The project BESTFORCAN aims to improve the psychotherapeutic treatment of children and adolescents who have experienced physical or sexual violence or neglect. To this end, the "trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy" (TF-CBT) method – which studies have shown to be highly effective – is to be disseminated in professional practice. The project team offered further training in this method and arranged therapy places for children and adolescents with specially trained therapists.
The Better Care project also aims to improve psychotherapeutic care, but in relation to unaccompanied young refugees. The project team developed a care approach in stages, trained therapists and interpreters. In the different stages of the approach, the participants were screened in a first step. Young refugees with mild to moderate symptoms were offered participation in the "My Way" program, which offers group discussions in the residential facilities. Participants with severe symptoms received individual treatment in the form of TF-CBT.
Around 500 patients were treated in both projects. More will follow, as therapists throughout Germany have received further training in TF-CBT. The results of the projects will be evaluated at the end of this year.
The Summer School conference from 18 to 20 September was about looking back on the past five years and discussing the initial results, but above all about networking all those involved in the project – as this is a key factor in the long-term improvement of trauma care for children and adolescents, according to Dr. Katharina Goßmann, research assistant at the Chair of Clinical and Biological Psychology and co-organizer of the Summer School conference. Therefore, in addition to project staff and researchers, therapists, supervisors and youth welfare workers were also invited to share their experiences.
Originally, face-to-face meetings were planned for both projects right from the outset, but the Covid-19 pandemic intervened, meaning that large parts of the training were delivered online. "We are therefore all the more pleased to be able to bring everyone involved together now", says Katharina Goßmann. This is important on the one hand for regional networking, as the project partners are spread throughout Germany, but also for the work of the professional groups involved, who can take the opportunity to learn to better understand each other's perspectives. As an example, Goßmann mentions the inclusion of parents or caregivers in the therapy: "This means significantly more work for the caregivers in the youth welfare facilities. However, for the therapists it is an important factor for success."
Formats such as a World Café, workshops and a poster session invited participants to exchange ideas. There were also deliberately planned joint lunches and dinners. The program was supplemented by presentations of international researchers from the Netherlands, Norway and the USA.
