Helping staff respond to growing mental health needs

The Mulberry Bush Charity has opened applications for its foundation degree in Therapeutic Care of Children and Young People which will help equip staff with skills to respond to the growing mental health needs following Covid 19.

With growing concern about the impact that the COVID-19 impact will have on the mental health of children and young people it is vitally important that those working alongside, and caring for them are equipped with the expertise to offer them the support that they will need.

Developed by The Mulberry Bush and the University of the West of England this award-winning foundation degree ​uses work-based learning to support practitioners working alongside children and young people who exhibit social, emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties, to develop their therapeutic understanding and practice.

The course develops the capacity of students to support the emotional growth of children and young people through meaningful relationships. A key concept of the course is recognising the influence of unconscious processes and understanding behaviour as a form of communication.

The Mulberry Bush is a national charity working to transform the lives of all those affected by childhood trauma, through specialist therapeutic services. ​At the heart of the charity’s practice experience is The Mulberry Bush School, a residential therapeutic special school with over seventy years of experience of working with children with severe attachment difficulties.

These children receive highly integrated, specialist therapeutic care, treatment and education from a highly trained staff team on an outstanding site in Oxfordshire.

The Mulberry Bush Outreach service takes the principles of the Mulberry Bush out to other organisations within the childcare sector by providing training, consultation and support to schools, care services and organisations working with challenging or vulnerable children, their families and communities.

Dr Dave Roberts, head of Outreach at The Mulberry Bush says ​”Across the Mulberry Bush we recognise the rise in mental health difficulties for children and young people. Our Foundation Degree equips students with the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the children in their care. The course helps students make sense of the needs of the children providing a more informed and reflective environment where children can thrive”

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