Trauma Therapy: Exploring the Views of Young People in Care

Abstract

Young people living in residential care are more likely to have experienced past abuse, neglect, and adversity that result in the experience of trauma. Their subsequent behavior can present challenges to care-givers and hinder their engagement in services designed to help them understand and manage such experiences. This research aimed to explore young people’s views on what traumatized youth need from therapists to help them understand and respond to their experiences. Six young people aged 14 to 17 years old, residing in residential and secure care in the United Kingdom, were interviewed. Thematic analysis found three global themes related to the need for therapists to; involve young people in decision-making, take time to build trusting relationships, and create the right environment for treatment. Additionally, the findings indicated that alternatives to trauma therapy could be useful, which did not necessarily involve trauma exposure, and that this could be facilitated by primary care-givers as well as therapists, implying a need for more structured and integrated approaches between multi-disciplines involved in the residential care of young people. Young people’s views can assist in the development and design of future trauma-informed and trauma-focused treatment services within residential care settings.

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