and story-telling about the important people in children's lives. Children can also play in pairs as part of a class or group team-building activity. Using the language of team sports, children are invited to share stories of celebration, hopes and wishes for those they would like to consider to be part of their 'team'. The activity is inspired by the Team of Life narrative therapy approach and aims to help children to recognise the support available to them and appreciate the contributions of others to their lives.
The Team-builder activity is inspired by a unique narrative therapy approach called Team of Life
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.
The TEAM approach to resilience
Interested in learning more about Team of Life and Narrative Therapy? If you are looking for an innovative way of supporting the children and young people you work with, take a look at the training we have available for the full group intervention programme. Click the button below to find out more.
Testimonials
Here's what other practitioners have said about our Team of Life training and programmes
Team of Life Children's Programme
“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 ToL and loved seeing the fruitful impact it had on children and young people who were in need of the support. The impacts of ToL are lasting and truly changing lives. Most of all, the CYPs absolutely loved it and took away valuable, everyday life skills.”
Team of Life Online Course
"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."
Team of Life
"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 the above statements and from delivering The 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!"
Team of Life Programme
“I have delivered Team of Life to 4 groups of young people ranging from year 3 to year 6. With regards to the selection of the young people, I tend to discuss in consultation with the SENCO that this is an intervention which would benefit young people with low confidence and self-esteem; young people who could benefit from building resilience and finding it difficult to forge friendships and relationships. I emphasise that the Team of Life is around these young people realising who is in their life and they're to support them and how they can build on this. 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.”
Team of Life Facilitator Training
“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. The creative approach Vicky and Mariangels took to deliver the training ensured the team learnt not only how to deliver Team of Life but also understood the narrative principles that underpins the approach. I would highly recommend this training to anyone who is looking to run Team of Life.”
Team of Life Children's Programme
“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.”
Team of Life Facilitator Training
"We are keen to begin implementing this wonderful intervention as soon as possible.”
Team of Life Children's Programme
"I loved watching the young people grow in confidence throughout the programme and start to share more about their lives with us.’’
Team of Life Facilitator Training
(From twitter) 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
Online Course Reviews
Read what practitioners are saying about our new online course
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...
Read MoreThank 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.
Read LessExcellent 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 MoreThis 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.
Read LessTeam of life
Anita Davis
*****
Patrick Shellien
*****
*****
Read LessNarrative Therapy
Caitlin Holland
Really enjoying this course, learnt so much already
Really enjoying this course, learnt so much already
Read Less