Terry Philpot - A Childs Journey to Recovery

Delivering Recovery

Series edited by Patrick Tomlinson, Strategic Development Director, SACCS

This is an essential series on practice for all professionals and parents involved in providing recovery for traumatized children and young people. Each book offers a practical and insightful introduction to an aspect of SACCS unique and integrated approach to children traumatized by sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

also in the series

The Childs Own Story

Life Story Work with Traumatized Children

Richard Rose and Terry Philpot

Foreword by Mary Walsh, co-founder and Chief Executive of SACCS

ISBN 978 1 84310 287 8

eISBN 978 1 84642 056 6

Reaching the Vulnerable Child

Therapy with Traumatized Children

Janie Rymaszewska and Terry Philpot

Foreword by Mary Walsh, co-founder and Chief Executive of SACCS

ISBN 978 1 84310 329 5

eISBN 978 1 84642 463 2

Living Alongside a Childs Recovery

Therapeutic Parenting with Traumatized Children

Billy Pughe and Terry Philpot

Foreword by Mary Walsh, co-founder and Chief Executive of SACCS

ISBN 978 1 84310 328 8

eISBN 978 1 84642 581 3

also by Patrick Tomlinson

Therapeutic Approaches in Work with Traumatised Children and Young People

Theory and Practice

Patrick Tomlinson

Foreword by Paul van Heeswyk

ISBN 978 1 84310 187 1

eISBN 978 1 84642 073 3

of related interest

Shattered Lives

Children Who Live with Courage and Dignity

Camila Batmanghelidjh

ISBN 978 1 84310 603 6

eISBN 978 1 84642 254 6

Nurturing Attachments

Supporting Children who are Fostered or Adopted

Kim Golding

ISBN 978 1 84310 614 2

eISBN 978 1 84642 750 3

Helping Children to Build Self-Esteem

A Photocopiable Activities Book, Second Edition

Deborah M. Plummer

Illustrated by Alice Harper

ISBN 978 1 84310 488 9

eISBN 978 1 84642 609 4

Self-Esteem Games for Children

Deborah Plummer

Illustrated by Jane Serrurier

ISBN 978 1 84310 424 7

eISBN 978 1 84642 574 5

Talking with Children and Young People about Death and Dying, Second Edition

Mary Turner

Illustrated by Bob Thomas

ISBN 978 1 84310 441 4

eISBN 978 1 84642 560 8

A Childs Journey to Recovery

Assessment and Planning with Traumatized Children

Patrick Tomlinson and Terry Philpot

Foreword by Mary Walsh

Jessica Kingsley Publishers
London and Philadelphia

First published in 2008

by Jessica Kingsley Publishers

73 Collier Street

London N1 9BE, UK

and

400 Market Street, Suite 400

Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

www.jkp.com

Copyright SACCS Limited 2008

Foreword copyright Mary Walsh 2008

The right of Patrick Tomlinson and Terry Philpot to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Applications for the copyright owners written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher.

Warning: The doing of an unauthorised act in relation to a copyright work may result in both a civil claim for damages and criminal prosecution.

The cover image is posed by models.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Tomlinson, Patrick, 1962

A childs journey to recovery : assessment and planning with traumatized children / Patrick Tomlinson and Terry Philpot ; foreword by Mary Walsh.

p. ; cm. --(Delivering recovery series) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-1-84310-330-1 (pb. : alk. paper) 1. Psychic trauma in children--Diagnosis. 2. Psychic trauma in children--Treatment. 3. Child mental health services. 4. Psychiatric social work.

[DNLM: 1. Child Abuse--therapy--Case Reports. 2. Stress Disorders, Traumatic--therapy--Case Reports. 3. Child. 4. Needs Assessment--Case Reports. 5. Social Work, Psychiatric--methods--Case Reports. 6. Stress Disorders, Traumatic--etiology--Case Reports. WM 172 T659c 2008] I. Philpot, Terry. II. Title. III. Delivering recovery.

RJ506.P66T647 2008

618.928521--dc22

2007028457

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 84310 330 1

eISBN 978 1 84642 740 4

To Georgia for her support and encouragement.

Patrick Tomlinson

To my favourite sisters Sr Gemma LSA, Sr Anne Mary LSA and Sr Adele LSA with fond memories of Worcester and the summer of 06, and remembering the late Sr Elizabeth LSA.

Terry Philpot

A Note and Acknowledgements

The names of the children and young people mentioned in this book have been changed, along with any details which might identify them.

As with the three previous books in this series, for ease of reading we have referred to a child and young person as she and all adults as he, except where, in the case of mother or other female adult, it has been necessary to be specific.

We would like to thank Mary Walsh, chief executive, SACCS, for her support for this series; Janie Rymaszewska, Richard Rose, Ann Pugh, John Baker, Billy Pughe, Barbara Jones, Kimberley Newton and Carolyn Kartal, all of whom have been involved in the development and management of the SACCS Recovery Assessment and Plan; Lorraine Easterbrook for the use we have made of her work analysing assessment methods, which we gratefully acknowledge.

We should also like to express our thanks to Jessica Kingsley, managing director, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, and Steve Jones, commissioning editor, for help and advice.

Foreword

For the past 20 years SACCS has been developing a programme to work therapeutically with children who have been traumatized through abuse and neglect. In the beginning this was pioneering work in a context where sexual abuse was a relatively new phenomenon. We saw children who might have been abused and conducted assessments for local authorities and for the courts. These assessments were based on the best possible information about the childs history and knowledge of her experience and distress; the level of emotional development; and, through innovative techniques especially developed to communicate with children, a thorough understanding of the childs needs and her wishes and feelings.

Since those early days we have developed a range of services to help this very vulnerable group of children to recover from their emotional injuries. In the same way as a child with a physical injury needs treatment if she is going to recover, so it is with children who have sustained emotional injuries, usually at the hands of one or both parents, through no fault of their own. And just as a physical injury, if left, will heal, albeit in a distorted way, so will emotional injuries, but the distortions that the child will be left with will not be a limp or a weak limb, but rather distortions in the way that they think and feel. These distortions may have long and wide-reaching effects, and may determine the course of the childs life, and the life of others whom that child may come into contact with. It may mean that she becomes aggressive, withdrawn, highly unpredictable in her behaviour and difficult to manage. She may be self-destructive and suicidal. She may run away, or destroy everything that is important to her. She may pose a sexual risk to others, both now and in the future. She may be driven by abject terror, unable to trust others and living in a constant state of inner chaos. These are children living at the margins, and because of their behaviour, which some see as challenging, they are identified not as victims, which is what they are, but rather as the problem itself.