Therapeutic services for local authorities and public sector organisations

We regularly partner with Local Authorities, Regional Adoption Agencies and other public sector organisations to provide a qualified specialist clinical psychology service to children, young people and families. We know that many children and young people experiencing difficulties need long-term and in-depth therapeutic input to help meet their needs. Our experienced team provide specialist psychological support to children and young people who might be experiencing a range of different difficulties, helping them (and their families) find a way forward and a positive conclusion.

Our therapeutic approach

Our therapeutic approach is always tailored to the needs of the child or young person.

  • Focused on the child or young person

  • Considers the whole system around them
  • Flexible and timely
  • Highly qualified and professional
  • Supportive and compassionate

Working with Gateway Psychology

We value our working relationships. We know that we are more likely to achieve positive outcomes for a child or young person when the system works together.

That’s why we do our best to go ‘above and beyond’ for the organisations we work alongside. From our administration support team through to the leadership, we work hard to provide a professional, flexible and timely service to our clients and the Local Authorities, Regional Adoption Agencies and public sector organisations we work with.

The Gateway therapeutic model

At Gateway Psychology, we aim to help each child or young person through the challenges or ‘gateways’ faced at a particular time, whether emotional, behavioural, relational or developmental. The Gateway Model explains how we work. Our therapeutic model is based on research about how trauma affects the brain, and informs the therapeutic interventions, assessments and training programmes we deliver.

Making a referral

Please get in touch with us to make an enquiry (either by email or phone). We will discuss the details of the situation with you.

Once we have all the details we need for the referral, we will put together a formal quote. We may suggest an assessment of therapeutic need to start with, as this will help give us an in-depth understanding of the child or young person’s needs and what therapeutic input is required.

We will open the case once we receive funding confirmation from your organisation (such as a letter of instruction or purchase order). Work with the child, young person or family will usually begin within 6 weeks of receiving funding confirmation.

Our services can help with:

  • Trauma

  • Attachment and relationship difficulties
  • Placements at risk of breakdown
  • Transitions between placements
  • Sibling relationships
  • Parent/carer stress or blocked care
  • Strengthening attachment relationships
  • Direct therapeutic interventions to the child/young person
  • Consultation to parents or carers
  • Consultations to schools/other professionals

Our therapeutic expertise

Research shows that using a multi-modal intervention is often the best way to support a child or young person. That’s why our clinical team are trained in a wide range of evidence-based therapeutic interventions to help achieve positive outcomes for the children and young people we work with. We will always consider their needs when putting together a package of support, ensuring that we use the most appropriate therapeutic approach*.

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) is a therapy, parenting approach and model for practice that uses what we know about attachment and developmental trauma to help children and families with their relationships.

Therapeutic parenting requires a special type of parenting to help support a child who has experienced a difficult start in life. While evidence suggests that therapeutic parenting can make a positive difference for children and young people, it can be a difficult approach to ‘get right.’ Therapeutic parenting support sessions give parents and carers the space to talk about their own feelings and difficulties, while providing them with one-to-one support in therapeutic parenting techniques.

Theraplay® informed interventions are a practical, play-based approach to help build relationships and attachment between the parent and child. They incorporate fun, lively activities and games. The parent/carer and child will play together, guided by a qualified Theraplay® practitioner. These sessions are usually informed by an assessment called a MIM (Marschak Interaction Method) to help inform the direction of the therapy.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a therapeutic approach to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences. Rather than focusing on changing the emotions, thoughts, or behaviours resulting from the distressing issue, EMDR allows the brain to process the trauma and begin to heal itself.

Therapeutic Life Story Work offers children the opportunity to explore, question and understand past events of their life. Within this, it gives them a voice and safe space to feel and express their emotions when making sense of past experiences and the relation it has to their current thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

BUSS® was developed to bring together the importance of loving relationships with the development of bodily regulation. A lot of work with children who have experienced disruption to their development focuses on relational and psychological therapies. These can be complemented by an intervention like BUSS® which is a ‘bottom up’ therapy, building that foundation of good bodily regulation and relationship so that a child or young person is more able to use other relationships and therapies if they might be helpful to them.

Systemic therapy focuses on relationships between a group of people, rather than solely on an individual’s thoughts and feelings. It helps with the relationships and connections between people within the system. This ‘system’ could be a family (and often is with the work we do at Gateway), or even a group of colleagues (such as care home staff).

The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is an evidence-based, intensive listening therapy designed to reset the nervous system and return from a feeling of threat to safety.

During SSP the facial and vagus nerves are stimulated with different sound frequencies. This helps to regulate the autonomic nervous system, encouraging a natural move into social engagement. SSP is safe, effective and enjoyable for children and adolescents, and proven to decrease anxiety and trauma related behaviours, improve emotional regulation and promote a calmer emotional and physiological state.

Play Therapy is a type of therapy where play and art materials are used as the main way for people to express themselves. Using play in therapy helps people to express themselves in their own way; especially if they are struggling to understand how they are feeling, or are finding it hard to put their experiences into words.

Play Therapy can be a particularly helpful approach for children in need of therapeutic support.

* These approaches are an example of the type of therapeutic approaches our clinicians are trained in. We regularly undertake additional training to ensure our clinical staff members are qualified in the latest evidence-based therapies.

Therapy for adopted children

One of our core specialisms is working with adopted children, adoptive parents and the system surrounding the child. Our team of highly qualified clinical psychologists and associates are experienced in the unique and sometimes complex challenges and difficulties that can arise in an adoption situation.

Gateway Psychology is a registered Adoption Support Agency. We are currently rated Outstanding by Ofsted for our work with adopted children and young people.

Testimonials

Our goal is to provide a high-quality, flexible and timely service that really makes a difference in the lives of the children, young people and families we work with.

“It is a fantastic service, always there to support and help our agency, we truly value the working relationship we have with Gateway. Thank you.”

“The service we receive is flexible and responsive to our needs.”

“I find Gateway’s advice invaluable and the feedback from parents is they find the support valuable to support them to parent their children. Staff are professional and knowledgeable in their field and extremely approachable and friendly.”

“I am able to discuss reasons for looking to refer a young person and family and gain advice which is hugely important. Work takes place within good timescales as the team is big enough and varied enough to meet the demand.”