As such, we deliver “a different level of care” to that which is normally seen in residential care services.
David and Emily set up this community service with the mission to create the “right care in the right place at the right time”. The challenge was to realise that in setting up such a service, there would be a shift in thinking about what a therapeutic service would look like.
We provide a therapeutic service that offers skilled coaching and training for direct line staff to support individuals who may use behaviour to support their communication. We are able to provide ongoing understanding of formulation and support interventions, in collaboration with external agencies, for staff working with individuals on a daily basis. Often frustrated when we worked in a more traditional model of ‘therapy’ that provided individual or group sessions, David and Emily discovered that outcomes were more likely to be achieved and maintained when delivered via a therapeutically informed environment that provided opportunity for proactive and therapeutic engagement.
Providing a psychologically informed therapeutic service
We are certainly in an exceptional position in being able to understand psychological issues that may arise. However, what has been clear is that the therapeutic element is actually more about what is experienced by the individual for the ‘other’ 23 hours of the day as so much can be “undone” in regards to good therapy if the person lives the rest of the day in an environment that is unable to support the therapeutic process. Given the experience and professional capacity and skill of the Clinical Team, and the fact that the philosophy, value base and ethos has been set from the outset to provide a psychologically informed therapeutic service, our mission is to embed this into direct care practice by coaching, mentoring and training the staff teams.
