Story Threads Therapy

Due to the COVID 19 pandemic lockdown was imposed in India on March 25th 2020. This created unique challenges for people supporting vulnerable young people. This document highlights some of the ways in which people were able to respond to these challenges. The following consultations were conducted with 17 individuals who are involved with vulnerable young people in various capacities in West Bengal, India. It includes social workers, various kinds of mental health professionals, managers, parents, family members, community members etc. These interviews represent diverse child protection contexts (for example CCI’s, community based organizations, organizations working on public health, etc). It also includes consultations with some young people.

The consultation intended to

• Understand how the pandemic, is affecting vulnerable young people
• To understand the situation of young people in contexts of violence
• To understand the kind of responses that has been useful in these contexts.
• To create possibilities to share skills and knowledges

The questions asked during the interview were

• What are some of the key concerns facing the young people you are associated in terms of safety?
• How would you usually respond to these situations?
• Are there particular ways in which the lockdown/ pandemic has impacted your response?
• Can you think of a situation or a story, where you were able to respond in spite of the current limitations? How did you go about doing it (were there particular steps you took, particular skills and knowledge you used? particular supports you accessed?)
• Why was doing this important to you? Did it speak to particular hopes/ values/ commitments?
• What do you think this meant for the people that you work with?
• If you were to keep this (hope/ value/ ethic) close to you, what else do you think would be possible?
• Is this something that has always been there in your work, or has it just shown up? When did you first realize this was important to you?
• Are there ways in which you plan to bring this into future consultations
• Are there ways in which you can extend this initiative?
• What has this conversation been like for you?