Therapeutic input for children and young people
Starley Hall benefits from its own on-site therapeutic team, based in ‘The View’, a bespoke building offering a quiet, reflective space for young people and their adults. As well as supporting young people, we provide support and training to the staff who care for and educate our young people as we believe that supporting carers is as important as offering timely support for young people.
Our therapeutic team is comprised of a Clinical Psychologist, a Holistic Massage and Relaxation Therapist, and a Music Therapist. We also have access to a Consultant Speech and Language Therapist for specific interventions and assessments.
Once a young person has settled into Starley Hall, the Clinical Psychologist will often meet with the young person to introduce themselves and let them know what the therapeutic service can offer.
For some young people, direct therapeutic support from a member of the therapeutic team is helpful. For other young people, direct input may feel overwhelming. The therapeutic team work closely alongside Care and Education staff to support all of our young people and can tailor our interventions to meet each young person’s needs.
Some of the standardised assessments and interventions we can offer are:
Intellectual Disability assessments
Assessment of social communication differences
Neurodevelopmental assessments (Autism), and referrals for ADHD assessments through our close links with NHS Fife
Communication supports including Talking Mats, social stories, and visual timetables
Evidenced-based Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) based interventions, including the Decider Skills (widely used throughout the NHS)
Trauma Focused CBT
Creating accessible materials, e.g. visual symbols incorporated into social stories/visual schedules
Supporting self-regulation and self-awareness using techniques such as breathing and relaxation
Emotion regulation work
Direct support for parents/carers of the young people in our care
As well as individual assessments and interventions, the therapeutic team have an integral role in developing Starley Hall’s overall therapeutic environment to meet the mental health and developmental needs of our young people. All our managers, and the majority of our staff are trained to Level 1 in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP). We provide onsite training, including:
Understanding Autism and Social Communication Needs
Trauma-informed formulation sessions to understand the way in which developmental trauma impacts on behaviour
Positive Responses to trauma-based behaviour
In addition, there are specialised courses accessed through external providers as required, such as:
Epilepsy
Diabetes management
Brain injury
Sexually harmful behaviours
Self-harm
Where required, we liaise with and refer to outside partner agencies, including CAMHS, ADHD services, Tourette’s Scotland, specialist drug and alcohol organisations, specialist services for sexually harmful behaviour and occupational therapy.
