DART (Domestic Abuse Recovering Together)

DART is run by the NSPCC. It is a weekly 2-hour group that runs for 10 weeks. The programme is for women and children who have experienced domestic abuse and want a space to talk to each other about domestic abuse, learn to communicate and rebuild their relationship.

. The programme aims to:

• understand what domestic abuse is
• learn how to talk about domestic abuse
• express feelings in safe ways
• know they are not to blame
• identify protection strategies
• build confidence and self esteem
• for women, the programme aims to help them explore how domestic abuse happens and how it affects children  

Women and children attend together. They work together as a group for an hour at the start of the session, then take part in separate activities before coming back together at the end of the session. 

Criteria for the programme:

• children must be 7-14
• the perpetrator must not be living in the family home and must no longer be in a relationship with the mother
• programme is designed for one mother and one child per family, but if there is more than one child in the family they can be invited to complete the programme with the other children at a later time 

Here is the referral form 

and here is an information leaflet for mothers 

and the DART website here Domestic Abuse, Recovering Together (DART) | NSPCC Learning

 

Maia and Lift Project for Girls

Maia and Lift, delivered by Advance, provides support for young women and girls who have experienced or who are at risk of domestic abuse. 

 

Coram Creative Therapies for Children and Young People

Coram run both music and art therapy for young people from Camden, which takes place from the Coram site at Brunswick Square. Creative therapies can be incredibly helpful for children who have survived, or are surviving, DV, 

Music Therapy is aimed at helping children to express their emotions non-verbally and to help them build trust through creating an open and safe space with their therapist. Children and young people referred to music therapy do not need to have any musical skills or experience

Art Therapy can help identify new strategies for managing feelings, thoughts and behaviours at home and at school. They can build resilience in the child and encourage and support the child, their parents and teachers through the process of making positive changes. Children and young people referred to an art therapist do not need to have previous experience or skills in art.

Ordinarily, referral for music or art therapy should come from the young persons class teacher or SENCO, but Coram are currently able to accept referrals from us (at 10 June 2021). 

Here is the Coram Creative Therapies leaflet

and here is the creative therapies referral form

If you'd like some advice about creative therapies before referring, please call 020 7520 0311 or email [email protected] 

 

Healing Together

Healing Together is a six-week trauma informed programme offering six 121 sessions for children aged 6-16 who have survived domestic abuse.

The programme aims to ensure children affected by domestic abuse are able to access early trauma informed help. Each session has been carefully crafted so children can learn about how their body and brain works together, their feelings, senses and strategies they can use to help their body and brain feel safe. 

Some FIF staff are trained in this programme, and are also training a number of Camden schools to deliver the Healing Together programme themselves. 

More information here Healing Together | Domestic Abuse Programme (healing-together.co.uk)

and for a consultation or to find out which schools are delivering Healing Together contact Elaine Dunning (on Outlook). 

 

DVIP Childrens Therapy and Support Group

The Domestic Violence Intervention Project, or DVIP, provides a specialist 1:1 child therapy service for children and young people aged 3-17 who have been affected by domestic violence.

The child or young person must currently be living in a safe and stable environment, and the perpetrator of abuse must not be residing with them. Any contact with the perpetrator must
be deemed safe or supervised.

DVIP is currently not commissioned by Camden but can be spot purchased. 

There is a leaflet about DVIP here and more about DVIP on their website here Children Services - DVIP | Domestic Violence Intervention Project

 

CAMHs

The various CAMHs services in Camden can provide support for children who have survived, or are surviving, DV. Play therapy is an integrated part of the CAMHS therapy offer, used wherever helpful to the child for example in psychotherapy (where the primary method of intervention might be play), CBT for Trauma, family therapy or parenting interventions (if the relationship between the non-abusive parent and their child has become disrupted by the effect of violence). 

For advice about CAMHs options for children who have survived, or are surviving DV, contact Patricia Pemberton (on Outlook).