Sara Portnoy

Consultant Clinical Psychologist

UCLH

Creating Meaning:

A Bead Program for

Children with Cancer.

Stutzer and Gove

(2000) Journal of

Paediatric Oncology

Nursing. 17, 100

Kitty’s beads

Good day bead when her

Dad took her shopping and

made her laugh

Reflecting on what I have been through

has helped me realise that I can keep

going

It is really moving

looking back at these

beads- it makes me

realise how much we

have been through

Kitty mainly spoke about

her non-medical beads

ASMA JOHN

Ncazelo Ncube (2006)

The Tree of Life Project.

The International

Journal of Therapy and

Community work.1 pg 3-

16

www.dulwichcentre.com.au

A thin

description

Multi Stranded story

Daily Life

Computer games

Watch TV

School

Go outside

Read a book

Picnic in the park

Visit cousin

Do Homework

Tottenham football

Summer Sport

Dad & brother

Sport

School & GCSEs

Playing football

Ice cream - Chocolate honeycomb

Playing video games

Skills &

Abilities

Endurance

Good Coordination

Stamina

Competitive

Fun

Well behaved

Goalie

Maths

Good at keeping secrets

Creative Interpersonal skills

Compassionate Thoughtful Good dancer

Important People

Little sister Dad Little sister Big Sister Cousin

Mum - Very patient

Little sister - Lovely hugs

Dad - Very caring

Best Friend - Great listener

Brother - Makes me laugh

Grandparents -Share interests

Brother and Sister -Supportive network

Mum -Here the whole time

Dad -Doing things together

Roots

Mums cooking

Family get together

My home town

Musical interest

New Year

Eed

Birthday

Turkey

Thorpe Park

Home Town Chinese

Food

Angel

My Nan

Hopes, Wishes

& Dreams

To be successful and make my mum proud

Wish to overcome cancer!

Hope for the best for all of my family

End of treatment. Back to normal.

Going to Singapore. Dad’s there.

Movie editing. What granddad did.

Medical Story

• Where does your story with Cancer start?

• What happened next?

• What are some of the effects you have noticed cancer create?

• What are some of the hazards you have noticed Cancer can create?

• How have you responded to these challenges?

•

Medical Story (Weaving the strands)

• How have you used your skills to help you during this journey?

• Who has helped you along the way?

• How have you used some of the values that you spoke about?

Who has taken part in ‘Just Bead It’?

• 11 in 2011

• 20 in 2012

• 31 in 2013 (Jan – July)

– Male N=11, Female N=20

2011-2013 Total 62

Why The Increase? Thanks to

The Bead Team:

Josie Lennox

Sam Fern

Annika Davidson

June Vevers

Haroon Mota

Daphne Paradisopolis

Donna Oxley

Daniel Glazer

Emma Franks

Izzy Girling

Anna Picton

Steph Murphy

Beads make session very

relaxed. Able to talk about

any worries/issues much

more easily and naturally

I liked talking about the

important people in my life and

why they are important.

Enjoyed the

calm

environment

I clearly

understood that

the people

around me have

helped me

A) Opportunity to

acknowledge and

recognise support

B) Beading’s

therapeutic

environment

The beads make the

sessions relaxed so I

was able to talk

about my worries

I would recommend

it to my mum as it

would show her how

much she has done

for me

C) The future as the

focus

D) Sharing experiences,

thoughts and feelings through

beading

Also helped me to look forward

to what was coming when

I was better

I think that all sick children of all ages should

‘bead’ and for parents to help them

understand how they feel

Talk through what I will be

doing in the future such

as goals and ambitions

after the cancer

A bead with many parts to it - to

represent some of the mile

stones that you have reached

and the others that you still

have to come

It was nice to

share things

It helps you

understand

yourself and

who you really

are

A) Creating a sense

of order in the

‘chaos’ of cancer

Liked important people – good to remember

when ‘chaos’ around from treatment

Made me look back and put

things in order. It made me

remember things that I had

done in the past

When you look at all the beads connected

and you look at what each of them means,

you know where you started off and what

you’ve been through

B) Remembering who I am –

‘What are you made of’?

Enjoyed exploring

who I am and thinking

about my strengths

and abilities

It allowed us to express

our skills and interests

through beads

C) Growing and developing

because you are blossoming

Thought more about what drives

me

Like it makes me

want ambition, it

drives my ambition

more Beading gave

me

determination

for the future

It helped me a lot,

it made me

stronger

A flower - because you are

blossoming

It has given me ambition

THANK YOU

ANY QUESTIONS ?

sara.portnoy@uclh.nhs.uk

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Jerome Bruner (1991) ACTS OF MEANING. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

Davies B and Harre R (1990)POSITIONING: THE DISCURSIVE PRODUCTION OF SELVES. Journal of the Theory of Social Behaviour,20, 43-64

Kitty’s Feedback