The Highs and Lows Through Recovery: An Integrative Group Combining Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and the Tree of Life

Could the Tree of Life Model Be a Useful Approach for UK Mental Health Contexts?

“…A key theme reported in seven research papers was the idea of being able to connect with others or find social support and emotional containment from others (Casdagli et al, 2017;German, 2013;Ibrahim & Allen, 2018;Ibrahim & Tchanturia, 2017;Randle-Phillips et al, 2016;Schweitzer et al, 2014;Wellman et al, 2016): "I like the way it brought everyone together to actually work with each other … I learned a lot" (German, 2013, p. 86). This theme was also present across five descriptive papers and connecting with others in the group enabled members to have their experiences heard and put into context of others' experiences (Butera-Prinzi et al, 2014;Hughes, 2014;Jacobs, 2018;McFarlane & Howes, 2012;Ncube, 2006): "I know I'm not alone" (Hughes, 2014, p. 149).…”

“…Engendering Hope. The theme of hope was well represented in groups run in mental health contexts and was identified in three research papers (Ibrahim & Allen, 2018;Ibrahim & Tchanturia, 2017;Wellman et al, 2016). Identifying a renewed attitude towards the future was reflected metaphorically with the idea of moving away from "doom and gloom"away from darkness towards light (Wellman et al, 2016).…”

“…Tree of Life and Psychological Distress. Two quantitative papers explored the impact of the ToL group on psychological distress using the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (Ibrahim & Allen, 2018;Randle-Phillips et al, 2016). The studies found that the scores remained the same with no statistically significant reductions in distress.…”

“…In the context of a group for people with bipolar disorder, Ibrahim & Allen (2018) used the Mental Health Recovery Measure to explore if the ToL group had any impact on recovery from psychological distress. Similarly, the measure showed that participants' feelings of recovery remained the same in all domains on pre-and post-measures.…”

“…The ToL was also combined with other models of therapy to provide a "holistic" intervention (Butera-Prinzi et al, 2014;Ibrahim & Allen, 2018;McFarlane & Howes, 2012;Méndez & Cole, 2014). For example, in the context of a parenting intervention, the ToL was combined with traditional behavioural parenting interventions to "maintain parents' interest" and to "give an alternative voice to those who have been oppressed by dominant narratives" and create "an atmosphere of reflectiveness missing in traditional behavioural approaches" (McFarlane & Howes, 2012, pp.…”