Our approach
Therapeutic care, delivered consistently
Our model brings together clinical insight and everyday relational care, so young people experience the same steady approach from every adult around them — on the good days and the very hard ones.
Six pillars
What our model actually looks like
A practice model is only worth anything if it survives a difficult Tuesday evening. These six pillars are written to be used, not filed.
Trauma-informed care
Our teams are trained to understand the impact of early adversity on the developing brain. We respond to distress with regulation, attunement and predictable routines rather than sanctions. Our care is centred around the individual needs, strengths and aspirations of each child, with personalised care planning to promote safety, stability and positive outcomes.
Positive behaviour support
Individual behaviour support plans identify triggers, protective factors and each young person's preferred de-escalation strategies — written with them, not about them. Restrictive practice is a last resort, always recorded, reviewed within 24 hours and followed by a restorative conversation once everyone is calm.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding children and young people comes before everything else. Safer recruitment, mandatory training, clear escalation routes and confident multi-agency working keep young people protected. Our designated safeguarding lead is available to professionals at any time, and we notify placing authorities and the relevant regulatory bodies of significant events without delay or edit.
Life skills
Cooking, budgeting, laundry, travel training, digital safety, healthcare appointments and healthy routines are woven into everyday life so that progress feels natural rather than programmed. A sixteen-year-old who can cook four meals, manage a bank account and get themselves to college has been prepared for something real.
Independence
Pathway plans are staged and paced to the individual, beginning at 15 and building confidence step by step towards supported accommodation, further education or employment. We stay in touch after young people move on, because leaving care should not mean losing everyone.
Family involvement
Where it is safe and in the young person's best interests, we support contact, family time and reunification work in close partnership with social workers. Family time happens in comfortable spaces on the young person's terms, and we support families practically as well as emotionally.
Daily life
Predictability is the intervention
For a young person whose life has been unpredictable, a reliable daily rhythm does more therapeutic work than any single session ever could.
Morning
A consistent wake-up routine, breakfast together and a calm handover to school or education provision. Mornings are the hardest part of the day for many young people, so they are the most carefully planned.
Afternoon
Protected homework time, key-work sessions, health and therapy appointments, and time to decompress. Staff handovers happen away from the young person, never over their head.
Evening
Cooking and eating together at the table most nights, activities, clubs and time in the community. Evenings are unhurried by design — this is when most of the important conversations happen.
Night
A settled bedtime routine, a waking night member of staff and a sleep-in manager. Anyone who cannot sleep can always come down and find an adult awake and willing to talk.
Practice standards
How we keep the model honest
Personalised care planning
Built around the individual needs, strengths and aspirations of each child within four weeks of admission and reviewed regularly with the whole staff team.
Reflective practice
Monthly group sessions facilitated by the management team, protected in the rota and never cancelled for operational reasons.
Individual care planning
Placement plans co-produced with the young person, reviewed monthly and rewritten whenever their needs change.
Structured reporting
Monthly written reports to placing authorities, plus immediate notification of any significant event.
The young person's voice
Weekly one-to-one house meetings, an independent advocate available to every child, and a complaints process explained in plain language.
Questions
What professionals ask about our practice
What therapeutic model do you use?
Our practice is attachment and trauma-informed, drawing on PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, empathy) and dyadic developmental practice principles. Care is centred around the individual needs, strengths and aspirations of each child, with personalised care planning to promote safety, stability and positive outcomes.
How is restrictive physical intervention managed?
Physical intervention is always a last resort, used only to prevent harm. Every incident is recorded, reviewed by the home manager within 24 hours, followed by a restorative conversation with the young person, and reported in line with regulatory requirements.
How do you measure progress?
Each young person has individual outcome measures covering safety, education, health, relationships and independence, reviewed monthly and reported to the placing authority alongside qualitative key-work records.
Next steps
See how the model works in a real home
Nova House is where our approach lives day to day. Visit the home page, or arrange to come and see it for yourself.