Theraplay and Attachment-Focused Practice at Clover Childcare Services

At Clover Child­care Ser­vices, Ther­a­play is a cen­tral part of our ther­a­peu­tic re-par­ent­ing mod­el. Based on the prin­ci­ples of attach­ment the­o­ry, Ther­a­play is designed to help chil­dren build safe, trust­ing rela­tion­ships through play­ful, struc­tured, and nur­tur­ing inter­ac­tions.

Because our chil­dren live in ther­a­peu­tic res­i­den­tial homes—Clover Lodge, The Old Rec­to­ry, Calthor­pe and Oxcroft—their par­ent-fig­ure is usu­al­ly a key work­er who has formed a strong, mean­ing­ful con­nec­tion with them. This trust­ed adult plays a cru­cial role in the Ther­a­play process.

What Is Theraplay?

Ther­a­play was devel­oped in the late 1960s by Ann M. Jern­berg and Phyl­lis B. Booth, orig­i­nal­ly as part of the Head Start pro­gramme in Chica­go, sup­port­ing fam­i­lies fac­ing sig­nif­i­cant adver­si­ty. Their approach was so effec­tive that it led to the found­ing of the Ther­a­play Insti­tute in 1969. Since then, Ther­a­play has been used around the world to help adults and chil­dren form secure attach­ments and pro­mote emo­tion­al well-being.

At its core, Ther­a­play sup­ports non-ver­bal, rela­tion­al expe­ri­ences between a child and care­giv­er. It’s espe­cial­ly effec­tive for chil­dren with his­to­ries of trau­ma, attach­ment dis­or­ders, or dis­rupt­ed ear­ly rela­tion­ships.

How Theraplay Is Used at Clover Childcare

At Clover Child­care, a care­ful­ly select­ed key work­er will par­tic­i­pate in the Ther­a­play process along­side the child. This involves:

• An intake inter­view to dis­cuss the mod­el and its four core dimen­sions:
  Struc­ture, Chal­lenge, Engage­ment, and Nur­ture

• A per­son­al reflec­tion com­po­nent, where the key work­er con­sid­ers their own attach­ment style and ear­ly expe­ri­ences

• A Marschak Inter­ac­tion Method (MIM) assess­ment, where the child and key work­er are observed inter­act­ing through struc­tured activ­i­ties

• A feed­back ses­sion with the Ther­a­play prac­ti­tion­er to review video obser­va­tions and devel­op a tai­lored plan with achiev­able goals

Ongo­ing ses­sions include reg­u­lar feed­back, col­lab­o­ra­tive reflec­tion, and con­tin­u­ous sup­port for the key work­er, who becomes more self-aware, reflec­tive, and skilled in ther­a­peu­tic engage­ment.

Theraplay and DDP: A Relational Approach

Ther­a­play com­ple­ments our com­mit­ment to Dyadic Devel­op­men­tal Psy­chother­a­py (DDP)—a rela­tion­al, attach­ment-based mod­el devel­oped by Dr Daniel A. Hugh­es. DDP is cen­tral to how we respond to and sup­port our young peo­ple, and we embed its core prin­ci­ples in every­day prac­tice.

All staff at Clover Child­care are trained in DDP to Lev­el 2, allow­ing them to use the PACE approach—Play­ful­ness, Accep­tance, Curios­i­ty, and Empa­thy—in all their inter­ac­tions with chil­dren.

In 2015, under the guid­ance of Dr Kim S. Gold­ing, our first staff cohort com­plet­ed DDP Lev­el 1 train­ing. Recog­nis­ing the impor­tance of our work, Dr Gold­ing sup­port­ed the devel­op­ment of a res­i­den­tial care adap­ta­tion of DDP, now ful­ly embed­ded into what we call DDP Prac­tice.

Understanding and Supporting Trauma

Many of the chil­dren who come into our care can­not eas­i­ly express their trau­mat­ic pasts in words. Instead, trau­ma often reveals itself through chal­leng­ing behav­iours and rela­tion­al dif­fi­cul­ties. Using DDP and Ther­a­play, we work to:

• Help chil­dren feel under­stood and safe

• Reflect with them using PACE-based con­ver­sa­tions

• Offer a coher­ent nar­ra­tive for their expe­ri­ences

• Pro­mote heal­ing and rela­tion­al growth

Clinical Assessment and Individualised Support

Upon enter­ing their place­ment, each child is clin­i­cal­ly assessed by Dr Ben Gur­ney-Smith, Char­tered Clin­i­cal Psy­chol­o­gist. Based on the child’s pre­sen­ta­tion, he will rec­om­mend the most appro­pri­ate ther­a­peu­tic inter­ven­tion, whether that be Ther­a­play, DDP, or anoth­er tai­lored clin­i­cal path­way