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 create a picture of what has happened.
To identify strengths and weaknesses in the
young person.
To identify the problems, issues for learning,
growing and changing.
To begin a process whereby expectations are
clarified between the young person and adults,
enabling foundations for building an open
working relationship.
To establish a baseline by which to measure
progress.
To provide an evaluation of risk the young
people may pose both to themselves and
others.
Therapeutic and care staff adopt a team approach.
In addition to the more formal psychological evaluation undertaken by the
therapy team, the care staff and the education team meet to share the observations
they have made during the time the young person is at
Apple Orchard.
The aim is to obtain as full a picture of the young person as possible.
This assessment provides the foundation for future work.
Therapy
We offer therapeutic programmes that are individually
tailored and will reflect the particular needs of each young person but
generally will entail focussing on their psychosexual, cognitive and emotional
development.
Our aim is to provide weekly individual and group therapy sessions. These
are led by qualified and experienced members of the team, who have experience
in this specialist field.
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 both staff
and young people. The daily running of the house and any arising issues
for individuals are addressed in these groups.
In addition, group work is carried out to address those issues which led
to the young person being placed at Apple Orchard. Primarily this includes
their offending behaviours. In addition, young men’s health, sex education,
anger management, assertiveness, social skills and teamwork are addressed
through exercises, role-play and discussion. The group is evaluated periodically
and self-assessment is encouraged in this evaluation.
Individual
Another aspect of treatment is individual therapy.
This time allows the young person to address issues that may be too threatening
to address on a group basis. Often young people work on abandonment, victimisation
and trust issues in this context. Family relationships can be sources of
pain and confusion for the young people, which they may also choose to talk
about with their individual therapist.
Family Work
For every young person the family is of great importance and although the majority of our work is with young people, we also have a role in helping their parents/carers. We do, in some cases, offer family work. We fully recognise the importance of regular contact between family and young people placed here. It is our aim to work along side close family members to ensure the best possible support network for the young people in our care.
Evaluation
An individual’s progress in the programme is constantly evaluated so that the team can take account of changes and note areas that still need further work. Each young person is encouraged to participate in this planning process. We believe young people should have input into the articulation of their goals and as professionals we are committed to helping them achieve those goals.
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