LIFEs form of therapeutic intervention was pioneered by Whittington (2011) who handed the concept to the DCLG, becoming the basis for psychologically informed services (Keats et al, 2012). PIE provides the basis for rethinking how services for marginalised populations are reconfigured to facilitate enhanced emotional well-being.
Delivering emotional recovery requires a reflection on the wider environment in order to enhance the service users well-being. It means ensuring the delivery of the numerous services facilitate positive change with young people based on a therapeutic foundation taken from the following therapeutic models:
- Humanistic: Person Centred
- Psychodynamic
- Existential
- Phenomenological/Gestalt
- Interpersonal
- Cognitive Behavioural
- Transactional Analysis
Each therapeutic intervention is utilised to build emotional recovery whilst being resonant with the young person’s needs in order to generate positive interactions with young people.
In effect, these therapeutic models can be drawn upon to build the scaffolding which supports young people with complex emotional well-being issues. For example, it allows the practitioners and the young people to work through transferences, projections, and a host of defence mechanisms to build recovery capital. One of the challenges that practitioners face centres around dissolving the young person’s defence mechanisms safely: ensuring they attain a sense of authenticity.
By recognising that individuals are ‘thrown’ into environments which they have no control over, but through co-production they become empowered to build trust with key members of staff. This becomes the foundation for their personal growth as they engage in:
- Scaffolding
- Working through the young person’s traumatic schemas of apperception
- Developing a life vision
- Working through the various psycho-social emotional stages
- Developing a theory of mind
- Gaining social interest
- Building emotional literacy
- Generating Self Esteem
- Building a Life Ladder of Support
- Holism
LIFE supports young people to build connections to generate a sustainable life vision. The framework for recovery also incorporates the role of the body in order to understand how emotions shape physical health; all influenced by the wider parameters an individual inhabits. This is the basis of the holistic approach.
The Practioners instruction will be innovating and engaging with:
The importance of healthy relationships with the self and others.
Adopting a positive psychological framework to enhance emotional recovery.
Reflective practice throughout to think about overcoming challenges and understanding what works.
Individual and group supervision to build the team ethos.
Understanding praxis: the interplay of psychodynamic/person centred approaches with practice.
Thinking about the physical environment and how social spaces are constructed and how this promotes well-being.
Providing evidence through innovation to enhance practice: based upon writing up confidential case histories drawing upon phenomenological methodologies.
Understanding the long-term impact of psycho-social emotional inter-generational trauma and how it has shaped the young person – thinking about this in respect of all cultures.
