International Conference Presentation: "Multidimensional Story Method©"

I developed the Multidimensional Story Method© through my work with bereaved siblings at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices. I recently presented the method at the Research Committee Meeting of the Federation of European Psychodrama Training Organisations (FEPTO). It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with colleagues who share a passion for drama-based approaches in therapy and supervision.

The Multidimensional Story Method© will also feature in a forthcoming Routledge book on Creative Arts Therapies, edited by Robert Neimeyer. Having been inspired by his writings for years, I’m honoured and delighted to contribute to this new publication, which is due to be published by the end of 2026.

Research Committee Meeting of the Federation of European Psychodrama Training Organisations

Article: "The Multidimensional Grief of Siblings. An exploration of story enactment in children’s hospices"

Published in the Dramatherapy Journal (UK) in 2024, this article is open access. You can read the abstract below:

“In this article the author reflects on her experience of facilitating story enactment within an arts therapies group for bereaved siblings at Shooting Star Children’s Hospices, in London. The author is originally trained in the Sesame Approach and has practised as a dramatherapist in the field of bereavement for over ten years. Through a phenomenological approach, the article examines how the enactment of symbolic images from fairy tales supports children processing their grief following the death of a sibling due to a life-limiting condition. The clinical vignette, presented as a constructed case study, provides an illustrative example of using the framework of the hero’s journey to delve into symbolic expression, intersubjectivity and embodiment. In analysing the clinical material, the author combines the Sesame Approach in dramatherapy with the novel Multidimensional Grief Theory, developed by psychologist Christopher Layne. This integration serves to illustrate the fundamental role of story enactment in group therapy for bereaved siblings in paediatric palliative care”.

Dramatherapy Journal (2024)

Book chapter: "Playing in time: Music Therapy and Dramatherapy in Children's Hospices"

This chapter, co-written with Sarah Hodkinson, was published by Routledge in 2024, as part of ‘Arts therapies and the mental health of children and young people’. You can read the abstract below:

“This chapter focuses on ‘playing in time’ in paediatric palliative care, describing current service provision and approaches adopted in children's hospices in the United Kingdom. It draws on the authors’ experience of facilitating music therapy and dramatherapy interventions with young people diagnosed with life-limiting conditions. Through exploring two different vignettes, the chapter examines the role of identity, intersubjectivity, and collaboration in the therapeutic process. The authors explore a phenomenological approach, with an analysis that discusses contemporary issues in the Arts therapies relating to life-limited young people's transition to adulthood. The portrayal of clinical work demonstrates how ‘playing in time’ with the needs of young people requires therapists to revisit and challenge the boundaries of clinical practice. In doing so, this provides space for their legacy, for their story to be told, in the way that they wish”.

Arts therapies and the mental health of children and young people (2024)