Tag Archives: socialwork

Ten experts speak about child trauma, safeguarding, and therapeutic care

Followers of this page will be aware that this year I finally started The Secure Start Podcast. So far I have had eleven highly esteemed guests appear, with more booked in. It has been so encouraging that so many respected … Continue reading

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We need to rethink foundational assumptions in child protection

The unpolished truth is that many children and young people are really struggling in out-of-home care, and so are adult stakeholders in their lives. It is not an overstatement to say that psychological safety is often compromised at all levels … Continue reading

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How do I care for a child who experienced early trauma?

The content of this post is drawn from my self-paced learning module on the topic of Early Trauma: The Infant’s Experience. It was developed for carers of children recovering from early relational trauma that necessitated placement away from home. The complete … Continue reading

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Why wont my child communicate?

The content of this post is drawn from my self-paced learning module on the topic of Behaviour as Communication. It was developed for carers of children recovering from early relational trauma that necessitated placement away from home. The complete module … 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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Child welfare intervention outcomes: what does trust in the accessibility and responsiveness of adults look like?

In this the final blog of the series, I will present what I think functional learning about the accessibility and responsiveness of adults in a caregiving role for needs provision looks like. I recommend that the reader also take a … Continue reading

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What attachment security looks like

In the first blog of this series about child welfare intervention outcomes, I wrote about the importance of knowing, and being able to say, what progress toward successful outcomes looks like. In this second blog of the series, I will … 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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How long does it take for therapeutic care strategies to work?

The ‘failure’ of a therapeutic care strategy to achieve the desired outcome on first administration does not necessarily mean that it will not or that it is a worthless strategy. Children and young people who are recovering from a tough … Continue reading

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