Addressing Intergenerational Trauma in an Adolescent Reunification Program: Case Studies Illustrating Service Innovation

AbstractAdolescents in out-of-home care generally have poor prospects for reunification with their birth families. However, for some adolescents in care, with deliberate support and intervention, there may opportunities for successful reunification. The Adolescent Reunification Program (ARP) is an Australian program designed to assist young people aged 12 –17 years return home to their families. The program focuses on supporting families, mentoring young people so as to meet their developmental and educational needs, and providing a safe home environment. It also included an innovative therapeutic component which focused on addressing the conseque nces of intergenerational trauma in order to help repair relationships between parents and children. The purpose of this paper is to describe the therapeutic component of the program and to examine the potential value of therapy in a family reunification context with a particular focus on client rec eptivity and preliminary evidence on outcomes. Using case illustrations, this paper describes the therapeutic component of the ARP and provides a preliminary evaluation of these components using a mixed methods approach, including standardised psychological assessments, qualitative interviews with p arents and young people, and reflections from the program workers. The therapeutic component of the ARP may have helped to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma by bringing focus to the interrelationships between how people feel and ...
Source: Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma - Category: Child Development Source Type: research