Request for a therpeutic residential care placement for a 14 year old female

Durham County Council is seeking a residential placement for a 14 year old female (X) This young person is a very creative and enjoys arts and crafts. She likes to have notebooks and pens to hand where she can write down thoughts and draw.

She also likes to paint and made some creative canvases. She is excellent at drawing.

X has also expressed that she likes completing jigsaws. X likes to use her phone to keep in touch with others and also likes social media such as Tik Tok where she likes to learn dance routines.

She also likes to watch videos on YouTube. X also enjoys playing on video games particularly Roblox or Sims.

Overall X is a bright character who is very endearing and well-liked by all she meets. X values relationships and friendships and is very loyal to those who she builds a rapport with.

She is a pleasure to get to know and when she builds trust with a person and her personality shines through, she is mischievous and very funny. X is a young person who needs supported to build her confidence and resilience to help her reach her future potential.

X has a diagnosis of complex PTSD and to benefit from formal focused trauma work, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for trauma or Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR). It is important however to consider the timing and readiness for this work, and it is likely that she will require some preparatory work before this can begin.

This work should be undertaken by locality mental health services. Challenging behaviours are defined as: • Self-harm by cutting • Overdosing • Ligaturing • Head banging • Vulnerable to exploitation • Aggression towards others • Dietary restriction X is a young female who has developed a set of behaviours that she uses to manage her emotional distress which has resulted from past trauma.

X would continue to benefit from placement in a therapeutic residential service. A placement that has experience of supporting young people with a history of traumatic experiences with subsequent learnt maladaptive coping strategies would be most appropriate.