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Residential Child Care Workers

Sharing with you a memory of working in residential child care: 

I remember coming on shift and walking into the kitchen where a 15 year old female was shouting and swearing at the top of her voice.  Every cupboard door was open and she was in the process of opening every packet and container and emptying them on to the floor.  Sugar, cornflakes, coffee…you name it, the floor got it.  This was a mild day, no one was being hurt!  From one shift to the next this young person was a whirl wind of anger and destruction taking up great chunks of the time and energy of the workers.  

 

Indeed children in residential care are often the most needy and damaged of the children we work with and they demonstrate this most clearly through their behaviours.  In Scotland all residential child care workers are to be trained to degree level by 2019.  This decision is a direct response to recognising the vulnerability of the young people, and the levels of knowledge and skills required to work with them to attempt to meet their needs and improve their opportunities. 

 

It is well known that residential workers do not receive the recognition that they deserve.  They are present with young people through the darkest moments and through bright ones too and yet sometimes it feels as if the only voices that matter, are those of other professionals.  Furthermore, faced with daily torrents of verbal and sometimes physical abuse, burnout is a high risk within the profession. 

                                                             

I believe that the challenges faced by residential workers on a daily basis are perhaps not fully able to be understood or recognised unless they have been lived in some way, this is the bonus of working with Cate at Wings for Success Coaching and Consultancy.  

Cate can coach you to regain wellbeing, know, develop and use your strengths, meanwhile buffering your resilience to ensure that you don't just avoid burnout, you increase your capacity to manage yourself better, meanwhile enabling you to respond to others better too. 

To read more about Cate's experience and knowledge in residential child care click here: 

And click the link below to find out more about what Coaching and Consultancy can do for you. 

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