Learning from children and families: delivery of remote therapy for PTSD

Abstract

Reviews on treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children and adolescents consistently point to the good evidence base for these interventions and that they translate well from research trials to clinical practice. However, at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic there was no research into delivering these interventions online. This paper summarises an online intervention using Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) with an eight year old boy (Archie) with PTSD and neurodevelopmental conditions. The intervention was born out of necessity as a result of Covid-19 as both parents were shielding due to underlying health conditions. It raised professional and ethical challenges for me as a clinician, including how open to be with families about trialling things for the first time, and whether waiting for the outcome of the neurodevelopmental assessment had been in Archie’s best interest. Having a trauma-informed perspective was beneficial. Following successful completion of the intervention I obtained feedback from Archie and his mother as to their experience of completing this therapy online and what recommendations they would make to guide future practice. The learning from this experience and feedback early on during the Covid-19 pandemic was used to help shape service improvements. This paper summarises the impact of the learning from this work and the contribution it made to the subsequent developments in our service, moving to what is now a fully hybrid model of working.