In delivering effective psychotherapy for a child or young person, it is important to work with all the adults involved in their life. The following work programme incorporates a joined-up approach to supporting each child or young person. Supporting them fully in achieving psychotherapeutic change.
Once you have made initial contact with MindCraft Psychotherapy we can arrange a 15-minute phone consultation to meet one another and see if you’d like to proceed into therapy. You will then be invited to attend an initial assessment session either on behalf of the child or with the child for older teenagers.
Assessments
Parent / Guardian Assessment – Before work can commence with the child or young person, it is necessary to carry out a full assessment interview with the client’s parent / guardian. This allows me to gain a full history of the client which informs my theoretical understanding in creating my formulation of how the present difficulties have occurred, and how best to work with the client. This session can sometimes take up to 2 hours.
Contracting
Assessments with parents / guardians and clients is also the time to agree a working contract for the following therapy sessions. Our contract frames our terms of confidentiality and terms of how we agree to conduct ourselves in the therapy sessions. It is a document which is then signed by both parties and held on file by Mindcraft Psychotherapy.
Therapy Sessions
A clinical hour is 50 minutes long; it should be held in the same room at the same time each week, this allows for predictability, the creation of security and safety which are often crucial during the therapeutic process. Sessions are governed by the ethics of confidentiality, and the full UK Council for Psychotherapy Code of Ethics and Professional Practice. https://www.psychotherapy.org.uk
Parent / Guardian Review Meetings
It is usual to carry out at least one review per school term or 6 weeks, or as required. These sessions allow for the therapist to understand the ongoing context of the client’s life outside of therapy. It is also an important meeting to listen to the parent or guardians concerns or experience of their child or young person whilst they are in therapy. It is often necessary to assist parents or guardians in their approach to the child or young person, helping to support the parent or to mirror approaches used in the therapy which are proving helpful. This enables joined up approaches to creating change and can often help the home system to adapt and change should it be needed.