Ofsted Inspection Reports

Our work as an Adoption Support Agency was inspected by Ofsted in July 2022, and their reports have now been published. We we delighted to be given a judgement of Good, which we feel reflects the expertise, flexibility and commitment which our therapists offer to adopted children and young people and their families. The full report is published on the Ofsted website and can also be downloaded here, along with a child-friendly summary.

Social Communication webinar

Sarah, our specialist Speech, Language and Communication Therapist, presented at last week’s South Yorkshire Autism Fayre, and we were able to record part of her webinar. Here she is talking about how she works with children and young people to help them to feel more confident about communicating with other people.

Evaluation Report

A couple of weeks ago, we took ourselves away from the centre for a Business Development Day. This was enormously productive and felt like a real celebration of our centre and everything we have worked to establish, as well as an opportunity to review our services and plan for the future.

Out of this discussion we have produced our first Annual Report, which summarises the feedback we have received from children and families as well as our plans for the coming year. You can read it here:

Evaluation Report Apple Tree Centre 2019 – public

Reflections on Certificate in Creative Counselling for Young People

My name is Fiona Hutchings and I am an Associate Therapist at The Apple Tree Centre.  I’ve offered to write some reflections on my experience of the Creative Counselling for Young People Certificate training last year because I found this course both challenging and really rewarding.  I would like to begin by assuring the reader that this is an objective piece of writing and in no way swayed by the fact that I work alongside the course facilitators.

I have  worked with young people both as a counsellor and in social support settings since 2002 and I completed my placement as a trainee counsellor with the University of Sheffield. I initially trained in the Person-Centred model and I’ve always tried to be open to working in whatever way makes it easiest for my client to communicate their experiences and feelings.  This means that alongside talking therapy in sessions I’ve previously undertaken and used additional training around use of images, image making, writing and music in therapy. I’ve also enjoyed training and peer discussions around narrative and metaphor, incorporating characters from games, books, TV and film, all of which has helped me connect with clients who felt concerned about being  judged for their interests. But deep down, I knew that I struggled with the concept of ‘playing’ in therapy.  

The Meaning of Life

A few weeks ago I went to hear Shami Chakrabarti speak. She was funny, wise, humble and fallible, so when an audience member asked her: “What is the meaning of life?” – I sat forward in my seat, hoping that she would provide an insightful answer. And she did. She said:

“The meaning of life is other people.”

people

Building Bridges

The last year has been an increasingly busy one at the Apple Tree Centre. As we expand our range of work, our team of therapists, and our client caseload, we are learning all the time about what parents need from us as an organisation, and what our therapists need to feel comfortable and confident in the work that they do.Bridge (1)

 

As Non-Directive Play Therapists, we have always emphasised the role of parents in the therapeutic process, and the importance of a trusting relationship – a ‘therapeutic alliance’ – between therapist and parents. We endeavour to make parents and carers feel comfortable and welcome in the waiting room, and sometimes inside the therapy room itself; and we encourage them to attend regular progress reviews, where they can discuss the progress their child is making, the questions they have about the process of therapy or about managing their child’s behaviour, and make sure that the therapist and parents still have the same hopes, are working towards the same goals.

On Reflection

We have passed the half-way point in this term’s Child-Parent Relationship Therapy course. Our group of parents has been learning to spend half an hour every week in ‘special play time’, following their children’s lead and commenting on what they see.

reflection

A lot of our focus has been on reflecting the feelings which children express through and around their play.