The contribution of peer trainers to the Tree of Life project for young people living with Type 1 Diabetes: Building community.

This paper describes the involvement of peer trainers in Tree of Life groups for young people living with Type 1 Diabetes. The approach is informed by narrative therapy and collective narrative practice and principles, where people are seen as separate from problems and the focus is on creating opportunities for people to tell and witness one another's preferred identity stories. Young people who have participated in a Tree of Life day are invited to join the project as peer trainers who help facilitate, engage group participants, witness their stories and consult to the project. Involving peer trainers also aims to create a community where preferred identity stories can be lived and witnessed. This paper describes the training for peer trainers and the building of community.

Supporting young people living with cancer to tell their stories in ways that make them stronger: The Beads of Life approach.

This article describes the 'Beads of Life' approach--a five-part methodology informed by narrative therapy to enable children and young people to make sense of their cancer journey in ways that make them stronger. Young people are invited to use beads as prompts to tell preferred stories of their identity to create a safe place to stand from which to story their cancer journey. The approach positions young people as experts in their lives. It aims to change their relationship with cancer to reduce its negative impact on life by lessening isolation. By enabling medical staff to get to know the young person apart from the cancer, this approach aims to create hope for the future and improve quality of care.

Up close: family therapy challenges and innovations around the world.

Family therapists from 10 different countries (China, India, Israel including Palestinian citizens, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Turkey, Uganda, and the United Kingdom) describe systemic therapy in their contexts and current innovative work and challenges. They highlight the importance of family therapy continuing to cut across disciplines, the power of systems ideas in widely diverse settings and institutions (such as courts, HIV projects, working with people forced into exile), extensive new mental health initiatives (such as in Turkey and India), as well as the range of family therapy journals available (four alone in Spain). Many family therapy groups are collaborating across organizations (especially in Asia) and the article presents other ideas for connections such as a clearing house to inexpensively translate family therapy articles into other languages.

Reflecting teams with children: the bear necessities.

This article weaves research findings and clinical practice to address five ethical dilemmas: How to include children in sessions so that they feel listened to, appreciated and not judged; how to attend to children's feelings without making the focus solely their troubles; how to create a context in which children can express themselves when they cannot find the words; how to ensure a suitable time, place and relationship for talking; and how to create a safe context for respectful co-ordination between the different views of children and adults. A practical example including transcripts from sessions is presented. The authors show how a toy bear joining two therapists in a reflecting team can create opportunities for a 10-year-old girl and her parents to voice their different views and hear the different perspectives of each other. The parents, who generously agreed to share details of their family sessions, offered useful feedback on this write-up, suggesting that this article may be useful for staff and parents who join therapists in a playful approach to reflecting teams with children.