In Residence

Dear Colleagues, A warm welcome to our newest members: Gareth Wall of SICs Ltd, Evert Wilbrenninck, and our first Italian member Luca Mingarelli, who is President of the therapeutic community Rosa Deiventi Group, and involved with the Il Nodo Group. The National Centre is the only free alliance committed to creating dialogue across the residential … Read more

It’s been fantastic to see more and more news stories recently highlighting the need for children to engage in risky play. The latest illustration of this – Kids Gone Wild – offers some wonderful insights into Danish forest kindergartens run by highly qualified pedagogues. With quite literally stunning images of small children climbing tall trees, … Read more

Translating Learning from a Group Relations Conference to the Work of a Therapeutic Community for Traumatised Children. Stephanie Davies, Mulberry Bush School. Throughout life we are constantly a part of different groups, and are often grappling with our own existence in relation to these groups. This can be through our desire to seek and become … Read more

  Reflections on the therapeutic relationship in residential provision at a specialist college. Residential care can be a very deliberate act of therapy done by professionals in a professional setting. It may be a kind of loving but often it has to look like a kind of hating, and the key word is not treatment … Read more

            Pictures of the Caldecott Community by Jean Mole. The sirens screamed and the bombs whistled overhead as my grandmother ran with me in her arms to the air-raid shelter. It was 1942 I was a few months old, my mother was in prison for shoplifting and child neglect and my … Read more

For some inexplicable reason we have been talking about Christmas games over recent weeks.  I know that is completely unseasonal, but that is how it is.  And we are all amused by the games we play at Mill Grove: traditions handed down to us by previous generations.  They include Schools, O’Grady Says, Bomber Coming Over, … Read more

A short while ago Cilla (that is what I will call her) came back to Mill Grove.  She had lived with us between 1986 and 1991, and was returning after a period of 25 years during which there had been no contact or information of her or her whereabouts.  It was a Saturday morning and … Read more

Dear Colleagues, A warm welcome to our new National Centre members; West Sussex County Council, Adrian Rocks (Tameside), Action for Children, Graham Ritchie of the Office for the Children’s Commissioner and Gary Ord. Our mission continues to create dialogue and share best practice across the residential and fostering sectors, and to promote the use of … Read more

Introduction: Therapists recognise the importance of endings; preparing a client for the ending of therapy or ensuring they are properly prepared for a significant break, such as a vacation.  Sometimes, events overtake the process and an ending occurs without preparation. Maybe illness or a sudden change of circumstances means that therapy cannot continue. In some … Read more

With the demise of Kid’s Company in August 2015 there has been a groundswell of critical comment about charities in the UK.  (For example, “It will take more than a fundraising overhaul to restore faith in charities” Ben Summerskill in The Guardian, 30th September 2015; “Fat cat charities rely too much on taxpayers” by Libby … Read more

One of the people who I now realise has influenced me greatly from my younger days is the Swiss psychiatrist, Paul Tournier (1898-1986).  He was the author of a number of books, eight of which I have on the shelves beside my desk.  The books are basically reflections on, and the retelling of, the stories … Read more

Dear Colleagues, A warm welcome to our newest members: Diagrama, Sandcastle Care, Rosie Canning, Action for Children, Fostering through Social Enterprise, and West Sussex County Council. The National Centre is the only free organisation committed to creating dialogue about therapeutic practice and sharing reflective practice, training and research across the residential and fostering sectors. Next … Read more