This Masterclass programme, facilitated by Dr Arnon Bentovim and Carol Jolliffe, will help practitioners working in social care, health, education and youth justice to deliver effective therapeutic work with children subject to sexual abuse and exploitation. The approach recognises that sexual abuse and exploitation occur in a context of significant adversity, and is based in Trauma Informed Practice which recognises common responses to adversity in childhood are traumatic, and such responses in association with a variety of social, psychological and genetic influences can trigger an extensive set of complex overlapping physical, behavioural and mental health responses. Trauma-Informed Practice TIP advocates that services should recognise the traumatic base of the problems presented to them and adapt their practice to encompass this understanding. The Hope for Children and Families Intervention Resources are a set of step-by-step guides, focusing on relevant themes, including Working with Child Sexual Abuse and Addressing Emotional and Traumatic Responses. Each module includes guidance notes, scripts, activities, and worksheets that can be organised into a customised treatment menu for each child or young person. They are designed to help practitioners from all types of services, training and levels of experience.
The Masterclass will present the Hope for Children and Families modular approach to developing core therapeutic skills to work with the most common forms of sexual abuse currently recognised including sexual abuse perpetrated in the family and family environment, and sexual exploitation of vulnerable children and young people, in institutional contexts, on-line, and in gangs.
Practitioners in social care, health, education and youth justice who need to develop their skills in working with children and young people who have been sexually abused and exploited should attend.
The programme will present an innovative approach, the development of a Common Practice Elements approach which capitalises on the knowledge embedded in evidence-based treatments identifying evidenced-based therapeutic procedures and integrates them into a Library of Modules.
