Children

Our objective

Our singular objective is to enable staff to help children recover from past trauma and improve their immediate and long-term wellbeing, happiness, and quality of life outcomes.

Our training approach to accomplishing this is based on

The application of trauma and PBS informed approaches to behaviours of concern to training staff. This provides an explicit evidenced based framework to support and guide practice, one which is more likely to be successful.

Training

Our training is designed to provide your staff with the knowledge and skills to enable them to help children recover from childhood trauma and go on to experience greater wellbeing and happiness in their lives. The corollary to this is reductions in behaviours of concern. Staff will feel confident in implementing proactive preventative and proactive developmental strategies as well as a range of evidence-based de-escalation strategies. A suite of restrictive physical restraint and breakaway techniques may also be taught. Organisations can rest assured of the most stringent application of the principles of least restriction and social validity in the formulation and teaching of these skills.

Values

Our courses is underpinned by a firm value base anchored primarily to The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and also the Principles of Individualised Child Centred Planning and Action. A commitment to reducing restrictive practices is a core value. We apply strict adherence to the principles of least restriction and social validity in consideration of all strategies, both proactive and reactive.

Background

Looked after children have often been through severely traumatising experiences (sometimes referred to as Adverse Childhood Experiences or just ‘ACE’s’ for short). This has the potential to have a serious impact on every aspect of their wellbeing including physiological, neurological, and emotional and social development. Behaviours of concern are a common consequence of past trauma and diminished wellbeing. Our training is designed to provide your staff with the knowledge and skills to enable them to help children recover from trauma and go on to experience greater wellbeing and happiness in their lives. It is not necessary for all residential staff and foster carers to become therapists. However, we do need them to be therapeutic in their approach to building relationships with young people and in how they understand and respond to behaviours of concern.

First and foremost, recovery from trauma requires the child to feel safe. Feeling safe isn’t just the absence of threat. It necessitates the feeling of a connection between the child and the care giver(s). Making connections requires carers to be accepting of the child and their needs, inquisitive about their wellbeing, empathetic in their general disposition and a willingness to get down onto the child’s level and simply have some fun. This ‘way of being’ with children forms the basis for recovery from past trauma and builds resilience to potentially traumatising events in the future (Dan Hughes Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy ‘PACE Model’).

Trauma informed perspectives

From a trauma informed perspective, we need to understand that behaviours of concern associated with ACE’s are perfectly rational responses to extremely abnormal circumstances. The behaviours that we find ‘challenging’ have served an important function for the child, that of keeping them safe from harm.  Furthermore, we must accept that traditional approaches to parenting are unlikely to be helpful in supporting change to such behaviours. Nor are simple behaviour modification approaches (star charts, punishment/reward schedules for example). These approaches require the child to have a degree of social and emotional adjustment which develops through exposure to an early experience of having an attuned, secure relationship with at least one primary caregiver. Sadly, for many looked after children, this was not their experience.

Frustratingly, behaviours of concern often become deeply ingrained and may persist long after the young person is removed from danger and is in the safe, caring hands of skilled residential workers or foster carers. Whilst at first these behaviours may appear intractable and impervious to change, adopting a therapeutic approach mediated by trust, empathy, curiosity, and consistency will promote both recovery from trauma and decreases in behaviours of concern.

Training

Trauma and Positive Behaviour Support Approaches to Behaviours of Concern Training (T-PABC Courses).

Our T-PABC courses blend the most pertinent elements of both trauma-based approaches to behaviours of concern and the theories and practices associated with Positive Behaviour Support (PBS). Organisations can therefore be confident that when our principles and practices are applied with fidelity, staff will be working within an explicit evidenced based framework to support and guide practice, one which is more likely to be successful.

We utilise trauma informed theories to provide staff with an understanding of why past trauma may lead to increased vulnerability for behaviours of concern. This includes modules related to child development, trauma, attachment, developmental delay, and guilt and shame. When working with staff and foster carers who are supporting children with learning disabilities, we examine the additional vulnerabilities identified for these children.

From PBS we access tools to help staff figure out which particular personal and environmental triggers and setting events lead to the occurrence of specific behaviours of concern. The idea of ‘maintaining consequences’ is also explored enabling staff to understand what purpose the behaviour serves the child (it’s ‘function’).

Understanding the meaning behind the behaviours of concern enables staff to then construct Behaviour Support Plans which are more likely to be effective because they are based on an evidence-based assessment.

Individualised Behaviour Support Plans

Individualised Behaviour support plans consist of proactive and reactive elements. They include an amalgamation of both trauma informed and PBS based strategies including amongst others; The PACE Model, The House Model, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Task Analysis, Martin Seligman’s PERMA Model, and Gary Lavigna’s approach to none-restrictive reactive strategies.

We recognise that working with children in residential services and foster care present different challenges. Training packages are tailored to reflect this.  

Pathways to Training

Participant Courses

We provide a suitably qualified and experienced coach to deliver a closed course for up to 16 (theory only) or 12 (theory and physical restraint) staff. These can be delivered in-situ at your school or at an appropriate remote venue. Course duration: 1 to 4 days.

Train the Trainer

The T-PABC Children Coaches foundation programme skills up candidates to cascade a range of SWPBIS modules and techniques to staff within their specific organisation.

For some organisations the role of ‘coach’ may involve more than simply cascading training. Lead practitioners and coaches may need to fulfil 3 key functions within their organisation:

1. The behavioural expertise function
2. The practice leadership function and
3. The managerial function

The foundation course explores these functions, and the roles individuals may be best suited to.

Train the Trainer (Advanced)

The foundation level may be supplemented with more advanced modules. These modules further enhance the skills and capabilities of coaches and will help ensure fidelity in the implementation, embedding and monitoring of Trauma and PBS approaches across whole organisations. In particular we offer modules relating to the three key functions identified above. This includes practice-based leadership, mentoring, functional behavioural assessment, and organisational approaches to the implementation of Trauma and PBS informed approaches