THERAPEUTIC SERVICES

The staff team at J&R Care are committed to working with unconscious processes and have the capacity to contain powerful emotions, which lead to challenging behaviour. The importance of children needing to regress and giving the opportunity for them to receive basic primary experiences is at the heart of the work we do.

Our work is primarily based on social learning where children can copy appropriate behaviour and positive role modelling and group work theories where how children live together within the home is an important part of their therapeutic development.

In addition to this we work closely with Independent therapists who can assess and offer different kinds of therapy dependent on the individual needs of the child.

Daily house meetings enable a forum where anti social, challenging behaviour and delinquency can be challenged and where the children can come to terms with the effects of past experiences. Children can within this space challenge authority in a contained way and also challenge each other’s behaviours and therefore enabling development of their own personal authority.

We provide unconditional care in that we provide a space where children can express themselves in a way that is not always acceptable within the wider community and yet remain safely contained by staff.

The involvement of the children in the running of their home is important to everyone working at J&R Care and as such the children are involved in the recruitment of staff and new referrals to the home are discussed at daily house meetings before beginning the admission process.

The children are also encouraged, through regular meetings with the Director to revise policies that affect them. Children are completely involved with the development and revision of their placement plans.

Although we understand that at times this is not possible, we try to work on the ethos of “Never giving up on a child” which means that the staff themselves need to be completely emotionally mature and contained and we employ a Tavistock trained Independent Consultant who meets all who work at Pembroke House on a fortnightly basis to enable us to understand our roles and deal with projected feelings we will experience while working in this environment.

We have an understanding of group dynamics and the effect this can have on all within the home. We are committed to working to enable us to deliver the most consistent quality of care.

We offer opportunities to the children we care for to develop secure attachments with particular adults through the key worker system and recognise the need for as little disruption in this area as possible.

As part of our commitment to group work theory and social learning the children are afforded the opportunity to attend group residential activity trips.

These have in the past included camping trips to Wales, including mountain walking, White Water Rafting, Sailing courses, cycling and water activity experiences. We have also worked with PGL activity holidays and other experimental organisations to ensure the children are included and not disadvantaged by being in care.

All these activity holidays are within a contained environment and staff enjoy and participate with the children.

Our hope is that the work we do will enable the children to recover from past negative experiences and hopefully move on from us, whether to family placements or independence with a feeling of being genuinely cared and thought about.