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It is acknowledged that care leavers experience an accelerated transition into adulthood, despite often having complex psychosocial needs with limited support networks. The 'Skills for Living' programme was designed to improve the psychological wellbeing of care leavers and offers an adapted Dialectical Behaviour Therapy skills group as its primary intervention. This paper provides a qualitative evaluation of the programme. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 10 participants, and the data were analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Four key themes emerged: 'Initial Apprehension and Reluctance to Participate', 'Connection, Understanding and Validation', 'Confidence with Social Skills', and 'Emotional Acceptance and Self-Soothing'. Clinical implications and recommendations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Levels of self-harm for young people in care are high, and even higher for those in residential care. Recent research highlights the importance of understanding self-harm relationally. Such an approach may be of particular value for understanding the self-harm of young people in care. The aim of this research was to understand the experiences of young people who self-harm whilst living in residential care, with a particular focus on the effect of the care setting on their self-harm. Five young people participated in semi-structured interviews which were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Four themes emerged: 'The black hole of self-harm', 'Seeking genuine care and containment', 'The cry to be understood' and 'Loss of control to the system.' Young people recognised their need for support with their self-harm, but organisationally driven approaches to managing risk contributed to a perception that the care offered was not genuine, which led to an unwillingness to accept care. The findings highlight the need for a more compassionate, relational response to young people who self-harm in residential care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Self-harm is common among young people attending mental health services. There has been little research aimed at understanding how staff working in mental health services experience working with young people who self-harm. This study aimed to address this by interviewing staff in an adolescent inpatient unit about working with young people who self-harm. It explored the impacts of their work, their perceptions of their own understanding of self-harm, and their ability to work safely and effectively with young people, both individually and as a team. Method: Five staff members were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were analysed using thematic analysis, following guidance by Braun and Clarke (2006). Results: Six themes emerged: 'The journey of adaptation', 'The personal impact: feeling responsible', 'The nature of self-harm', 'The quest to understand', 'Finding support in the team' and 'Risk management plans: creating clarity and certainty?' Conclusions: The study highlights the emotional impact on staff of ongoing exposure to self-harm, with particular concerns raised about the use of ligatures. There is a need for increased support to enable staff to develop understanding and more effective strategies for responding to self-harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]