Therapeutic Foster Care

We know that “relational trauma requires relational repair” and our support to the caregiver system provides opportunities to support the integration of previous experiences of trauma in the child. Trauma processing cannot be completed unless a child or young person is in a place of safety and have established safe and secure relationships with caregivers. MPS place a significant focus on working with the caregiving system, as we understand that the ‘container needs to be contained’. People looking after our most vulnerable young people need support to be able to do this effectively using therapeutic foster care techniques.

Embedding a whole organisation Trauma-Informed approach to Fostering

Therapeutic training for foster carers and staff including:

• Child Development, Attachment and Developmental Trauma (Including ACE’s)
• Therapeutic Parenting using PACE

SLT & Staff Consultation:

In order to ensure that trauma informed practice in embedded, MPS can facilitate Psychological Consultation sessions with the Senior Leadership Team and/or staff which will include a reflective space to explore and monitor how practice is changing. In order to review quality of support, we will support you with an outcomes monitoring system so you are able to evidence the impact of developing a trauma informed workforce.

The consultations can be offered at time points that are most suited to the organisation, and can include the following:

• Supporting SLT to develop trauma informed processes to ensure that practice is embedded top down and bottom up
• Monitoring embedding of trauma informed practice
• Monitoring Outcomes
• Support around individualised care planning
• Reviewing trauma informed working and staff responses
• Reviewing processes, systems & paperwork to ensure trauma informed practice
• Support with supervision framework

Development of specific Placement Support Offers

As part of a partnership with MPS, we can work with your fostering service to develop a Therapeutic Model, forming a specific placement offer to Local Authorities and Foster Carers. This could include wrap-around placement support as part of an ‘enhanced’ offer.

Reflective Clinical Supervision for Staff:

Clinical reflective supervision is a process of professional support, reflection and learning that contributes to individual development. We use evidence-based models of supervision to support the development of reflective practice, which is evidenced to increase staff retention, reduce staff burnout and increase compassion within staff teams. These can be held as individual or group sessions.

Direct Interventions for Children & Young People

• Comprehensive Psychological Assessments
• Therapy Needs Assessments
• Cognitive assessments such as Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V)
• AIM3 Assessment of Harmful Sexual Behaviours and Tech-Assisted HSB
• The Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)

Individual Therapy

Attachment and developmental trauma informed therapeutic models focus on support offered to the system of care as the evidence suggests that trauma is processed through relationships with carers, as it is through relationships that trauma is experienced. Therefore, the focus of consultation and support is on the system and supporting staff to develop therapeutic parenting strategies as these have the greatest impact on repairing relational trauma.

However, we recognise that some children and young people following an assessment will require specialist therapeutic input. An MPS consultant will meet with the caregivers and then the young person to develop collaborative therapeutic goals.

We can offer the following therapeutic interventions:

• Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
• Theraplay
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)
• Therapeutic Life Story Work (TLSW)
• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)
• Cognitive Analytical Therapy (CAT)
• Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)

Support & Therapeutic Training for Foster Carers

• Psychological Consultations / Therapeutic Parenting sessions: Psychological consultations with carers offer a safe space to formulate and reflect on any here and now challenges. They can also be used to provide advice on therapeutic parenting approaches, such as PACE.
  We facilitate a collaborative approach through the delivery of psychological consultations. A therapeutic plan will be developed collaboratively during consultation that will identify any proposed intervention that may include strategies, support to the system, attending training, future consultations or direct therapeutic intervention.
  MPS offer sessions as a one-off or as a series of consultations.
• Foundations for Attachment programme (DDPI endorsed): A six-session programme to help parents and carers nurture attachments with their child. It is designed specifically for those caring for children whose ability to emotionally connect to carers has been compromised as a result of attachment problems, trauma, and loss or separation. This can be delivered to individual families or as a group.
• Nurturing Attachments programme (DDPI endorsed): an 18-session programme that has its foundation in an understanding of child development, and the impact of developmental trauma on children. The programme includes an understanding of how attachment and carer/child relationships form so that children can experience safety and security in their attachment relationships. This programme is split into three modules and ideally would be delivered as a group.

Additional Training:

Meadows Psychology Service offers a comprehensive range of training courses for staff and Foster Carers, including short, effective practical workshops. These include:

• Exploitation (Child, Criminal, Gang)
• Understanding Autism and Understanding ADHD
• Harmful Sexual Behaviour 
• Gender Identity 
• Domestic Abuse
• Learning Disabilities 
• Self-Harm 
• Managing suicidal ideation
• Therapeutic Parenting Skills
• Dealing with Emotional Distress
• Therapeutic needs of UASC
• Parenting in the Moment workshop (drawing on PACE, NVR and other strategies)
• DBT Skills for Carers workshop
• Theraplay for Carers workshop

We also offer bespoke training packages, specifically tailored to meet the needs of your service.

Outcomes Monitoring

Meadows Psychology Service pride ourselves on evidencing the impact of trauma informed work. We will set up outcomes monitoring systems for your service, included in the costings. This will include a number of standardised assessment measures and idiosyncratic assessment measures as appropriate. We will provide you with regular reports to ensure that you can share your successes with commissioners and local authorities.