EVALUATION OF NARRATIVE PRACTICES INCLUDING TREE OF LIFE TO DEVELOP THE EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE OF REFUGEE YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES

Abstract

As the global migration crisis gathers pace, the severe emotional challenges inherent in forced migration emphasises the urgent need for effective mental health support for refugee communities. This thesis examines how to develop the emotional resilience of refugee children, young people, and their parents using strength-based collective narrative methodologies, including the ‘Tree of Life’ (ToL) and adapted versions. This work offers a response to critique western psychological models which, it is argued, are culturally limited and based on narrow conceptualisations of resilience. Four studies evaluating narrative interventions for refugee youth and their families are reviewed - within UK statutory mental health services and the contrasting context of an unofficial refugee camp in France. Drawing on constructivist and critical realist paradigms, mixed methods and practice-based evidence are used to identify outcomes reported by refugees which are likely to promote resilience. These included the development of self-confidence and positive self-identity; improvement in social relationships and connection with community; and a clearer sense of purpose and hope for the future. These findings challenge the predominant view of resilience embedded in western psychotherapy models, which focus on directly addressing symptoms of trauma with individuals. Narrative therapy moves beyond this medicalisation of mental health by positioning people as survivors who have resources, skills, and agency in their own recovery to build resilience. It emphasises a non-expert and collaborative stance which honours culturally determined views of healing through social connection and mutual support. This thesis poses timely and pressing questions about how individuals who have experienced extreme adversity and abuse are supported. As an intervention that does not rely on the expertise of highly trained professionals, narrative practices and specifically ToL are particularly relevant in the current UK context of diminishing resources and increasing need and may translate to humanitarian contexts, although this warrants further research.