How therapy helps children move on from abuse

Project
New Beginnings

Purpose
To support children who have been sexually abused to move on from trauma

Funding
About £200,000 a year including £115,000 from NHS Suffolk and money from local fundraising

Background
Each year New Beginnings helps turn around the lives of scores of children and young people who have been sexually abused. The Suffolk-based project, run by the charity Action for Children, has been going for 20 years and, as service manager Diana Porter explains, was the first scheme in the area to address the complex needs of this highly vulnerable group. “Before they could go to the child and adolescent mental health service, but there was nothing specific for them,” she says.

Action
The project, which employs trained social workers, psychologists and counsellors, works with children and young people aged up to 18 and their families, including babies and their parents and carers. Professionals refer children and young people to the service and the intervention begins with a home visit. The worker will meet and talk to the whole family. Young people agree to the referral beforehand and are the first to sign off their individual care plan.

The service uses a mix of therapeutic interventions, including psychological education, cognitive behavioural therapy, play therapy and psycho-dynamic approaches. “Just having someone sit and listen can be extremely powerful,” says Porter.

Young people usually start with two or three one-to-one sessions before moving onto group work. Meeting other young victims is hugely valuable, says Porter, as often children feel incredibly isolated and experience complex emotions including shame, blame and guilt.

The service also runs support groups for parents and works with siblings who may feel ?angry and confused about changes at home.

Outcome
In the past financial year the service received 171 referrals. On average, a fifth of cases do not initially continue, often because children and young people are “not ready”, explains Porter. However, they can come back to the service at any time.

Of the children and young people treated by the service from April 2011 to December 2011, the vast majority were abused by relatives, family friends or neighbours.

The service uses before and after questionnaires to assess young people, as well as tools such as the John Briere trauma symptom checklist for children.

Of the children and young people who move on from the service, 100 per cent show a significant improvement in emotional wellbeing.

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