VIEWS & OPINION
Supporting young people and staff in SEMH provision through trauma informed practice
Comment by Dr LEANNE JOHNSON, Head of Trauma Informed Practice, Outcomes First Group
Supporting young people with lived experience of trauma is both incredibly rewarding but also very challenging, so we need to ensure that staff are equipped to look after their own needs. Supporting staff wellbeing enables them to better support the children and young people in their care, whether in a school or residential setting. Currently we are developing our Trauma Informed Practice (TIP) strategy, across OFG’s
52 schools and residential settings, which includes training for all staff, from administration to senior leadership, teachers and teaching assistants. Everyone is included, so trauma informed practice will become an embedded and integrated part of everyday practice. The training is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BOD), for the purposes of Continuing Professional Development. Complex and developmental trauma has devastating effects on a child’s natural development. It disrupts sensory development, leads to disassociation, attachment disorder and difficulties with emotional and behavioural regulation; this impacts not only their cognition and ability to learn, but their concept of self and their identity. Unable to self-regulate, these young people may experience continual high levels of stress hormones to keep them on ‘high alert’ in order to stay ‘safe’ from perceived threats in the environment or from others around them. This heightened state can trigger an autonomic flight, fight or freeze response.
TIP provides a greater understanding of the trauma behind the behaviour that a child may be presenting; and a process in which staff can more deeply connect with the child or young person, supporting to develop skills in regulation and reflection to increase positive outcomes for young people.
My aim was to create a simple and accessible model to promote standardised practice across OFG schools and residential provision. The model identifies the themes I believe are the most important when considering a trauma informed approach. The 3 Cs Model of Trauma Informed Practice, is a three stage process consisting - Connect, Co-Regulate and Co-Reflect.
Connect
‘Connect’ helps build relationships so young people feel ‘kept in mind’ throughout their day. Strategies include daily ‘Meet and Greet’ to help young people feel ‘seen’ and transition into school positively, and ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ encourage students to take the opportunity to do something for another person, and also to accept an act of kindness from another.
Positive praise can be overwhelming for traumatised young people and may lead to them sabotaging their success. More subtle, specific, and unexpected praise helps support a growing acceptance of their achievements to build self-esteem.
We strive to create a PACEful (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy) environment to build relationships. The Connect phase
February 2023
emphasises the importance of adults approaching young people to repair relationships in a non-shaming way – to re-connect relationally as soon as is possible, to reduce fear of rejection.
Co-regulate
The environment needs to feel ‘safe’ to reduce hardwired survival responses. We can support this with patience and by providing consistency, repetition, and predictability, structure and clear boundaries throughout the day. ‘Co-regulate’ helps colleagues to empower young people to develop skills to recognise and manage their emotions.
‘Co-regulate’ strategies include emotions coaching and other practical skills such as 5,4,3,2,1 Grounding Skills and Brain Stem Calming Approaches. Consideration of more sensitive curriculum areas, for example, PSHE and Sex and Relationships topics, is important to not re-traumatise young people.
Co-reflect
‘Co-reflect’ supports by providing therapeutic boundaries that are emotionally containing, and integral to helping traumatised young people to learn safe and effective ways of living their lives. ‘Co- reflect’ recognises shame as a barrier to openness, to progression and learning. The shield of shame protects from a feeling of ‘badness’ and fear of rejection, which can be triggered by the slightest threat of being criticised (or rejected).
‘Co-reflect’ is not about a lack of boundaries, it is about providing choice and inclusive boundaries which are collaborative. The use of natural and logical consequences help young people learn how to reflect and to understand cause and effect, to positively prepare for their future to be the best they can be.
By working in this way, we can help young people in their recovery from trauma.
The four day training begins with a distilled summary of TIP which includes the impact on ourselves of working with trauma - secondary trauma, transference and counter transference; the impact of trauma on young people; and what trauma ‘looks like’ in the classroom/ residential settings. This is followed by The Foundations of TIP, focussing on Connect, Co-Regulate and Co-Reflect. We promote Dr Dan Siegel’s Healthy Mind Platter - ‘seven daily essential mental activities necessary for optimum mental health’ to strengthen the brain’s internal connections and an individual’s interactions with their environment and others around them. Once initial training is completed, the local Clinical Wellbeing Teams liaise with the Senior Leadership Team to manage and monitor progress. They provide support for staff with monthly reflective practice groups focussed on staff wellbeing, alongside TIP consultation sessions – to enable TIP informed discussions about the progress and development of individual children and their journey of recovery.
The Clinical Wellbeing Teams are also instrumental in supporting services with TIP reviews three times a year, with an OFG accreditation awarding bronze, silver or gold levels of practice. Working with young people with (SEMH) needs can be both professionally and personally challenging but also incredibly stimulating and rewarding. Supporting recovery from trauma, witnessing the outcomes and what can be achieved in the partnership between these resilient, inspiring children and young people and our colleagues who support them, is incredible.
www.education-today.co.uk
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