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Narrative therapy uses psychological thinking to help people reconnect with important aspects of their lives that have become subjugated by a dominant problem story. Collective narrative practices (CNPs) such as the tree of life (ToL) metaphor apply these principles to communities. Limited research suggests that ToL groups benefit service users and staff in inpatient settings. The purpose of this paper is to explore the utility of a pilot ToL group, run in an inpatient treatment ward.

Nine participants attended a seven-week ToL group. Eight service users and two facilitators contributed to the evaluation. Qualitative data were derived from interviews and questionnaires and analysed from a social constructionist perspective using inductive thematic analysis.

Three themes were generated: first, a sense of community – service user and staff relationships developed both inside and outside of the group, through sharing personal experiences. Second, rediscovering identity – participants reconnected with important aspects of their lives, which helped them to plan their recovery. Third, usefulness of the metaphor – service users and staff reflected on useful aspects of the ToL metaphor and how groups could be improved in the future. Data collection methods were key limitations of the study. Further groups should be conducted, whilst considering means of developing CNPs and their evaluation in this setting.

Few evaluations of ToL groups have been conducted in inpatient settings. This research outlines considerations for setting up and evaluating ToL groups and highlights their value for service users and staff.

The purpose of this paper is to add a needed sport foundation for the brand community conversation evolution within the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship (Popp et al., 2016; Richelieu, 2008; Trail et al., 2016) from the spark of Gladden and Funk’s (2001) brand association and loyalty in sport.

This paper traces the evolution of brand community research from its beginnings in the general business literature to the current brand community research in sport marketing today. Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) define brand communities as a specialized and non-geographically bound community based around a set of structured social relationships amongst admirers of a brand and are often recognized as the most integral relationship component of consumers to brands (Muge and Ozge, 2013).

Media transcends geography and brand communities will continue to transcend geography to the boundaries of mass media.

With this growing importance on attachment to brand community (ABC) through mass media, or attachment team in the sport context, further exploration on attachment variables is critical for the success of the next evolutionary stage of brand communities.

An ABC framework in the sport setting is proposed through multidisciplinary variables gathered in a review of brand community literature to address the unique attachment perspectives of sport consumers.