Our 1-2-1 Therapy Service

We work with love and hope – Jodien Hutcheson-Whisby, Individual Therapy Service Lead

The children and young people who come to reside in one of our therapeutic communities deserve and require extensive preoccupation from  a team of professionals working with them and caring for them.

Each of our therapeutic communities has an in-house Child Therapist (and in some settings, two Child Therapists). Our Child Therapists sit within our Senior Clinical Teams in each setting and contribute to the assessment and planning of appropriate treatment approaches.

Offering individual therapy sessions alongside the therapeutic work of iST and the high standards of restorative and healing primary care offered by the wider staff team, is a way in which we can maximise the treatment potential for each child. We believe this gives the best possible chance of building the foundations for psychological health and wellbeing that can be taken forward by the child into their future.

How it Works 

Once a child or young person has lived with us for approximately 6 months our in-house Child Therapist will be available to meet with them and assess if 1:1 therapy sessions are appropriate going forward in their time with us. It may be the case that the wider therapeutic work of the group is the best treatment option, but in many cases, it is deemed appropriate to blend the work of the group with individual therapy sessions, with the child or young person’s agreement. Should it be agreed and the child or young person is willing to begin, sessions are offered weekly on the same day, at the same time during term time and take place in designated and purpose built individual therapy spaces set within our grounds.

Ending 1:1 therapy is an important time in the therapeutic process and will be planned for appropriately; how long a child stays having 1:1 therapy will be carefully considered within the wider treatment plan based on the best interests and circumstances of each child or young person.

Our highly skilled 1:1 therapy team incorporate a variety of approaches – including play and art based therapy. Our overall approach is centred on psychodynamic principles which complements the wider work of Integrated Systemic Therapy on offer in our settings for the treatment of early life trauma.

We believe that:

  • The children and young people who live with us deserve to have the best possible experience of therapeutic care.
  • Offering therapeutic intervention at both group and individual levels, widens and broadens our chances of healing encounters.
  • The combination of 1:1 therapy alongside and within our iST model offers the best possible chance for in-depth healing processes to begin to occur.
  • Offering a range of therapeutic interventions will hope to establish a healthy relationship with therapy that the children can take forward with them into the rest of their lives.