The recording and slides are for delegates only

To Start or Not To Start: Navigating between stabilisation and memory work in cognitive therapy for PTSD is a workshop run by clinicians from the tier 4 multi-disciplinary, National and Specialist CAMHS Trauma, Anxiety and Depression Clinic within South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust – Professor Andrea Danese, Dr. Jessica Richardson, Dr. Sarah Miles, Dr. Aysha Baloch.

About the session

Children and young people with complicated life circumstances and trauma histories are all too often finding themselves unable to access evidence-based treatment for PTSD or Complex PTSD because they’re considered not “ready”, too “complex” or not “safe” enough. Complexities are often not a reason to delay treatment, especially where they can be a consequence of PTSD symptoms themselves. This talk will introduce you to STARTT, the Supervision Tool for Assessing Readiness for Trauma Therapy. STARTT has been developed to support high-quality and pro-active supervision discussions around complexity and to problem solve and plan when to start trauma memory work and how to manage when progress feels stuck. STARTT aims to reduce avoidance and drift, and to make memory focused parts of trauma-focused CBT, which are shown to be where most symptom change can occur, more accessible.

Learning objectives

1. To review the core components of trauma-focused CBT, where the most PTSD and Complex PTSD symptom change can occur, and barriers to delivering evidence-based treatment
2. To consider whether “stabilisation” is necessary as part of trauma-focused CBT
3. To be introduced to the STARTT model and practise using it – considering and planning for working with psychological, developmental, physical, social, risk, culture and diversity issues that can affect trauma therapy
4. To gain confidence in deciding when to start trauma memory work with children and young people with PTSD or Complex PTSD

Interactive overview

Use the interactive programme below to gain an overview of the topic, meet the speaker, test your knowledge, and a whole lot more!

About the speakers

Professor Andrea Danese Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, UK and at the Child Study Center, Yale University. The research from his team focuses on childhood trauma, and he has published widely on the consequences of childhood trauma, the mechanisms through which childhood trauma affects health, and prevention and treatment of trauma-related psychopathology. Professor Danese is also Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at the National & Specialist CAMHS Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression Clinic at the Maudsley Hospital, London, UK. He is the General Secretary of the European Society for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (ESCAP) and the Academic Secretary of the Association of Child & Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH). He is Editor-at-large of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and on the Editorial Board of several other scientific journals.

Dr. Jessica Richardson, KCL, is one of three Co-Directors for CYP-IAPT Programmes, which are programmes, jointly commissioned with University College London, that train practitioners in evidence-based therapies for Children and Young People in education and health settings. Jess’ responsibilities include overseeing the a number of courses and training supervisors across all the courses.

Dr. Sarah Miles, Research Clinical Psychologist, KCL. Sarah began working in Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder research in 2012, with Professor David Veale. She went on to qualify as a Clinical Psychologist from Royal Holloway University of London in 2017 and now specialises in working with children and adolescents with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She is currently working on the Online PTSD Treatment for Young People and Carers (OPTYC) Trial, part-time, and also works at the National and Specialist CAMHS Trauma, Anxiety and Depression Clinic. Her research interests include; PTSD in children and adolescents, Post-disaster responding, Increasing access to treatments for young people and carers.

Dr. Aysha Baloch. I am a Specialist Clinical Psychologist with over 10 years experience of working therapeutically within the NHS with adults, children and families struggling with a range of mental health conditions. Currently, I hold a position at the National and Specialist CAMHS Trauma, Anxiety and Depression (TAD) clinic offering specialist interventions for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety Disorders (such as Social Anxiety, Phobias, Separation Anxiety, Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder), OCD and Depression. I also teach on various mental health training programmes and train NHS professionals in identifying and working with PTSD, Anxiety and Depression. I am registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Clinical Psychologist, and practice in accordance with the standards of HCPC and the British Psychological Society (BPS).