The ‘Tree of Life’ is an approach based on Narrative Therapy that uses a tree as a metaphor for someone’s life.

The metaphor is extended to the forest of life to describe how trees support each other and are stronger together in a forest.

It was pioneered to support work with traumatised communities. It is a collective narrative practice that offers a culturally more appropriate response to social suffering. The strengths-based approach and valuing of culture in the groups makes it available and accessible to all.

The practice embodies togetherness, equality and promotes human connection as a powerful therapeutic process. This can help people to stand on a firmer foundation and support talking about difficult experiences during a mental health crisis. This is of value in a ‘problem saturated’ mental health service, where the mental health diagnosis dominates and can neglect the person behind the problem.

The Tree of Life approach has been shown to be valued by Black and Minority Ethnic groups, whose stories are often marginalised. It provides an opportunity to reconnect and share empowering stories from cultural heritage to enable people to tell their stories in ways that make them stronger and not feel alienated.