Magpies and Paint Minding the Gap in Children's Mental Health Presentation by Dr Mary Glover 28th April 2018
Jas; living with uncertainty Age 10 In foster care; placement precarious No contact with birth parents Risk to other children School unable to give continued support New school as yet unidentified Limited funding
Living with uncertainty Historically in the context of being parented Currently; school [the only stable factor hitherto] Currently; foster care
Self-regulation Attachment style Lack of attunement Temperamental; reactivity “responsiveness to change in the external and internal environment, (Broekhuizen et al 2017, p137).” Temperamental; self-regulation “processes such as effortful control and orienting that modulate reactivity” (Broekhuizen et al 2017, p137).
Holding the boundaries Keeping safe [a few ground rules] The room is yours for the next 50 minutes
Play Making a house; then another one; then another one
We will keep you safe You will always be given a home Someone will always look after you Sometimes a mum can’t manage to look after their children and they need other people to do it for them It is never the child’s fault
What will happen if----- I put water on my bed I pull my wall paper off I push some-one downstairs
“I will look after your chicken”
Self soothing “They can’t stop me liking magpies”
Imagination I’ll make you some cake You make me some cake
Play What happens when a block of flats catch fire?
I trust you Introducing art materials Gradually making more books and toys available “willingness to nurture their creative initiatives fostered ownership of the art supplies in a way that heightened their sense of agentic participation” (Ryan 2011, p 127)
I trust you Pivotal moment in therapy “Trust and trustworthiness have been regarded as essential to co-operation and, thus prosociality” (Malti et al 2016, p263)
Validating the story Stories we live by Stories can only be re-authored when we know the original narrative The importance of validating the story
“They can’t stop me liking magpies” A beautiful girl that will always be a friend to magpies.
References Broekhuizen, M, Slot, P, van Aken, M, & Dubas, J 2017, 'Teachers’ emotional and behavioral support and preschoolers’ self-regulation: Relations with social and emotional skills during play', Early Education And Development, 28, 2, pp. 135-153 Malti, T, Averdijk, M, Zuffianò, A, Ribeaud, D, Betts, L, Rotenberg, K, & Eisner, M 2016, 'Children's Trust and the Development of Prosocial Behavior', International Journal Of Behavioral Development, 40, 3, pp. 262-270 Ryan, N 2011, 'Creativity in treatment: The use of art, play, and imagination', International Journal Of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, 6, 1, pp. 127-129