Therapeutic Care Blog
The CETC blog tells the stories behind 'what works' in Intensive Therapeutic Care
Q&A with Mohita Kapoor from CREATE Foundation
In September 2020 Mohita Kapoor, the NSW State Coordinator for the CREATE Foundation was invited to speak at our Therapeutic Specialist forum for those working within the Intensive Therapeutic Care system. Therapeutic Specialists were curious to learn more about the role of CREATE in supporting young people in therapeutic residential care and had some follow-up …
Read MoreQ&A with Cate Keady from the Elver Program
Since 2018, Cate Keady has worked within the Department of Communities and Justice to establish and manage the Intensive Support Services Elver Program – in partnership with South Western Sydney Local Health District. Cate recently spoke at our Therapeutic Specialist Forum about the Elver Program, an innovative program that is supporting children and young people in …
Read MoreWhat works? Promising Practices to Support Young People Who Self Harm
Why do young people in out of home care self-harm? What are the best predictors of suicide and self-harm? What really works when supporting young people who self-harm in out-of-home care? Our latest research brief looks at what the research has to say on these three questions. In this blog, I highlight a few promising …
Read MoreUnderstanding vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue
Research shows how profoundly influenced we are by other people’s emotional states and how rapidly our interpersonal affective responses occur, and how dynamically our physiology responds to others’ emotional states. This is why trauma can be emotionally contagious. I have experienced it personally. When I was working doing assessments of very violent and sexually abusive …
Read MoreClient Mix and Matching in Intensive Therapeutic Care
Young people living in residential care are highly vulnerable and have commonly experienced a significant level of trauma and abuse. They often present with complex needs and a range of risk-taking behaviours such as aggression, self-harm, sexualised behaviours, substance misuse and other activities that place themselves or others at risk. As such, it requires a …
Read MoreHow do you support staff feeling defeated and powerless? A Case Study
My work as a Therapeutic Specialist is about finding ways to equip and support staff to provide high-quality therapeutic care for young people living in Intensive Therapeutic Care homes. It is about sharing knowledge, facilitating reflective practice and, perhaps most importantly, holding the hope that positive change is possible. In this blog, I want to …
Read More‘Tis the Season to be Jolly’ – but not for everyone
It’s all too easy to get wrapped up in the fun and happiness of Christmas and forget that, for others, the season isn’t necessarily a joyful one. For some the young people in the ITC system, Christmas has not been a happy time and can bring back difficult memories. Arguments, violence or aggression in the …
Read More“It wasn’t just listening to your ideas, it was following through”
In 2019 and 2020, a group of young people with firsthand experience in out-of-home care joined PhD candidate Meaghan Vosz to research the practices associated with ‘giving due weight’ to the views of children and young people in policy making in Australia. They observed over 100 people engaged in policy making across six state and …
Read MoreKaren’s Story: Culture
Recently I had the privilege of being invited to the 50th Birthday party for twins, Karen and Sharon Lovett who initially came into care at 4 months. I was fortunate to share part of particularly Karen’s life in residential care during her teens. Through the years I thought of her so often wondering what we …
Read MoreThe Healing Power of Friendship
“A friend is someone who helps you up when you’re down, and if they can’t, they lay down beside you and listen.” Winnie the Pooh Can the friendships and connections that can develop in Intensive Residential Care be nurtured and grown rather than feared? I would like you to take a moment to think back …
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