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The history of the Portman Clinic
No full textThe Portman Clinic has its roots in what was first called the Psychopathic Clinic, founded in 1931, and renamed the Institute for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency (I.S.T.D.) in 1932. The I.S.T.D. accepted referrals of patients of all ages, the majority of whom were adults, but quite a number of children and adolescents were seen from the start. In the 1950s–1960s, there was Herta Graz and William Paterson Brown, both of whom were long-standing members of staff and saw a huge number of young people at the Clinic, and Henry Dugmore Hunter who later set up the adolescent unit at the Tavistock Clinic. Children and adolescents enact their difficulties because they did not get what they needed when they needed it
Designated teachers’ experiences of supporting previously looked after children in primary school settings: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study
Get PDFThe aim of this research was to explore Designated Teachers’ (DTs) experiences of supporting Previously Looked After Children. The purpose of this research was to gain insight into how DTs experience their evolving role in order to better understand how the role can be supported and developed at the individual, school and Local Authority (LA) level to improve outcomes for Previously Looked After Children. The role of the Designated Teacher was established in 2009 to promote the educational achievement of Looked After Children, in maintained schools in England and Wales. In 2018 this statutory requirement was extended to include Previously Looked After Children, who after leaving local authority care, have been adopted, made subject to a Special Guardianship Order, or made subject to a Child Arrangement Order. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with three Designated Teachers working within primary schools. The participants were selected purposefully, ensuring that participants met specific sampling criteria which would allow them to reflect upon their experiences of supporting Previously Looked After Children. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was adopted as the methodological approach and four superordinate themes emerged from the analysis. The DTs explored the idea of working in ‘the overlooked role’ in relation to their working relationships with others. Further to this, the DTs highlighted their role in ‘focusing on the child’, stressing the importance of developing a holistic picture of the child, their needs and required support. In addition, the DTs highlighted the importance of ‘increasing capacity’, detailing the importance of personal and staff development. Finally, the DTs explored the importance of ‘working collaboratively’, indicating the significance of working in partnership with parents and carers. The findings were discussed in relation to the relevant existing literature and practice, with conclusions, limitations and recommendations also presented. The conclusions will be presented to Local Authority staff, including the Educational Psychology Service to offer more nuanced support and guidance to Designated Teachers and the Virtual School
A discourse analysis of how Educational Psychologists talk about Trauma-informed Practice
Get PDFThe legacy of the Adverse Childhood Experiences study has been an increased focus on the impact of trauma and adversity on children and young people’s mental health. The United Kingdom government has pledged to transform the support offered for young people’s mental health through initiatives such as National Health Service (NHS) England trailblazer sites (Department of Health & Department for Education, 2017). Trauma-informed Practice (TiP) emerged as a systemic approach to supporting young people who may have experienced trauma and adversity. Existing literature shows educational settings conceptualise TiP differently and how it is implemented varies across contexts. Despite being key professionals supporting young people and schools, Educational Psychologists’ role and views on TiP have not yet been explored. This study used a social constructionist epistemology to explore how a group of Educational Psychologists talked about TiP. The research aims focused on what social actions were used when talking about TiP and how the group co-constructed what TiP means. A semi-structured focus group was conducted with four Educational Psychologists who had received training in TiP from their Local Authority. All participants were recruited from a single Local Authority, located within an NHS England trailblazer site. The focus group discussion lasted approximately 60 minutes and was audio-recorded and transcribed. Data was analysed using discursive psychology, a form of discourse analysis. Findings suggest EPs’ co-constructed a unique version of TiP by making Extreme Case Formulations which helped perform peripheral social actions (allying and avoiding commitment) and core social actions (committing, disagreeing, promoting the EP role, blaming others and defending TiP). Findings were considered in the context of positioning theory, bioecological model and existing literature. Strengths and limitations of the research approach are discussed alongside key implications for how the Educational Psychology profession move forward with TiP
From exclusion to inclusion: Developmental group work in a primary pupil referral unit
No full textThe chapter explores the contribution that child psychoanalytic psychotherapy makes to the experience of children, families and the staff team of a primary pupil referral unit. When children as young as 5 are excluded from school there needs to be an understanding of the distress they are communicating in order for them to return to a positive developmental pathway. The PPRU works with the complexities of behaviour and emotional presentation, which need to be met by resilience, consistency, imagination and understanding. In this chapter I suggest that child psychotherapy contributes to this task with regular, dependable child psychotherapy groups for children and through sharing the facilitation of the staff reflective space
Slow movements that create hope: Psychotherapy with a boy diagnosed with ASD
No full textIn this chapter the author presents his work as a child and adolescent psychotherapist in a Special Needs School, focusing on psychotherapy with a 5-year-old boy with a diagnosis of autism. Providing child psychoanalytic psychotherapy within a special school lends itself to the slow movement that children with ASD need in order to develop their capacity to relate. A gradual approach is anchored in the familiarity of the institutional setting, which forms part of the therapy setting. This allows for a bit-by-bit awareness of difference, which is necessary in order for a child with ASD to begin to tolerate wider and deeper emotional experiences, including separateness and separation. Working closely with school staff as well as family means that there is immediate and ongoing support for even the tiniest shifts in a child’s capacity. When the relationship between psychotherapy, family. and the school is working well enough, developments in the child can be met by developments in the family and school systems, promoting reality-based hope of contact with a lively other
Conversations across education and mental health in a mainstream primary school [interview]
No full textIn this chapter a deputy head teacher, family support worker, and child psychotherapist talk about their work in a primary school over many years. They describe the practicalities of their work together every week in school, from the initial thinking about whether to refer a family to the school service or CAMHS, through the assessment process, and into on-going support for pupils, families, and staff. They talk about the benefits and challenges of an in-school therapy service, working with families with high levels of need and complexity who, for various reasons, would struggle to attend clinics. They describe how they support each other in what can be challenging, long-term work, how thinking together helps them, staff, and families to begin to make sense of difficulties, and how “for many of the families we work with there is something about finding a home in the school”
Forensic psychotherapy
No full textForensic psychotherapy is the application of psychological knowledge to the assessment, treatment and management of mentally disordered offenders and patients who commit violent or destructive acts against others or themselves. Forensic psychotherapy creates a bridge between forensic psychiatry with its main focus on mental illness and risk, and psychoanalytical psychotherapy which aims to understand the conscious and unconscious motivations of offender or forensic patient [1]. Forensic psychotherapy emerged from a psychoanalytic theoretical framework, which continues to be its predominant influence, although its remit has widened to encompass other psychodynamic approaches, including group psychotherapy and therapeutic community approaches, and it is also influenced by the related disciplines of psychology, criminology, sociology, ethology, neuroscience, philosophy and ethics
How do Child Psychotherapists understand their role when working with children under 5 years old, their families and the professionals around them?
Get PDFObjectives: A small scale qualitative study to explore (i) child psychotherapists’ understanding of their role when working with children under 5’s and their families, within their teams and with the professional networks tasked with supporting children under 5 and (ii) the notion of a child psychotherapists’ ‘role’ within the context in which they are working. Method Seven qualified and ACP registered child psychotherapists who were currently and frequently engaged in work with children under 5 years old took part in semi structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and were analysed using Thematic Analysis. Results An examination of the notion of child psychotherapists’ role when working with children under 5’s, their families and the networks around them produced five key themes: ‘work’, ‘task’, ‘position’, ‘duty’ and ‘lived experience’. Conclusions The findings of the research suggested that child psychotherapists working with under 5’s view their role as nuanced and multifaceted. The research also indicated that the psychoanalytic lens used within clinical work extended outside of clinical work and was employed by clinicians in interactions within their teams and in the wider network. Additionally, cross over was observed between the psychoanalytic notion of the role of the mother in mother-infant dyads, the role that the clinician took up within their clinical work and the role that clinicians played when working with individuals or networks of professionals supporting children under 5. This suggested that the management and containment of and capacity to think about anxiety, particularly that of an infantile quality, took place in all aspects of the role of a child psychotherapist. Too, the findings draw attention to the particularities of the skill set and knowledge base held by child psychotherapists, enabling them to play a unique role, not only in direct clinical work, but within their teams and within the network around them too
