Playfulness
Bringing lightness, warmth and genuine connection into difficult moments through playful, engaging interactions that help each young person feel safe, valued and understood before guidance.
Therapeutic & Residential Care
Our Therapeutic Approach
Every interaction, every day — care that goes far beyond the therapy room.
Our CEO's Vision for Therapeutic Care
Therapeutic care is about far more than the hour a week a young person spends with their therapist; it is about every interaction and lived experience they have whilst in our care. Yes, there are formal therapy sessions and scheduled key-worker sessions, both aimed at helping a young person explore and resolve their issues and difficulties, learn new coping mechanisms and solve practical challenges — but therapeutic care is about every day-to-day interaction and experience our young people have.
Our staff are trained to be playful, accepting, curious and empathetic, so children feel safe to form relationships and explore themselves and the world around them. Our therapeutic care model is designed to provide a safe, supportive environment where young people can feel heard, understood, and empowered to develop resilience and make positive life choices.
As well as helping form positive and trusting relationships, we place great emphasis on psycho-social enhancement, which goes beyond relationships and aims to ensure the young person experiences positive, life-enriching experiences aimed at building a sense of self-worth, competence, confidence, a sense of belonging and positive functioning. By working in this way, we aim to ensure our young people develop a more rounded sense of self and identity, a more positive view of the world around them and a more optimistic view of themselves and what lies ahead for them. We endeavour to assist a young person to develop greater levels of independent functioning, learn resilience and develop adaptive coping skills as well as providing them with great experiences like holidays and concerts. We help young people develop hobbies and interests and join clubs, courses and teams. Every aspect of our therapeutic care model is aimed at ensuring our young people learn to become the best possible version of themselves and leave our care with positive life experiences and memories, which stand them in good stead when entering the wider world.
Our Therapeutic Approach
Care, guided by PACE.
Every relationship our team builds with the young people in our care is rooted in four principles — the foundation of trauma-informed practice.
Acceptance
Creating space for every emotion to be understood without judgment — accepting each young person's inner experiences with empathy and compassion, whilst recognising that behaviours have meaning.
Curiosity
Approaching behaviours with curiosity rather than judgment, helping young people explore the emotions behind their responses and understand the experiences shaping how they feel and act.
Empathy
Responding with empathy and emotional understanding, meeting young people where they are emotionally — helping them feel safe, supported and genuinely understood whilst building trust through shared experience.
The Needs We Support
Understanding Self-Harm and Attachment Disorders
Supporting young people through trauma, emotional dysregulation, attachment difficulties and complex mental-health needs with compassionate, therapeutic, relationship-led care.
Self Harm The act provides a means of replacing psychological pain with physical pain and a means of mal-adaptively asserting control over a situation, thought or emotion which the individuals are otherwise struggling to cope with.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standard (NICE) defines self-harm as intentional act of self-poisoning or self-injury, irrespective of the motivation or apparent purpose. An umbrella term, self-harm includes a variety of different behaviours which can differ in individuals and change over time. Reasons may also change, and although likely to be a way to cope with difficult emotions or experiences, this will not always be the case.
The act provides a means of replacing psychological pain with physical pain and a means of mal-adaptively asserting control over a situation, thought or emotion which the individuals are otherwise struggling to cope with. As well as establishing a sense of control, our young people utilise self-harm as a form of self-punishment; a means of relieving anxiety and tension; a means of eliciting care giving from others or to numb themselves to distressing thoughts, feelings and memories. Conversely some young people use self-harm as a way of feeling alive, or feeling something where they are otherwise numb.
The act provides a means of replacing psychological pain with physical pain and a means of mal-adaptively asserting control over a situation, thought or emotion which the individuals are otherwise struggling to cope with. As well as establishing a sense of control, our young people utilise self-harm as a form of self-punishment; a means of relieving anxiety and tension; a means of eliciting care giving from others or to numb themselves to distressing thoughts, feelings and memories. Conversely some young people use self-harm as a way of feeling alive, or feeling something where they are otherwise numb.
Attachment Disorder Attachment disorder in children refers to difficulties forming and maintaining healthy emotional bonds with those that seek to care for them.
Attachment disorder in children refers to difficulties forming and maintaining healthy emotional bonds with those that seek to care for them. They can impact social and emotional development and manifest in various ways; from emotional withdrawal to difficulty regulating emotions and exhibiting challenging behaviours.
Attachment disorders are caused by various factors, including neglect and abuse. In some cases our young people’s attachment disorders can be exacerbated by institutionalisation, or simply as a consequence of having multiple care placements. Our teams are trained to help repair attachment disorders through the forming and establishment of healthy emotional bonds. In young people who have previously not experienced heathy attachments, this work can often be central to their progress and can prove to be challenging and rewarding in equal measure.
Attachment disorders are caused by various factors, including neglect and abuse. In some cases our young people’s attachment disorders can be exacerbated by institutionalisation, or simply as a consequence of having multiple care placements. Our teams are trained to help repair attachment disorders through the forming and establishment of healthy emotional bonds. In young people who have previously not experienced heathy attachments, this work can often be central to their progress and can prove to be challenging and rewarding in equal measure.
Borderline Personality Disorder The National Institute of Mental Health describe Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as a mental illness that severely impacts a person’s ability to regulate their emotions.
The National Institute of Mental Health describe Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) as a mental illness that severely impacts a person’s ability to regulate their emotions. This loss of emotional control can increase impulsivity, affect how a person feels about themselves, and negatively impact their relationships with others.
Individuals with BPD may experience mood swings, a distorted sense of self, and intense, unstable relationships. They may experience extremely intense emotions and have great difficulty regulating these; so much so that they may utilise self-harm or have suicidal thoughts. Difficulties forming and maintaining relationships can often result in an intense and pervasive fear of abandonment. BPD can often result in people having cognitive and perceptual distortions, which can result in them having difficulties understanding and processing information. Some people with BPD have also described a chronic sense of emptiness and a lack of sense of purpose or direction.
Trauma and neglect in childhood is a common theme in many diagnosed with BPD alongside environmental and genetic factors. Causes remain unclear and differ in individuals. How an individual experiences living with BPD is completely individual and unique to that person.
Individuals with BPD may experience mood swings, a distorted sense of self, and intense, unstable relationships. They may experience extremely intense emotions and have great difficulty regulating these; so much so that they may utilise self-harm or have suicidal thoughts. Difficulties forming and maintaining relationships can often result in an intense and pervasive fear of abandonment. BPD can often result in people having cognitive and perceptual distortions, which can result in them having difficulties understanding and processing information. Some people with BPD have also described a chronic sense of emptiness and a lack of sense of purpose or direction.
Trauma and neglect in childhood is a common theme in many diagnosed with BPD alongside environmental and genetic factors. Causes remain unclear and differ in individuals. How an individual experiences living with BPD is completely individual and unique to that person.
Join a team that cares this deeply
If our approach to therapeutic and residential care resonates with you, we'd love to hear from you — whether you're looking to join us or make a referral.