Therapeutic Input: Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
The home uses the Foundations for Attachment model (Golding, 2017), which comes from principles used by Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) or often known as the origins of Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy (Hughes, 2012) on how to therapeutically parent children. Foundations for Attachment is a three-day training course that all staff will be required to complete (endorsed by the Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Institute) that trains staff on the following:
- Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy principles (PACE)
- Understanding the challenges of parenting
- Blocked trust
- Intersubjectivity
- Shame
- Hidden and expressed needs
- Therapeutic parenting
- Building connections
- Managing behaviour
- Taking care of self/ blocked care/ and attachment history
DDP therapy can help children who have been hurt and neglected by their families in their early years. Children can be traumatised by these experiences and find it challenging to feel safe and secure within their new families. This is also known as developmental trauma. It is not unusual that the experience of being parented in the present reminds children of the way they were parented in the past. Even though they are no longer being hurt or neglected, the children feel like they are or think that they might be in the future. The therapist helps the child’s relationship with their carer’s. This is completed by talking with the child using an affective-reflective (a-r) dialogue. This is a conversation that involves feeling as well as thinking. The therapist explores all aspects of the child’s life; safe and traumatic, present, and past. The therapist and parents’ intersubjective experience of the child help the child get a different understanding. This becomes integrated into their autobiographical narrative which in turn, becomes more coherent.
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy – DDP Network: https://ddpnetwork.org/about-ddp/dyadic-developmental-psychotherapy/
Within the home, we take these principles by using PACE to complete therapeutic parenting due to the evidence base research showing positive outcomes for children. Resource Library – DDP Network
Therapeutic Blueprint; Hannah Dobbs (DDP Therapist)
Over the last sixteen years, Hannah has worked in children’s residential care in the UK and the USA. Her roles have included Support Worker, Assistant Team Manager, Registered Team Manager, Head Counsellor, and Service Manager. Hannah has worked in various children’s social care settings in local authority and the private sector working with children/young people and group living support such as residential communities, therapeutic homes, emergency response homes and outreach support. She has also worked in adult mental health crisis response. Her passion and experience lie in teaching and training other professionals within therapeutic communities/ children’s homes on how to parent children who have experienced developmental trauma.
Qualifications and Training
A British Psychology Society (BPS) accredited BSc (Hons) degree in Clinical Psychology and Level 1 and Level 2 training in Dyadic Development Practice, Psychotherapy & Parenting. She also has a graduate status in the BPS. In addition, she has a CPCAB level 2 in Counselling Skills, Level 3 in Children and Young People in the workforce and a level 5 in Leadership and management in health and social care and training in advanced signs of safety, social work model. Hannah is also a trainer in Foundations for Attachment programme, as well as the Nurturing Attachments Programme which uses the principles of DDP/ PACE that have been created by Dr Kim Golding (2017) alongside Dan Hughes, which has been endorsed by the DDPI institute.
Services provided to the home:
Team Around the Home Support
This monthly three-hour meeting with all support workers or/and management within the therapeutic home provides psychological insight into why a child is presenting the way they are by using the principles of DDP/PACE. This is done by completing reflection work as a whole always to reflect back on the Foundations for Attachment Model /PACE to understand the child’s internal world and what may be contributing to the challenges faced with the home.
Consultation
These will be monthly home consultation with Homes’/ Registered Managers and the team to support them in making sure the home is using and implementing therapeutic parenting throughout its ethos as well as within the paperwork and home environment.
Training
Foundations for attachment
This is a three-day training course that all staff will be required to complete (endorsed by the Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Institute) that trains staff on:
- Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy principles (PACE)
- Understanding the challenges of parenting
- Blocked trust
- Intersubjectivity
- Shame
- Hidden and expressed needs
- Therapeutic parenting
- Building connections
- Managing behaviour
- Taking care of self/ blocked care/ and attachment history
Hannah can offer other training, upon request from Adecyn Homes, to support individuals develop within their roles, strengthen a whole team when dealing with a challenging child or young person. These are:
Managing Stress, Burnout, and Secondary Trauma in staff
This is a one-day CPD accredited course that includes:
- The breakdown and understanding of the key terms
- Risk factors in residential
- Symptoms
- Psychological underpinning of all three
- Protective factors
- Preventative measures
How to match children to your home
This is a one-day CPD accredited course to increase the longevity of children living in your home by understanding the importance of how to match a child to your home, the procedures, and processes in doing so, and how to evidence success. Subsequently, reducing the number of placements a child has, which helps improves the lives of the child and young people being supported.
Additional training includes the following
- Managing Stress, Burnout, and Secondary Trauma in staff (CPD Accredited Course)
- How to match children to your home (CPD Accredited Courses)
Team Around the Home Support
This monthly reflective three-hour meeting with all support workers or/and management within the therapeutic home provides psychological insight into why a child is presenting the way they are by using the principles of DDP/PACE. Support is provided to the home in how to parent their children therapeutically.
Therapeutic Blueprint also release amazing podcasts which can be accessed using the following link: