Therapists’ experience of the lifeline in narrative exposure therapy

Abstract

The authors would like to thank Christy Li for her assistance with transcribing some of the interviews, and Dr. Lucy Rudkin for her support with validity checking. We would also like to thank Professor Chris Barker for his expert support with the interview schedule and Dr. Katy Robjant for offering her expert experience and knowledge throughout the project.

Two people making sense of a story: narrative exposure therapy as a trauma intervention in early intervention in psychosis

“…NET, and especially the lifeline, was seen as encompassing ‘the whole person’, and enabled the sharing of both positive and negative stories across the lifespan. The ‘person-centred’ approach was also noted in research into clinicians’ views of the lifeline (Dix & Fornells-Ambrojo, 2023 ), and was seen to fit the EIP ethos. EbEs valued clinicians taking an interest in their lives beyond what was directly relevant to the NET process, and appreciated their help with practical tasks related to daily living; this, referred to by Laugharne et al ( 2011 ) as ‘the personal touch’, has been noted in existing psychosis research (Laugharne et al, 2011 ).…”

“…The lifeline was helpful in contextualizing memories within participants’ personal histories, as noted in qualitative research into clinicians’ perspectives on the NET lifeline (Dix & Fornells-Ambrojo, 2023 ). This may be particularly relevant in EIP services, as people with psychosis often have temporally incoherent narrative identities lacking in detail and context (Cowan et al, 2021 ).…”