International Centre News – 1st December 2021

A warm welcome to our December 1st edition of the IC and TCJ news. This month we bring you a fascinating range of papers from practitioners and researchers from across our international community. In this edition we are pleased to be able to publish two research papers – the first is Part 3 of the … Read more

Early Trauma and Staff Dynamics in Therapeutic Communities. By Andrew Collie

Introduction Therapeutic Communities and other residential placements for children and young people are expensive resources that are usually only used when other community or family -based placements have failed repeatedly.  These failures are usually due to behaviour from the child that prevent their carers from functioning as carers, and can often be linked back to … Read more

A world authority on group dynamics: Harold Bridger and his international connections. By Annie Lord

A short biography on Harold Bridger: Harold Bridger was born in Tavistock Crescent London England on 15 May 1909, the oldest of five children. His father came from Russia and his mother was born in England as a child of Polish migrants. Bridger attended Marylebone Grammar School continuing with mathematics at University College London and … Read more

What is Your Favourite Colour?  By Keith White

Key words: Natural world; Planet Earth; child-level; transitional objects Recently, during a Golden Wedding anniversary celebration, there was a surprise impromptu version of the TV game, Mr and Mrs. (For those unfamiliar with this, the idea is to find out how well a husband and wife know each other.)  On this occasion, the questions were … Read more

Part 3: The Chab Dai Butterfly longitudinal research project, Cambodia. Authors below.

“The staff need to believe in those children; to give them a chance and have confidence in them”: Survivor Recommendations from the Chab Dai Butterfly Longitudinal Research Project, Cambodia James Havey, Glenn Miles, Lim Vantheary, Nhanh Channtha, Sreang Phaly, Ou Sopheara, Pheouk Phallen, Kang Chimey, and Wayne Hancock Introduction The Butterfly Longitudinal Reintegration Research Project … Read more

What is the Impact of Attending Mulberry Bush School Groups on Adoptive Parents, Special Guardians and Fosters Carers? By Sophie Warrell

Introduction. ‘The Mulberry Bush School (MBS) works with some of the most challenging children in the country, and with their families and carers. Our aim is to help the children and their families thrive and achieve fulfilling lives within their communities and as part of society.’ (MBS website, 2021) To enable the school to provide … Read more

Can Youth Work Underpinned by Therapeutic, Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles Promote Confidence and Resilience? By Mark Brady

Within this assignment I have chosen to explore whether therapeutic youth work which is informed by mental health and wellbeing principles can help build confidence and resilience in children and young people. I am writing this from my perspective as a Service Manager for Amicus Foster Care, an independent fostering provider. “Amicus supports families to … Read more

Lies and Life Stories. By Keith White

We have come a long way from the time when it was said that everything a child said about abuse and abusers was to be believed.  While a child’s well-being and interests are paramount, and everything a child says is listened to and taken seriously, things are more complex than that. But it is well … Read more

The Gardener and the Boy. By Keith White

It all happened as we were getting ready to walk back to our house from the beach we tend to think of as our own at Borth y Gest. We have been holidaying here since 1976, and there must have been a huge number of different sandcastles and sand-creations on the beach since then.  Most … Read more

International Centre News 1st October 2021

A warm welcome to our October edition of the Therapeutic Care Journal, and the International Centre news. This month we bring you a selection of papers from the Mulberry Bush Level 5 Foundation Degree in ‘Therapeutic Work with Children and Young People’ accredited by the University of the West of England. All the papers published … Read more