Looked-after children. Care-experienced children. Children in care. Different names for our most vulnerable in society. But one term covers them all: traumatised children. Thank goodness then, for The Tartan Lighthouse Therapeutic Services, bringing light into the darkness.
Therapy for Care-Experienced Children Glasgow
By Tracy Mukherjee
Unless you are involved, unless you have a child in need, you will not be aware of the waiting times for children awaiting a CAMHS appointment. CAMHS is the acronym for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and is the starting point for assessing and planning mental health care for our children. For most care-experienced children, it’s pretty much a given that they will have to be referred to this service. Such is the demand on the service, in areas such as Lanarkshire and Glasgow, the wait is several years. For children who have experienced early developmental trauma, for looked-after children, they’ve already had a wait for help, for security, for contentment.
With many services being cut due to pressures on funding, centres such as The Notre Dame Centre, a centre specifically designed to care for children who have experiences trauma, have been forced to close their doors.
Thankfully, there are emerging services out there, committed to keeping The Promise to our Scottish care-experienced children. A promise ‘Ensuring that its children and young people grow up loved, safe and respected so that they realise their full potential.’ The Promise Scotland
Welcome to The Tartan Lighthouse.
The Mission
Play Therapist Fran Morrison and Family Social Worker Kirsti Barrie used to work at The Notre Dame Centre. When it closed its doors in June of this year, Fran and Kirsti felt they simply could not let their proven therapy model be lost with the centre. Their mission: to provide accessible, trauma-informed support for children, families, and professionals navigating emotional and developmental challenges. To provide support for families and children who have been affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES).
The therapy is truly transformative. Both Fran and Kirsti work together: Fran with the child, Kirsti with the caregiver. In these therapy sessions both child and adult learn how to foster resilience. The child learns to believe in themself, to feel a growing sense of safety, to allow themselves to breathe out. And allowing love in.
The Dual Model is an unique way of working. Whilst other therapies may be available and appropriate for children with emotional needs, the Dual Model helps the child to understand they are not the problem. Because their adult is there too. It’s a family affair, with no onus on the child to be ‘fixed’.
And There’s More…
Fran and Kirsti are more than aware that the two of them can’t help all of the families that require The Tartan Lighthouse. So as well as the parallel sessions, the duo are planning to train others to increase awareness of the needs of the looked-after child. They also plan to provide retreats for those working with vulnerable children and their families as well as parents and carers. This will be a space for people to come, to talk, to unburden. Caring for a child who has experienced trauma is not easy, is exhausting, is heartbreaking, is terrifying. And a lot of the time, is soul-destroying. The Retreat will give participants a place of calm reflection and hopefully a lot of laughs too!
The Tartan Lighthouse opened its doors by self-funding. Referrals are coming in with funding from appropriate organisations. But in order to keep costs down, Fran and Kirsti need our help. They have organised a Crowfunder appeal to help support their critical work.
And it is critical. A child whose early years have been plagued with uncertainty, loneliness and fear carries that burden throughout their life. Intervention at the earliest possible time can avert a whole host of potential crisis in adolescence and adulthood.
This is not an inevitable path. We can make the change through therapeutic services like The Tartan Lighthouse: a beacon of hope.
For more information on therapy for care-experienced children in Glasgow –
- Phone: 077860812211
- Email: Info@tartanlighthouse.co.uk
- Website: www.tartanlighthouse.co.uk
- Crowdfunder
