TRAINING FOR FOSTER CARERS AND ADOPTERS
Based on Cornell University's TCIF programme
This training aims to answer questions. The questions that concern many carers looking after children who have had a difficult start in life.
For example:
The course can’t contain all the answers for every child. If only it could. But it provides answers that come from listening to, consulting with, and training, thousands of people who care for children who have had a difficult start in life, across Britain, Ireland and America over more than 20 years. Their wisdom is combined with the new ideas from psychologists and neuroscientists on what can happen to anyone who suffers trauma and adversity.
All of this is based on the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Families (TCIF) programme developed at the Residential Child Care Project at Cornell University, New York. The training also includes material from the new 2020 version of the TCI course for residential child care: TCI Edition 7.
The course takes a straightforward approach that makes difficult ideas easy to understand. It avoids waffle, jargon and psychobabble.
For example:
- How can I understand a child’s behaviour?
- How can I make a relationship with a child who doesn’t like or trust adults?
- How can I defuse an outburst?
- How can I get a child to open up and talk to me?
- How can I help a child manage negative feelings?
- How can I keep calm, despite provocation?
The course can’t contain all the answers for every child. If only it could. But it provides answers that come from listening to, consulting with, and training, thousands of people who care for children who have had a difficult start in life, across Britain, Ireland and America over more than 20 years. Their wisdom is combined with the new ideas from psychologists and neuroscientists on what can happen to anyone who suffers trauma and adversity.
All of this is based on the Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Families (TCIF) programme developed at the Residential Child Care Project at Cornell University, New York. The training also includes material from the new 2020 version of the TCI course for residential child care: TCI Edition 7.
The course takes a straightforward approach that makes difficult ideas easy to understand. It avoids waffle, jargon and psychobabble.
The full course is delivered over 4 or 5 days. (Often the short days so carers can attend while children are at school.)
The programme
These are the questions the training aims to answer:
SESSION ONE: Why does this child behave like this?
SESSION TWO: How can I organise myself to help these children?
SESSION THREE: How can I listen to and connect with a child?
SESSION FOUR: How do I prevent behaviour problems?
SESSION FIVE: How do I calm a child?
SESSION SIX: How do I help a child manage strong feelings?
The programme
These are the questions the training aims to answer:
SESSION ONE: Why does this child behave like this?
- Am I the only adult faced with these behaviours?
- How can I understand the effects of trauma and adversity?
- How can I understand how our brains work?
- What can happen to the brain when an adult or child suffers trauma or adversity?
- What can happen to children who have overactive survival brains?
- How can I begin to understand the effects of trauma and adversity on the child I care for?
- Why don’t the techniques I use with my own children work with this child?
- Does everyone know about this new approach to childcare?
- Why do some children deliberately injure themselves?
SESSION TWO: How can I organise myself to help these children?
- How can I look after myself?
- What can go wrong when we adults respond to a child’s Survival brain?
- How can I calm myself when stressed?
- How can I understand a child’s behaviour?
- Is all aggressive behaviour caused by the Survival brain?
- How can I assess an incident and work out what to do?
- What different ways do adults respond to children?
- What are the stages of an incident?
- How can I use a written plan to guide my response?
SESSION THREE: How can I listen to and connect with a child?
- How can I listen so children will talk to me?
- What can I say to get a child to talk?
- How can I convince a child that I’m listening?
- How can I prove that I’m concerned about how a child feels?
- How can I calm an emotional child?
- How do I connect first by using an empathic response?
- What can I do after connecting?
SESSION FOUR: How do I prevent behaviour problems?
- How can I make life easier for a child?
- How can I understand problems over boundaries and house rules?
- How can I negotiate with a child to reduce problems over house rules?
- Why don’t consequences work?
- How can I use consequences to help a child learn?
SESSION FIVE: How do I calm a child?
- How do I help a child deal with minor irritations and triggers?
- How do I give a child instructions?
- What do I need to remember about body language?
- How do I defuse an outburst?
SESSION SIX: How do I help a child manage strong feelings?
- What should I do after an incident?
- How can I help a child cope with stress?
- How can I help a child keep calm?
- How do I talk to a child after an incident?
- How do I talk to a young child after an incident?