Project
Becomings
engage · learn · reimagine · grow
Reimagining recovery narratives following adversity
Who Took Part
Introducing the survivor co-researchers who brought their lived experiences, knowledge and perspectives to Project Becomings.
The Co-Researchers
Ten adult survivors of childhood trauma took part in Project Becomings as co-researchers.
All were connected with the charitable organisation where the research took place and had experience of receiving therapeutic support there. The group was intentionally kept small, creating space for conversation, creative exploration and relationships to develop across the research.
Although co-researchers shared experiences of childhood trauma, they were not treated as a single or uniform group. Each person brought different histories, experiences, perspectives and understandings of trauma and recovery.
Their participation extended beyond simply answering research questions. Through conversations, creative practices, reflections and collaborative activities, co-researchers contributed to questioning, producing and developing knowledge about recovery.
Why Ten People?
The research was designed around depth, relationships and sustained participation rather than recruiting a large number of people.
Before the study began, conversations with survivors indicated that larger groups could feel uncomfortable, while groups that were too small could make rich collective discussion more difficult. A group of ten was therefore chosen to create enough diversity for shared conversation while maintaining an environment in which the workshops could be facilitated safely and effectively.
Working with a smaller group also supported the participatory nature of the project, allowing relationships, ideas and creative practices to develop over time rather than treating participation as a one-off research encounter.
Who Could Take Part?
Project Becomings focused specifically on adults with lived experience of significant childhood adversity who had received support from the partner organisation.
Eligibility criteria were developed together with the organisation's safeguarding lead. These were intended both to ensure that the research addressed the experiences it was designed to explore and to consider whether participation in a sustained project about trauma and recovery was appropriate and safe for potential co-researchers.
The research focused on adults rather than children. Early discussions with organisations working with children highlighted the time and relationships that would be required to involve younger people ethically and meaningfully, which were beyond what this particular study could provide.
Why “Co-Researchers”?
Throughout Project Becomings, the term co-researcher was used deliberately.
People with lived experience were not understood simply as research subjects from whom information would be collected. Their experiential knowledge was part of how trauma and recovery were explored and how knowledge developed through the project.
Co-researchers participated through creative practices, conversations, embodied encounters, digital reflections and the collaborative development of the Project Becomings exhibition. These different encounters created opportunities for ideas to be revisited, challenged and developed throughout the research.
Calling people co-researchers does not mean that everyone held identical roles, responsibilities or power within the project. Rather, it recognises that knowledge about lived experience should not be produced about people without recognising the knowledge they themselves bring to its production.
This principle sits at the heart of the project's Feminist Participatory Action Research approach.