Published by The International Centre for Therapeutic Care
In residence includes regular columns from John Diamond of The Mulberry Bush School, as well as articles submitted as part of the bi-monthly Therapeutic Care Journal
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 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
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
Key words: Separation; Attachment; Loss; shame; alternative families; kith and kin In a previous article, “The Long-Term Effects of Separation and Loss on Sibling Relationships”, I shared a dawning awareness of an issue that arose during a walk in the woods with Ruth, my wife, during the first Covid 19 lock-down in the UK. Because … Read more
“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
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
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
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
For those separated from parents, annual events such as Mothering Sunday or Father’s Day can be troubling, even cruel occasions. I recall the time in Cambridge when a daughter shared with me the dilemma posed by a Mother’s Day card. She regularly sent birthday and Christmas cards to the mother who had abandoned her to … Read more
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
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
In this essay, I will look at the results of a survey carried out by my employer last year to assess the effectiveness of the school’s approach to racism within the organization, and the support offered to staff and children from BAME backgrounds within the organization. I would like to acknowledge that it was asked … Read more