Institute Research
At the Institute of Integrated Systemic Therapy we aim to constantly evaluate, improve and advance our knowledge and services to better care for our children. Our research faculty and students conduct studies on significant areas and topics such as: children’s outcomes and interventions, children’s behaviour and histories, staff in the child care sector, relationships, care home management, therapeutic communities, training and much more. We are committed to expanding and developing the knowledge base on this area of work through research and analysis with integrity and ethical methods.
Upcoming research
Our research programme has been developed over the last 3 years with multiple projects at different stages of progress.
As projects are fully completed they will be presented on this page.
For any enquiries please contact the research manager at y.bhagat@psychotherapy.institute
Relationships as an Agent for Change for Abused and Traumatised Children in Care
Barbara O’Reilly, 2020
Summary: This paper is a systematic review of the literature around relationships and children in care. It aims to explore themes in the literature which debate the importance of relationships as an agent of positive, healing change for children in care who have experienced relational abuse and trauma. Through an analysis of the literature, significant themes that emerged were: relationships, attachment, outcomes, complex trauma and psycho-social functioning.
Making Children’s Outcomes Accessible
Yesha Bhagat, 2019
Summary: This study focuses on the levels of engagement and understanding of therapeutic staff on outcomes data and how to present them to increase accessibility. It was found that the staff in this organisation have high levels of both engagement and understanding which is a result of the integration of outcomes in the clinical work and regular reporting. In terms of presentation styles, line and bar graphs seemed more preferable to present outcomes due to clarity, use of colour and category coding and the ability to easily see trends. Furthermore, respondents valued information dashboards and discussions with researchers and clinicians on outcomes data to support accessibility.
An Investigation into the Use of Restrictive Physical Intervention with Children Living in a Therapeutic Community.
Kerri White, 2019
Summary: The aim of this study is to investigate and critically examine restrictive physical interventions and the impact they have on the staff and children involved. Through understanding RPIs in the context of the child’s behaviours and situation, better practice can be developed to keep RPIs to a minimum. The recommendations from this study improved processes of monitoring and reviewing RPIs and was also noted to positively impact the home with a reduction in harmful behaviours and consequently a reduction in RPIs.
