Integrating Seven Challenges Mastery Counselling and Trauma Informed Care in adolescent substance use interventions.

Caritas Tal-Ibwar Adolescents Therapeutic Centre (Malta) provides specialised services which seek to accompany and empower adolescents struggling with problematic substance, by providing a trauma-informed residential therapeutic community and other non-residential psycho-social interventions. Such interventions include individual psychotherapy, group therapy, adventure therapy, psychiatric consultations, social work, family therapy, educational interventions, and multi-family support groups.

Service delivery at Caritas Tal-Ibwar is informed by the Attachment Regulation and Competency framework (Blaustein and Kinniburgh; 2010) and the Seven Challenges Programme (Schwebel; 2004). The Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC) Framework is a flexible, trauma informed intervention framework which, at Caritas Tal-Ibwar, informs how the needs of adolescents who have experienced complex trauma and are struggling with problematic substance use, are addressed.  The Seven Challenges Adolescents Programme is a comprehensive mastery counselling programme which focuses on problematic substance use and is specifically designed to address adolescents’ needs. 

This presentation explores the integration of trauma informed care and mastery counselling, within the contexts of a residential therapeutic community and non-residential psycho-social services for adolescents and their care-giving systems. It seeks to convey the potential which such an integration proposes, as well as highlight some of the challenges met. 

The presentation includes:

• An overall presentation of Caritas Tal-Ibwar Adolescents Therapeutic Services;
• An exploration of the strengths and challenges in integrating trauma informed care and the Seven Challenges Programme;
• A focus on adolescents' views regarding the services received; and
• A case vignette.