North East London, Essex & OnlineLooked After Children
Being in care means that children have already suffered a developmental trauma…
Experience:
I have over fourteen years of specialist experience working with Looked After Children, their carers and Social Workers - and have worked in dedicated CLA teams since 2011 as a senior Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist and as Lead for a large CAMHS CLA service.
I have worked extensively with LAC children in 1:1 psychotherapy, in carer + child psychotherapy; and also with adopte
d children and their families; as well as offered consultation to foster carers, social workers, teachers.
I have written and delivered trainings about the needs of LAC children to schools, Social Workers, Foster carers, Health Visitors et al. I have also led on the development and delivery of a Trauma Formulation initiative which brings together networks (including CIN and CLA social workers, foster carers and virtual school et al) to understand the links between a child's trauma and their current presentation.
I have extensive experience of offering Consultation to networks that are struggling to understand the challenging behavior of children, their developmental needs and the nature of their emotional distress as well as the impact of their early traumas on their emotional development. These consultations have enabled networks to become less stuck or paralysed and helped them to chart and formulate clearer plans, more attuned responses and make referrals as appropriate.
State of Mind Assessments:
A State of Mind assessment is essentially a snapshot of a child’s emotional development and functioning. It assesses the nature of a child’s attachment behavior, the nature of their unconscious preoccupations and processes including their anxieties and the defences they employ to manage these; as well as their strengths.
A State of Mind assessment and the report that arises from it is particularly helpful to networks that need an in-depth view of a child’s emotional development and recommendations for what the child needs to recover and mature successfully in the future.
Consultation:
This can be arranged ad hoc or as an ongoing relationship. I am able to offer face-to-face consultations or via Zoom.
Foster Carer support:
Foster carers have consistently reported, over the years, how useful these consultations have been. It has been possible to support them (and sometimes their Supervising Social Worker, too) with managing and thinking about the powerful emotions stirred up by caring for CLA children. I have helped them to understand the links between what they – the carers - are feeling and the trauma the child suffered earlier in their young lives. I have also helped contextualize the challenging behaviours and actions of the child and shown the links to the original traumas. When carers understand these links, the anger or frustration or confusion they have been feeling often shifts and they are able to feel more connection to the child and understand them better. Increased placement stability is a common outcome of this work.
Carer + Child Psychotherapy:
Sometimes it helps to have the child in the room with the carers or adopted parents, so that we can name and think about the links between what the child feels in the present and what they suffered in the past. This work is powerful and has great potential for healing and affecting positive change. [See parent child Psychotherapy page].
Child Psychotherapy:
I have extensive experience of working with LAC children in Child Psychotherapy. This work is usually longer-term and it is important that carers are seen too, separately.
Contact me in confidence on t: 07877 048 087 or e:
