1. Supported Therapeutic Parenting
2. Psychological and Therapeutic Interventions

 

 “The healthier relationships a child has, the more likely he will be to recover from trauma and thrive. Relationships are the agents of change…”

Perry, B. & Szalavitz, M. (2006) The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook. New York, Basic Books.

 

Central to our therapeutic model is to foster an integrated and consistent approach to ‘therapeutic parenting’. The model is influenced by the work of Daniel Hughes and Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Bruce Perry and many others.

• Staff receive regular supervision and training that is applied to the daily routine of caring for young people who may be suffering attachment and trauma issues, who may feel abandoned and find it hard to manage and regulate their feelings, behaviours and thought patterns.
• Consistent compensatory relationships are pivotal in re-securing the bonds of attachment. All staff and especially keyworkers are supported to work in a psychologically informed and sensitive manner with the intersubjective space that is the relationship between themselves and the young people.
• Cultivating a systemic ‘therapeutic parenting’ approach with cross-agency communication, transparency and consistency.
• Psychological, psychiatric and therapeutic assessments to help direct psychologically informed caring and therapies.
• A wide range of therapies such as cognitive – behavioural and counselling psychological approaches, registered creative arts therapies (drama, art and music therapies) and play therapy: to ensure that therapeutic support is developmentally appropriate to the young person’s needs.

 

Supported Therapeutic Parenting

Hiraeth Institute work alongside Priority staff as part of our therapeutic placement service. Central to our therapeutic model is to foster an integrated and consistent approach to ‘therapeutic parenting’. Influenced by the work of Daniel Hughes and Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Bruce Perry and other researchers / practitioners[1] the approach has three distinct levels:

1. Staff receive regular supervision and training that is applied to the daily routine of caring for young people who may be suffering attachment and trauma issues, who may feel abandoned and find it hard to manage and regulate their feelings, behaviours and thought patterns.
2. Consistent compensatory relationships are pivotal in re-securing the bonds of attachment. All staff and especially keyworkers are supported to work in a psychologically informed and sensitive manner with the intersubjective space that is the relationship between themselves and the young people:
   1. demonstrating unconditional positive regard,
   2. maintaining clear and consistent boundaries,
   3. challenging behaviours rather than the person,
   4. affirming the person, validating feelings,
   5. affective-reflective dialogues to help the young person re-attune and re-integrate,
   6. congruent and genuine approach with playfulness, love, acceptance, curiosity and empathy.
3. Cultivating a systemic ‘therapeutic parenting’ approach with cross-agency communication, transparency and consistency.

Professional Psychological and Therapeutic Interventions

Hiraeth Institute provides regular and on-going professional support to the young people within our care:

• Psychological, psychiatric and therapeutic assessments to help direct psychologically informed caring and therapies.
• A wide range of therapies such as cognitive – behavioural and counselling psychological approaches, registered creative arts therapies (drama, art and music therapies) and play therapy: to ensure that therapeutic support is developmentally appropriate to the young person’s needs.

[1] The Supported Therapeutic Parenting Model has been influenced by researchers and practitioners such as: Daniel Hughes, Bessel Van der Kolk, Babette Rothschild, Bruce Perry, Peter Levine, Donald Winnicott, Kate Cairns, Sue Gerhardt, Judith Herman and many others.