Reflections on designing and delivering an attachmentfocused parenting group for foster carers Lucy Harvey & Emma Mcquillan, Trainee Clinical Psychologists, University Of Surrey Dr Laara Jupp & Dr Danielle Shbero Wandsworth Looked After Children s Team/Wandsworth CAMHS
Aims To describe the process of running an attachmentfocused parenting group, based on the PACE model, for Foster Carers in Wandsworth. To share some of our reflections and describe the challenges we encountered in delivering this group.
Background A number of group training programmes for foster carers are available to increase carers understanding of attachment theory, in order to enhance relationships with the young people they care for. We designed and ran a group for foster carers based on Dan Hughes PACE model Led us to reflect upon factors that might act as barriers to engaging with the content of the group and possible ways to overcome these.
The group 6 sessions, 2 hours each: Overview of attachment theory and introduction to PACE: Playfulness Acceptance Curiosity Empathy Practical applications and review session 10 foster carers, with varying levels of experience, training and involvement
PACE Central attitude of Dan Hughes Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Demonstrates carers are available and sensitive to child s inner world and experiences Aims to deepen emotional connection and develop trust Playfulness: Lightness, interest, fun and enjoyment Acceptance: Non-judgement of a child s thoughts, feelings, wishes and experience Curiosity: Interest in understanding a child s experience Empathy: Child knows you are with them in their experience
Playfulness session Key message: The difference between Playfulness and playing Some good examples about being playful during discipline Consideration of how to ensure that was playful and not shaming Interesting discussions about playfulness at different ages Being interpreted as flirtation Incorporating a number of ages dancing A lack of confidence reported by some of the carers
Acceptance session Key message: Differentiating between accepting behaviour and accepting young person s inner world Mixed responses within the group (e.g. education) Good discussion about barriers to acceptance Led onto some thinking about looking after carers own wellbeing Group members who found the previous session difficult did not attend this week
Curiosity session Key message: Curiosity versus asking lots of questions Group members shared examples about using their own experience to open up discussions with young people they cared for Checked understanding of the model so far Linking what we had been learning back to improving relationship with young people group members were caring for.
Empathy session Key message: Remaining empathic and barriers to empathy Group members were more able to challenge/disagree with each other in this session Linked each question back to impact on relationship with young person Watched a video of Dan Hughes in a therapy session and asked group members to point out elements of PACE they noticed
Reflections We reflected on foster carers previous experiences of attachment theory and on their narratives around the young people they care for and we thought about how group members confidence and familiarity with the content could be reinforced through communication and two-way feedback with supervising social workers. We found issues of organisation and consistency to be a barrier to group members engagement in the sessions.
What went well? Closed group format, which encouraged discussion and developing confidence in group members, and feedback with supervising social workers were thought to be strengths of the programme. Feedback session with SSWs Feedback from group members
Feedback from foster carers Everyone in our group was able to express their views and everyone had a go. I liked hearing about everyone s different views. It really makes me think about different ways and forms of communication. PACE is very understandable and will be useful to me in the future.
What we learnt as supervisors The difficulties that arise when different trainees deliver training to those who developed it. A reminder about assessing the competence of trainees. The need for discussions about disclosures and group dynamics, including helping trainees manage difficult conversations. The amount of work needed in setting up a group. What next How to measure the longer term effects of the training? Look at whether supervising social workers are using the training in their work with foster carers?
Conclusions In our experience of delivering this group to foster carers, organisational issues, common misconceptions about attachment and the inclination to position the problem within the young person they cared for were thought to pose barriers to engaging with the group content. A closed group format, which encouraged discussion and developing confidence in group members was thought to be a strength of the programme. The importance of shared narratives between professionals, particularly related to attachment theory, was discussed.
Questions? Thank you!