Welcome to our October edition of the IC newsletter. The International Centre is a free alliance of like-minded organisations and individuals who either practice or wish to learn about the role of therapeutic care – especially residential, foster care and adoption – for children, young people, their families and communities. We communicate with our member networks and share articles, information and news via ‘The Therapeutic Care Journal’ (The TCJ) which is published bi-monthly.
Our 2019 conference
Our 2019 Conference ‘Trauma Informed Practice; what works with children and families’ in partnership with IRCT and Family for Every Child’ was held at Woodbrooke Conference Centre on 25th/26th September. Feedback from delegates has been very positive.
Day 1 focused on ‘recovery through narrative’ with an opening keynote presentation by Lisa Cherry, followed by presentations and workshops by Dr Neil Thompson (reflective practice), Carly Kingswood (Life Story Work) and Nandor Grosch (Hungarian film-maker working with young people in care). The theme for Day 2 was ‘Learning from Practice and Research – the evidence base’ with presentations by Dr Caryn Onions, The Mulberry Bush, Sylvia Duncan, IRCT, and Juliana Trujillo (Juconi, Mexico) from Family For Every Child, and Dr Miriam Silver (independent consultant).
An evening viewing of the film ‘Resilience’ about the use of ACEs to inform policy in U.S. States created a rich discussion.
Learning From Action International Conference
The 9th International Working Conference LFA 2019 will be held at Ostello al Deserto, Chiavenna, Italy on the 18th to 20th October, offering an opportunity for direct learning, through living together in a temporary community, with the aim of understanding actions that influence and mobilise individuals and groups and which are not usually expressed either because they are unconscious or too primitive to be effectively mentalized.
Click here to find out more
Book now for our next Research Group meeting
Come and join us at MB3 on 28th November to think about developing research in your organisation. With presentations from Dr Heather Price, UEL presenting on research into The Mulberry Bush model of ‘reflective practice’ and other research studies. The day will include a reflective group, lunch and refreshments, all for just £20.
Click here to find out more and book your place.
October 1st edition of the TCJ
In this month’s edition of The TCJ we have articles from Rita Baptista, a therapeutic care practitioner at The Mulberry Bush School who publishes a paper on Using a reflective seminar technique to understand the unconscious transmission and reception of feelings when working closely with traumatised children. This is an adapted version of an assignment written for the foundation degree in ‘therapeutic care with children and young people’ accredited by UWE.
Alexandra Jarvis of the Immigration Advice Service publishes a sobering account ‘Migrant families with No Recourse to Public Funds’ (NRPF)’ the article raises the issue of children who are at the mercy of underfunded public services, leaving them to cope in the worst of situations. The IAS looks at the challenges faced and what changes can be made in order to prevent children experiencing further deprivation.
Keith White publishes his two regular articles, the first ‘Resilience revisited’ questions established notions of resilience in child development, and wonders how it is that some children despite massive deprivation can still express a capacity for concerns and empathy for others – he invites dialogue about this from TCJ readers.
This paper is illustrated with photos from the recent Mill Grove holiday in Snowdonia.
His second paper ‘The loneliness of the long distance child in care’ has direct links with the first and further explores the concept of resilience. A moving account of identity and identification with place, through the eyes of a former Mill Grove resident.
We finish this edition with another paper ‘What is therapeutic in the therapeutic community’ by Stefan van den Langenberg and Jack Dekker, originally published in the IJTC in 1989 and retrieved from the Planned Environment Trust Archive at The Mulberry Bush Third Space (MB3) by Jen Galloway.
As always, if you have any events, thoughts or comments that you would like to share with the membership, please do not hesitate to contact me.
John Diamond