BOOK
Supporting the Mental Health of Children in Care
Jeune Guishard-Pine | Suzanne McCall | Jenny Pearce | Gail Coleman-Oluwabusola | Siobain Bonfield | Lisa Robinson | Sam Warner | Christine Cork | Olatayo Afuape | Tonie Lawrence-Mahrra | Eleanor Havsteen-Franklin | Hannah Baron | Devinia Malcolm | Sheri Mosuro | Zoe Lander | Sidra Aslam | Lucie Shuker | Emily Wilkens
(2016)
Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
Combining contemporary research with practice findings, this book shows how we can improve the mental health of children in care.
Expert contributors highlight the challenges that children face and propose innovative models of practice which have been proven to improve outcomes. The book describes the difficulties children in care commonly encounter, such as vulnerability to self-harm, substance misuse or inappropriate sexual behaviour. It goes on to explore therapeutic interventions, such as art therapy or integrative therapy, which can be used to address the root of these behaviours. With a range of clinical and practical perspectives, it also makes recommendations for further training for foster carers, for reinforcing professional support networks and for all agencies to have a developed understanding of cultural considerations when working with children in care.
Those committed to improving the mental health of children and young people in care, such as psychologists, psychiatrists, CAMHS professionals and social workers, will find this book an invaluable source of evidence and inspiration.
Supporting the Mental Health of Children in Care addresses numerous topics that are at the nexus of the child welfare system and mental health practice. The authors provide clear, poignant, and actionable perspectives that can assist professionals in gaining a deeper understanding of the underlying needs of children in care. This text addresses these needs through a culturally competent and trauma-informed lens that is cognizant of the integral and pertinent features of child development and how these are impacted by placement in foster care. Supporting the Mental Health of Children in Care is a great resource for anyone invested in providing care, support, or services to children involved with the child welfare system.
Mike Sherman Psy.D.,Clinical Psychologist and Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellow
We must not ever underestimate the achievements that children in care can make, and how many create fulfilling lives for themselves. Neither must we underestimate the role that foster carers can play in helping this to occur. This book gives us the opportunity to bring research findings into these debates and offers valuable insights into the important role of research-informed practice.
From the foreword by Jenny Pearce
I was deeply touched by some of the case material, and found much of the content of the book extremely thought-provoking in relation to my own practice.
In chapter 11, there is a courageous and important discussion relating to integrated practice that is relevant to anyone working with children in a therapeutic way and which I found refreshing and positive. The focus on thinking systematically is not only relevant for working with children in the care system but, I believe, in working with all children. I would even go so far as saying that it should be recommended reading for all child and adolescent counsellors.
Lynn Martin, integrative psychotherapy trainer/supervisor
Children and Young People, BACP
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supporting the Mental Health of Children In Care: Evidence-Based Practice, edited by Jeune Guishard-Pine OBE, Gail Coleman-Oluwabusola and Suzanne McCall | 3 | ||
| Foreword | 7 | ||
| Acknowledgements | 10 | ||
| Introduction | 11 | ||
| 1. ‘I Try Hard Not to Scream’ Responding to the Distress of Children in Care by Siobain Bonfield and Jeune Guishard-Pine | 20 | ||
| 2. Children Under Five In Care - What a Shame! by Christine Cork | 31 | ||
| 3. Working with Looked After Children Who Self-Harm: Understanding Coping, Communication and Suicide by Sam Warner and Clare Shaw | 40 | ||
| 4. Drugs and Alcohol as a Form of Self-Medication from Trauma and Past Abuse Among Children in Care by Lisa Robinson and Jeune Guishard-Pine | 53 | ||
| 5. ‘Run Run as Fast as You Can, You Can’t Catch Me I’m the Gingerbread Man’: An Assessment of Brothers in Care within the Context of ‘Safe Therapy’ by Olatayo Afuape | 63 | ||
| 6. Working with Sexually Inappropriate Behaviour and Incest: A Case Study by Tonie Lawrence-Mahrra | 73 | ||
| 7. ‘Can I Go Home?’ Art Psychotherapy with Foster Children Returning to Their Birth Family by Eleanor Havsteen-Franklin | 88 | ||
| 8. ‘The Anarchy and the Ecstasy’: The Therapeutic Journey with Children in Care by Jeune Guishard-Pine and Hannah Baron | 102 | ||
| 9. Professionalizing Foster Carers by Jeune Guishard-Pine, Sheri Mosuro and Devinia Malcolm | 114 | ||
| 10, ‘Pass the Parcel’: Keeping Therapeutic Relationships Accessible for Very Traumatized Young People in Care by Suzanne McCall | 124 | ||
| 11. The Illusion of Individual Psychotherapy for Children in Care: Integrated Working as a ‘Kaleidoscope’ by Jeune Guishard-Pine and Emily Wilkens | 135 | ||
| 12. On Becoming a Mental Health Specialist Working with Children in Care: A Polemic by Zoë Lander | 148 | ||
| 13. Culturally Competent Practice for Children in Care byu Gail Coleman-Oluwabusola | 155 | ||
| 14. ‘Safe Therapy’: Involving Children in Care in Developing Child Mental Health Services by Sidra Aslam | 167 | ||
| 15. Kith and Kin: Providing a Therapeutic Space for Kinship Carers by Olatayo Afuape | 182 | ||
| 16. Child Sexual Exploitation and Multi-Dimensional Safety for Children in Care by Lucie Shuker | 198 | ||
| Endnote | 208 | ||
| List of Contributors | 210 | ||
| References | 213 | ||
| Subject Index | 239 | ||
| Author Index | 244 |