This is seen as being critical to the outcome of any successful placement and each young person at Apple Orchard receives a full and thorough evaluation of his needs. The assessment has a number of key objectives:
To formulate their sexually harmful behaviour.
To identify strengths and weaknesses in the young person.
To identify the problems, issues for learning, growing and changing.
To establish a baseline by which to measure progress.
To provide an evaluation of risk the young people may pose both to themselves and to others, and hence clarify their supervision needs.
As a therapeutic community, we are committed to providing a holistic approach to assessment and therapy that involves the therapeutic staff and education teams. Observations and hypothesis are shared in order to allow a consistent approach to young people during their stay at Apple Orchard.
Assessment is dynamic and hence conducted at various times of a young person’s placement. The aim is to obtain as much of a full picture of the young person as possible, providing the foundation for future work.
Therapy
Individual and group therapy is facilitated by qualified and experienced therapists who have specific experience in working with sexually harmful behaviour, in addition to the complexities often associated with such behaviour.
Therapists undertake their own external supervision to enhance their practice along with the support of the team.
Group Work
The effectiveness of working with young people in groups has long been recognised and it has a particular value with this client group.
Groups are run regularly throughout the week. Facilitated by experienced staff, young people are empowered to lead group work where appropriate. The daily running of the house and any arising issues for individuals, are addressed in house meetings but also encouraged to be reflected upon within group therapy.
In addition to facilitating reflection on these issues and
of group dynamics, groups are structured to address core elements associated with sexually harmful behaviour such as: young men’s health, sex education, anger management, assertiveness, self-esteem, social skills and teamwork are addressed through exercises, role-play and discussion. In order to increase individual and communal strengths the group is evaluated periodically and self-assessment is encouraged in this evaluation.
Individual
One-to-one sessions are an important aspect of therapy that allow a young person to explore, process and gain understanding of difficulties in a format allowing for emotional containment. Such work is tailored to meet the individual needs of a young person and hence a variety of approaches are employed. In line with evidence-based research, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is most commonly applied, along with attachment models that take into account the common themes of abandonment, victimisation and inconsistent care and boundaries.
structure