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A practice guide to support staff navigate the critical balance between empowering children and young people and setting limits

A guide to Enhancing Practice in Therapeutic Care

For recovery and healing to occur in therapeutic residential care, there must be synergy or “congruence” between residential workers, the organisational culture and all other stakeholders in meeting the needs of the child or young person.  The work of James Anglin (2002), Sandra Bloom (2005) and Bruce Perry (2006) has been highly influential in space, …

“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 …

Therapeutic residential work can be conceptualised as a dance. It works best when therapeutic workers display therapeutic presence, are in sync with the young person, can making meaning of the young person’s behaviour and responses and work in a climate that supports therapeutic care. At its best, therapeutic residential work is a process of synchronised …

“The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” Mark Twain   We all like to laugh. It makes us feel good. Among humans, laughter begins as early as four months of age (Lovorn, 2008). A child with a well-developed sense of humour has been described as “becoming a joy tracker …