No quick fix for children

The Government seems hell bent on quick fixes these days. Maybe they sense time running out for them, but it has long been common sense that where a stitch in time saves nine, that one stitch needs to be long and strong, not frayed and misplaced.

Two things have cropped up recently to emphasise this. One is their determination to recruit and fast track social workers to fill the gaps left by those who have more sense than to stay on (The Times reports on this here). The other is Lord Layard’s request (made earlier but reported by the BBC here) that we train more child therapists quickly.

The idea that “the additional [children’s] workforce could be drawn from those who already have experience working with distressed children” sounds good, but I read somewhere that they would be drawn mostly from community mental health workers (CMHW) – and they do not often have the experience that many of us have after years of working at the, er, playground face.

The contrast between the values of “experience” and “tick-box assessing” is troublesome. Of course the assessment should be thorough, and you can train someone to do this reasonably fast, but there is so much more than simply assessing. Would these new workers have gut instinct about what is troubling a child? Skills to allow a child to feel safe enough to open up? Play skills to help with expression? A feel for what other creative input might be more use than the officially recommended “treatments”? A good intervention for a specific child on a specific day – which can only be decided then and there?

I do wonder, because I have heard of children being referred to CAMHS for help and the school nurse is sent to do a preliminary assessment (for mental health and dyslexia, for god’s sake) or a CMHW doing two-thirds of an assessment and then deciding the “diagnosis” before completing it. One even had a family therapy MA that he was keen to point out to me, yet had not considered bringing in the family for therapy, because his form-ticking indicated a problem within the child (and, as everyone knows, you get the answer your question seeks)…

So whereas the Government seems to be being pushed in the direction of non-stigmatising mental health interventions for children, it all sounds like a quick-fix, when what is needed is a thoroughly thought-out system of counselling services in every school, staffed by well-trained, all-round therapists (yes, with CBT skills and assessment skills too) who have years of experience with all kinds of children with all kinds of presenting issues.

If this takes a long time to structure, so be it. Work with children is not quick – though it can often seem so when the problem is caught in time – and the training can’t be either. But it is the only way through. A sound stitch, carefully planned and executed. Preferably, by those who already have the skills.

To change the topic: if you’re looking for something different to use, I came across Steven Richfield’s Parent Coaching Cards a few weeks ago. You can find the blurb and examples here, but I bought them in the UK from ADDISS at their bookstore.