This page contains free resources on the mental health needs of Looked After Young People.

Looked After Young People's Toolkit

1. Presentation: Mental health needs of looked after young people

This presentation provides an introduction to the mental health needs of Looked After Young People, summarises the risks and considers the "learnable skills" of resilience. Download the presentation.

2. Being a CONTAINER for looked after young people

Young people who present with challenging, worrying or extreme behaviour make us feel anxious.  This anxiety can then prevent us from being able to think clearly about how to deal with the situation.  The idea of containment helps to reduce our anxiety and that of young people themselves. Click here to download the handout.

3. Minimising risks

The more risk factors to which a child is exposed, the greater their vulnerability to mental health problems.  Risk does not cause mental health problems but it is cumulative and does predispose children and young people to poorer outcomes.  We can minimise the number and extent of risks, and we can minimise the number of risks operating at a given time in a child’s life. Download the handout on minimising risks.

4. Resilience

Resilience is something acquired through experience, although there may be some inherited aspects. It is not about invulnerability, but our capacity to cope.  Continuous and extreme adversity is likely to drain the most resilient children.  Download the presentation on resilience
Download the resilience handout.

5. Reflective Practice method [PDF]

This is a format for working on the problems facing individuals and the team in their work with young people. The process is one that has been tried and tested in a range of settings and has proved useful in helping people to analyse current challenges faced within a work setting, offering the opportunity to discover new insights to inform action. Download the best practice method.

Links to useful resources

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