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ClinPsych in EarlyYrs #CAMHS. Research:🌳 #TreeOfLife in global community contexts🌳 Passions: art👩‍🎨 community action🙋🏼‍♀ & equity💪

Jun 8, 2022, 25 tweets

**RESEARCH SUMMARY THREAD**

My doctorate research, exploring the experiences of practitioners facilitating Tree of Life (ToL) within community contexts globally, is now available to download freely online here: uhra.herts.ac.uk/handle/2299/25…

Here's a thread to summarise [1/24]:

This research is dedicated to all those who so humbly yet courageously facilitate ToL, touching uncountable numbers of lives around the globe.
To the nineteen participants who so generously shared themselves and their work, my profound gratitude. Thank you. [2/24]

*Ground & Roots: Intro/Context*
Global MH care has been critiqued, #TreeOfLife has potential to bridge gaps: more community-centred, collab care. We're starting to understand practitioner exp in narrative therapy but little known about ToL & impact of this way of working [3/24]

*Rationale & Research Qs*
-What is the exp of facilitators using ToL within comm contexts?
-Impact, personal & prof?
-What value/opportunity does ToL offer in comm contexts & what challenges?
-Does ToL offer diff to existing practices?
-What leads to (re)using approach? [4/24]

*Methodology*
Using a qualitative design, I interviewed (virtually) 19 practitioners who work across 16 countries, 5 continents, about their practice(s) within community contexts and the impact on them personally/professionally. I analysed transcripts using Reflexive TA. [5/24]

*Analysis - Thematic Map*
Through reflexive thematic analysis (@ginnybraun & @drvicclarke), I constructed three main themes, with eleven associated sub-themes. Attached is the illustrated thematic map I included in my thesis. Now to deep dive into each theme/sub-theme... [6/24]

*Theme 1: Encountering Possibility*
This theme captures how the majority of facilitators shared their exp of using ToL as one of 'possibility', desc as a methodology that allows for different opportunities for what is and what could be. This theme encompasses 4 sub-themes [7/24]

Subtheme -A Gate to Enter From
Facilitators described ToLas offering helpful place to begin work, build relationships & start NT in communities. For some-increases confidence, others-helps translate NT concepts. Communities said to "love" and connect to ToL. [8/24]

Subtheme - “A Totally New Insight Into Myself”
All practitioners shared how drawing own ToL had led to personal insights, even transformation. Supported with own hardship. New understandings generated from change over time. ToL as "facilitator's reflective mirror". [9/24]

Subtheme - Dancing Between Structure & Flexibility.
Coexistence of structure & flexibility, both offer opportunity. Sometimes one leads, other times the other. Structure=containing, helps learning, allows for creativity; also necessary to be flexible & trust process. [10/24]

Subtheme -Expansion with Integrity
All facilitators spoke about impact of ToL & hope for expansion but strong sense that this should be carefully considered re: ethics, origins, intentions of methodology- only used in contexts that "make sense" & with integrity. [11/24]

*Theme 2: A Contrasting Way of Being and Doing*
Facilitators described their experience of ToL as "a way of being able to do it differently", a contrast to other ways of working with a different feel and way of being with people. This theme contains 4 sub-themes. [12/24]

Subtheme - “Speaking in Two Worlds”
This refers to necessity to speak into both dominant discourse and NT to be able to do ‘the work’, (e.g. gain funding, navigate power). ToL gave this ability & for some, confidence to resist dominant ways/ build alternative evidence [13/24]

Subtheme - Being ‘on the ground’
Facilitators shared opps & challenges: new perspectives, engage “deeper”, explore “richer”& accessibility, but need for immense flexibility, hard to articulate role & ltd resource. Being 'insider'/'outsider' raises further consideration [14/24]

Subtheme - Honouring the roots
Most mentioned importance and meaning of the ‘roots’ of this practice & need to honour founders, histories & the methodology’s intentions within our work. Concerns & frustration were raised at practices where ToL “detached” from its roots. [15/24]

Subtheme - Being my authentic self
ToL was appreciated for allowing facilitators ability to work in line with their values, ethics & to be vulnerable & authentic as practitioners able to share their own stories & “be your own self” [16/24]

*Theme 3: Shared Humanity*
This captures the sense of a shared humanity or "the realisation that we're actually so much more similar than we are different" that participants all conveyed clearly when describing their work. This theme encompasses 3 sub-themes. [17/24]

Subtheme - “I get as much from them as they get from me”
This represents the sense that practitioners are impacted by witnessing people’s stories, a two way process where they learn, are moved & impacted by the conversations too. [18/24]

Subtheme - Celebrating diversity and bridging difference
ToL able to both celebrate uniqueness & diversity amongst all, whilst acting as a bridge to bring together. Facilitators noticed power of the 'forest' to highlight sameness & bridge gaps of societal ‘us and them’
[19/24]

Subtheme - Flourishing through connection
Represents the impact of participants being more connected & this cultivating action – flourishing inc that conflict is minimised, traditional hierarchies can shift and there is a change in power; communities take on ownership. [20/24]

*Implications*
ToL could be applied to reduce practitioner burnout/consider indiv or team wellbeing; ToL may have a place in professional dev due to two-way impact; knowing possibilities & impact of ToL gives justification for continued use...
[21/24]

*Implications*
...expansion of ToL encouraged but to ensure integrity, train the trainers model? supervision? partnership working?; Imps for CP inc learning from 'alternatives' community working; wider imps encourage ++ToL in global MH, ++use of prac-based evidence [22/24]

*An invitation to engage*
I'd love to hear where this takes you, what stays with you, any thoughts/critiques & associations to your work. Get in touch via DM, email, or through one of the upcoming events in partnership with @Phola_org & @Ncazelo1
[23/24]

This research was supervised by a phenomenal group of women, who I am eternally grateful to: @Ncazelo1 @Only_Becky_Boo @Maria_Q_15 @ChancyMarsh. I could not have done it without them or a multitude of other fabulous humans.
...This is just the start! 💪🌳[24/24]

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