Our therapeutic team is a multi-disciplinary team of practitioners with complimentary skills and experiences. We adopt a systemic approach to supporting families, providing help for families to stay together, or reunite.
We all want to “be the difference that makes the difference”. We can do this by providing psychologically-informed support to foster carers. This way, we can draw on and coordinate additional resources both internally and from our partners.
Our team is made up of:
A Clinical Psychologist
A Senior Parenting Practitioner
A Social Workers
Three Family Support Workers
A Practice Support Manager
A Manager.
We deliver a range of training to carers, adoptive parents, social care, schools and other professionals. We cover a range of topics to equip those living and working with Rotherham children to find effective and therapeutic approaches for their practice and care.
Foundations for Attachment Training Group
6 sessions The ‘Foundations for Attachment’ training is a 6-session programme for those supporting children who have experienced attachment problems, trauma, loss and separation in their early life. The training is based on Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) which introduces parents to 4 challenges of caring for children with trauma and loss.
Bonding Through Play
Bonding Through Play is a place to learn about therapy ideas by playing fun games. When a child is showing some difficult behaviour, playfulness can be hard to maintain. Practical games can help with deepening connections and helping your child emotionally regulate. We focus on physical play which works well with younger or less verbal children. This way you can help a child revisit vital play stages they may have missed.
Transitions
Face to face meetings are key to helping young people feel safe in their home setting. Moving around a lot can have a significant impact on a child's life. The aim of this training is to promote an understanding of the nature of change and transition, using the research and evidence available. Participants will be provided with practical ways forward in planning transitions and moves, what helps and what hinders.
NVR training by RMBC
Non-Violent Resistance (NVR) is an intervention that is useful for overcoming destructive, aggressive, controlling and risk-taking behaviour. The group will help you to reconnect to your child through acts of nurture and care. Carers will be supported to reduce violence and/or control in their home by learning about and implementing the key principles of NVR.
Caring for children that have experienced abuse
We aim to increase confidence in responding to allegations/disclosures and behaviours. By increasing your understanding of a child’s experience of abuse, you'll know how that impacts their view of the world and importantly how you can respond.
The Support For Change Therapeutic Team also regularly attend the Foster Carers Walking Support Group and other support groups.
They also offer consultations with foster carers, children's social workers, supervising social workers, school, virtual school, LAC nurse and anyone else in the child's network.
For the Children in Care, the team offer a variety of therapeutic interventions matched to the needs of the child/situation. We prioritise children who are stepping down from residential to foster care, or moving back to Rotherham from far away, reunification back to family.