foster wales merthyr tydfil offers incredible support for foster carers, including the benefits of a therapeutic practitioner and support staff for all of our fostering families.
At Foster Wales Merthyr Tydfil we listen to our foster carers and do what we can to improve the support that we offer them.
In one of our regular consultation sessions, our foster carers told us that they wanted more support.
They told us that this would improve stability and help our families on their journeys in caring for children.
Following this meeting last year we acted accordingly and created a new role – the first for a local authority in Wales – for a Therapeutic Practitioner.
unsure what this means?
Read this blog to find out what we mean by therapeutic practice and gain further understanding of how this can help the children we look after and their foster families.
We spoke to Nicole our therapeutic practitioner about what she does and how this helps our foster carers and children.
here are 5 themes that will help explain what Nicole’s role is and why it is important for our foster carers:
- What is a therapeutic practitioner?
- How did you prepare for the role of therapeutic practitioner, what is your background?
- What sort of therapies do you offer?
- How does the process work with your team?
- What difference do you make to foster children and foster families?
In this blog we share Nicole’s answers which will provide a useful summary of what we offer. We will show why Foster Wales Merthyr Tydfil and Merthyr Tydfil Children’s Services have invested in providing additional support in this area.
what is a therapeutic practitioner?
“All of our team at Foster Wales Merthyr Tydfil work therapeutically, but my role is to offer interventions and therapies to children and foster carers to improve stability and provide early interventions.”
This means that Nicole and her team are skilled in recognising potential challenges as early as possible and are able to suggest to foster carers when additional support might be needed.
There are many children that need a loving home and some may have well-being issues that can present at different times. We are able to work closely with the child and the foster families to manage this within your family dynamics. We help children from the earliest stages, when signs that additional help is needed may be subtle.
how did you prepare for your role of therapeutic practitioner, what is your background?
“I started social work in 2003, did my degree and qualified as a social worker in Merthyr Tydfil in 2008. During my work within Merthyr and the surrounding areas so far, I have worked in Children’s Services, Adult Services and Intake. Most recently I was in CAMHS* in Anuerin Bevan for 5 years. It has been a challenging few years for me personally and this role offers me increased flexibility to care for my family whilst being able to utilise all my skills and experience to continue to help local children.”
The experience that Nicole has gained over 20 years as a social worker made her a very strong candidate for this newly created role. Nicole recognises and understands Neuro Diversity and Mental Health challenges in children and young people. This makes Nicole perfectly placed to offer help and support through the proven success of recognised therapies.
*Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
what sort of therapies do you offer to foster families?
“I am able to offer a lot of help and support, from an initial chat to a full review of potential therapies. We are able to offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This is very useful for helping children deal with issues they face on a daily basis (rather than focusing on the past). We also offer Dialectic Behavioural Therapy. Although similar to CBT this is specifically adapted for children and young people who feel emotions very intensely. We help them to manage emotions. DBT helps you focus on changing negative thoughts and behaviours whilst also accepting yourself for who you are and where you are in your healing / improvement journey”.
why is this so important for foster carers and the children they look after?
“We know that children in our care are likely to have experienced trauma. Being placed in the care of a foster family which is new to you and outside of your experience can in itself be a traumatic experience, regardless of how lovely your foster family are and how happy you may eventually be in their care. It is important that we recognise this and support Trauma Informed Approaches. This means that we can help reduce the negative impact of trauma experiences and supporting mental and physical health outcomes.”
let’s learn a bit more about the challenges our foster families might need help with:
These approaches are used to help children and young people who present with Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing issues. Nicole helps them learn the skills and strategies to both understand their difficulties and to positively amend thoughts and feelings to improve well-being and outcomes.
the sort of Mental Health issues that our children and young people may present with are:
- Emotional Dysregulation
- Managing Strong Emotions
- Distress Tolerance
- DSH
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Low mood
- Low confidence and self-esteem
- Trauma
- EBSA (Emotionally Based School Avoidance)
- ND (Neuro Divergent) presentations
- Challenging behaviour
what is CBT?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is based on the concept that we can get ourselves out of negative thoughts, cycles and feelings. Our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are connected, By providing coping mechanisms and ways to deal with overwhelming problems, by breaking them down in to smaller parts, daily challenges can be overcome, and a more positive outlook can be achieved.
what is DBT?
Dialectic Behavioural Therapy (DBT) is based on CBT and is also a talking therapy. However it is specifically adapted to help people who feel emotions very strongly to understand and accept their feelings. It then provides skills to manage the feelings and be able to make positive changes in your life.
‘Dialectical’ means trying to understand how two things that seem opposite could both be true. For example, accepting yourself and changing your behaviour might feel contradictory. But DBT teaches that it’s possible for you to achieve both of these goals together.
but don’t forget:
No two children are the same, and their trauma experiences and responses to things vary. That’s why we support and treasure such a mix of foster carers from all walks of life.
did you know that you can:
- work full-time
- rent your home
- be part of the LGBTQ+ community
- have children of your own
Furthermore, what matters is your commitment to caring for children that haven’t had the best starts to life.
In turn, we will support you with early interventions and therapeutic practices.
learn more about the range of support we offer our foster carers here:
https://merthyrtydfil.fosterwales.gov.wales/support-and-rewards/
how does the process work with your team in regard to providing therapeutic support to foster families?
“We work together as a team, and I have two support workers who help me offer the best support possible to our children and foster families. This is a brand-new role created specifically within the fostering team. We started at the beginning of March and there are three of us working together. I am the therapeutic practitioner and I have two brilliant support workers – Fern and Amy who work with me”
tell us more!
“My role is based on referrals, and these come to us from the child’s social worker or the foster carers supervising social worker. Amy and Fern keep me informed of referrals as they come in. The three of us have a therapeutic catch-up every Monday morning and go through referrals and updates on plans. We discuss possible therapies as solutions. I follow up with visits to children and foster families with their support worker. I will assess, formulate a plan and allocate the necessary support from the team.”
Obviously, we have many foster families with different circumstances, but significantly they are all supported. You’re not out there on your own. We promote a team approach, and you’ll work with dedicated social workers, teachers and therapists, not forgetting your own family and friends.
what difference does the therapeutic support that you provide make to foster children and foster families?
“Although we are a new team, we are already seeing results! One of our foster carers had recently told us that they wished to stop fostering, but after a relatively simple intervention, they have been able to work with us to understand the behaviours of the child they are looking after, and they are happy to keep caring for the child and remain a foster carer.
This is exactly what we are here for, some of our role is working with the children – but a lot of it is with the parents, foster carers or special guardians to give them coping skills and strategies – it’s parenting support”.
Is the time right for you to foster with us?
In summary, here at Foster Wales Merthyr Tydfil we want to encourage more people to become foster carers and/or transfer to local authority fostering. We listen to our foster carers, and we offer financial and practical support in addition to a range of training to help our families develop and get the most out of their fostering journeys.
why choose to foster with us?
Undeniably, choosing to foster is a big decision, and part of that decision is being confident that you will be supported throughout your fostering journey. At Foster Wales Merthyr Tydfil we offer a lot of support, help and training to all our foster carers, and the development of therapeutic practice is a further commitment from us to our foster families. It must be remembered that not every child or family will need our help, but we are proud to offer this support to those that do.
Basically our aim is to provide care and stability for our local children, by ensuring we have dedicated and committed foster carers. When we consider our priorities, it is especially the wellbeing and futures of local children that we focus on. Therefore we invest in things which will help local children. Undoubtedly one of the main ways we can do this is by recruiting new foster families. Furthermore we then need to give first class support to our foster families. During your time as a foster carer with us, you will be offered the highest levels of training and support. As a result, you will be likely to find that by fostering with us, we can achieve amazing things together. The support that we offer you will enable you to offer a stable and loving home to a child that needs it.
join us in making a difference, by fostering with your local authority.
If you’d like to know more about fostering in Merthyr, please get in touch here
For people residing outside of Merthyr, please visit www.fosterwales.gov.wales to find your local authority fostering service, or further information.
