Life Story Baskets: An Arts-Based Group Therapy Manual

Everyone has a life story. Not everyone has the opportunity to explore their life story, work with it, learn from it, heal from it, and express it to others. Life Story Baskets (LSBs) guides facilitators to lead participants to do all of this while offering support and guidance. LSBs are life stories told using handmade miniatures, set on a miniature stage, and told by the participants themselves to the rest of the group. Some participants may tell their whole story, while others may choose to focus on traumatic or difficult parts of their stories to examine and find new ways of seeing and thinking about them.

This manual is designed for Art Therapists, Expressive Arts Therapists, or Therapists for use with therapy groups. This informative book will explore what LSBs are, how they came about, their importance, and finally how to run an LSB group from start to finish. Filled with bright photographs, this manual is your guide to help walk you through creating LSBs to assist participants in creating their own unique LSB. Extras in this manual ensure your confidence in running a heartfelt, well-organized group, so you can focus on being present to hear each person's life story.