This manual sets out an accessible model for assessing the emotional needs of traumatised children and young adults and using the outcomes of the assessment to develop individualised therapeutic programmes to support their needs and emotional development.
Evolved from Christine Bradley’s over 40 years of working with children and young people with complex histories, the model and the case studies presented are firmly rooted in a psychotherapeutic approach and her early training of working with pioneers in the field. It presents a needs led assessment and treatment tool that offers insight and an understanding of the complex histories and behaviours of individual children and young people based on the impact that trauma has on the inner world of the child. The treatment programme is presented in a clearly written and highly accessible step-by-step approach that is supplemented by exemplar case studies and moving anecdotes.
This manual will be of use to any professional working with traumatised children and young people including therapists, social workers, foster carers, and teachers. It will allow individuals who otherwise would not feel they possess the confidence, knowledge, training, or experience to conduct a high quality effective individualised needs led assessment and subsequent treatment programme.
Table of Contents:
1.Introducing a new model for assessing and treating children and young people who have experienced, and live with the legacy of early trauma 2.Understanding the vocabulary of working with children and young people who have experienced profound trauma 3.Learning to use the Needs Led Assessment model, Therapeutic Treatment Plan, and the carer/worker Reflective Log 4.Case Studies: Exemplars that address the legacy of early trauma 5.Long term prognosis of traumatised children into adolescence and adulthood 6.Supporting and Developing Carers and Workers 7.Conclusion 8.Afterword 9.References
About the Author :
Christine Bradley is an experienced practitioner and author who has worked with vulnerable children for over 40 years. She began her career at the Cotswold Community, then became a senior officer for the London borough of Wandsworth and Director of the Caldecott College in Kent. She is a consultant, nationally and internationally, for organizations in residential care, therapeutic communities, and adoption/fostering agencies.
Francia Kinchington is an education leadership and development consultant, author, and editor with extensive international experience. Formally a Principal Lecturer at the University of Greenwich for 25 years, she is an experienced doctoral supervisor and examiner and a Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society.
Review :
"I have had the privilege of working with Christine Bradley to successfully integrate the Needs Led Assessment Programme into supporting children in our care. This framework has deepened our insight and understanding of unmet needs and destructive behaviours and equipped us with the necessary tools to reach their inner world and guide them on a therapeutic journey towards self-discovery and healing. This manual and the previous book provide an essential guide to policy makers, service providers and practitioners who are dedicated to making a lasting difference to the lives of children who have endured trauma and adversity."
Amanda Knowles MBE, Services to residential childcare, director Mulberry Care and Future Horizons Support Services (for care leavers)
"Christine started her career at the Cotswold Community, a pioneering therapeutic community home for children profoundly affected by early trauma, working alongside Barbara Dockar Drydale who built on the pioneering work of Donald Winnicott. Christine’s work on Needs Led Assessment and Treatment Plans stems from those early days, and whilst maintaining the underlying philosophy, has evolved into a manual to be used by staff and carers who wish to work therapeutically with children and young people whose early life experiences have been significantly affected by trauma."
Mark Thomas, head of service, ALL4U Fostering
"As CEO of The Caldecott Foundation, I was thrilled to have Christine work alongside our managers and carers developing Needs Led Assessments and Therapeutic Treatment Programmes for children and young people who have experienced profound trauma. Her guidance has helped the team to respond, not react to behaviours presented. In-depth mentalisation, discussion and reflective practice has enabled them to understand that this is a journey, not a quick fix, and has provided hope for children and adults working alongside them in therapeutic care. This manual offers invaluable insight into the impact of childhood trauma and shows how we can reach the inner child."
Nick Barnett, CEO The Caldicott Foundation
"The authors provide a ‘back to the source’ book for workers and carers working directly with profoundly traumatised children and young people. They communicate the tools for thinking and planning for today’s practitioners to use in the service of children’s recovery from trauma. This manual is for all those who consider children’s needs are becoming more challenging, providing essential experienced based-practice reaching back to the foundation of psychosocial Residential Therapeutic Child Care. The results of their collective creative responses are here, refined treasures from a continuing tradition. This really works!"
Jonathan Stanley, principal partner, National Centre of Excellence for Residential Child Care (NCERCC)
