Therapy and Clinical Services

The clinical service currently comprises the director of clinical services and four clinicians with additional access to independent practitioners working on a sessional basis.

The service employs clinicians with a broad mix of experience and skills drawn from both psychotherapeutic and forensic psychology backgrounds. This enables the matching of an individual's needs with therapeutic approach, whilst also offering Therapy, Integrated Therapeutic Care, Assessment & Risk Assessment, and Training.

Therapy

Individual therapy sessions are available to all young people and are tailored to the young person’s needs. A range of psychological and psychotherapeutic methods are used with the young people. This might include, for instance, cognitive-behavioural or person-centered approaches. The focus of sessions might be:

• Working with the young person to promote resilience and to develop skills and strengths, eg in emotion regulation or anger management.
• Working with the young person to develop understanding of themselves and insight.
• Supporting a young person in processing and coming to terms with trauma.
• Reducing risk related to sexual or violent behaviour.

An important part of the work of the team is also to ensure that effective links are maintained with other services involved with the care of young people including CAMHS.

Integrated Therapeutic Care

The team works very closely with Care Staff and Education staff to ensure that work with young people is consistent and integrated. The young person’s therapist works directly with their care team starting with a contribution to the Multi Discilpinary Placement Plan and then attending team meetings, advising on management and risk, assessing and monitoring progress and change, and sharing information that supports the young person's care.

Clinical staff are trained in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention alongside Care and Education staff to support a consistent and integrated approach.

Involvement in and contribution to Looked after Children reviews is an important part of the work of the Clinical Team.

Assessment and risk assessment

The team is able to assess risk in relation to suicide and self-harm, and other problematic behaviours including sexual and violent behaviour; and to assess a young person in relation to their therapeutic needs.

Training

The Clinical Team contributes to Bryn Melyn Care’s training programme, offering training to staff, for example, in attachment theory and in assessing and managing risk of suicide.