Tag Archives: childwelfare

Sam’s Story

Hello. I developed the video, below, and the story that accompanies it, to help young people, and adults who interact with them, to better understand the impact of attachment trauma and their development and approach to life and relationships. I … Continue reading

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Why do my child’s support professionals say that behaviour management doesn’t work?

Conventional responses to behaviours of concern, such as reward and punishment strategies, are widely considered to be ineffective in addressing the complex and challenging behaviours exhibited by children and young people who have experienced complex, relational, or early/developmental trauma. This … Continue reading

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Removal from family: An enduring sensitivity

The decision to remove a child or young person from the care of their birth parents is a grave one that confronts child protection authorities daily. Removal occurs with the intention of protecting the child from harm and securing their … Continue reading

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The Practitioner Scientist in Child Welfare

Some know that while attaining my post-graduate qualifications in Psychology I worked for five years as a Research Officer in the local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). During this period I worked closely with Psychiatry staff who were … Continue reading

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Practice alignment: How important is it in child welfare?

A child leaves their placement to attend school, where acceptance and belonging are contingent on adhering to the school’s behaviour expectations. They leave school to go to sports practice, where acceptance and belonging are contingent on being good enough to … Continue reading

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Achieving best outcomes from care

Twenty-seven years continuous work in child protection and child welfare, including ongoing work with young adults who have transitioned from Care, has taught me some extremely valuable lessons about long-term outcomes of a childhood spent in State Care. In particular, … Continue reading

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Children (and Young People) who Foster

I need my mum and dad to be there for me without me having to ask; to say the words that show that they understand what is happening for me and our family right now; to show that my needs are important without me having to explain them; and to sit with me and experience what I am feeling. Continue reading

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What is the infant’s experience of early trauma?

Below are my notes from a twenty-minute presentation I delivered on 15/6/22 on behalf of The Tweddle Foundation, at their event marking Infant Mental Health Awareness Week 2022. Good morning. My name is Colby Pearce, and I am a practising … Continue reading

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Why does my child need ‘therapeutic care’?

A child’s adjustment, like many aspects of their functioning, is usefully thought of as sitting on a spectrum ranging from maladjustment at one end to positive adjustment at the other end. Where a child is on this spectrum depends on … Continue reading

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Why does my child chew their clothes?

Chewing their clothes is not necessarily evidence of wilful damage or a lack of respect. For many children it is an exaggeration of a very natural way in which they regulate their nervous system. As such, it is better conceptualised … Continue reading

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