Direct Work with Children

This one-day workshop explores child protection issues from the perpective of direct work with children. Understanding how to communicate with a child and help them to access the support they need is crucial to the role of the professional working with vulnerable children.

The programme aims to help practitioners go ‘beyond the surface’ by using a ‘mentalisation’ model. The material covers the entire lifecycle of direct work including: the history of direct work in the context of child protection; theoretical concepts and models; practitioner responsibility; communicating with young children; the impact of direct work upon the practitioner; the importance of every child and the whole child; complex cases and older children; bringing direct work to a close.

The format of the day provides you with the opportunity for reflection and discussion amongst the group. Practitioners will benefit from innovative teaching methods which adhere to the Centre’s creative approach to learning.

Course objectives

By the end of the course you will have:

• Acquired a thorough policy and legal context for the importance of engaging with children and young people (CYP) effectively;
• Examined the reasons and barriers to why direct work may not be carried out as well as it should, and how to overcome these;
• Been reminded of and provided with reflective space to discuss individual practitioner responsibility in this very important area of practice;
• Experienced a number of techniques to use in your direct work;
• Developed an understanding of the possible impact of various attachment ‘styles’ on the way that direct work may be conducted;
• Engaged with relevant academic theories and concepts to enhance your skills and knowledge in this field;
• Have an opportunity to examine the personal impact of drect work upon the practitioner and the need to have support for this;
• Been introduced to innovative teaching resources and technologies to facilitate your understanding.