What does Strengths - Based mean?
“A strengths-based approach to care and support says let’s look first at what people can do with their skills and their resources and what the people around them can do in their relationships and their communities. People need to be seen as more than just their care needs – they need to be experts and in charge of their own lives.”
Alex Fox, chief executive of the charity Shared Lives
The innate flexibility of WAGS builds on the diverse strengths young people bring to the activity. Existing within a uniquely responsive framework, WAGS begins by asking "What's right?" This approach is founded in the belief that every young person has a unique set of strengths and capabilities and the potential for growth, change and success. WAGS recognises that people hold the key to their own transformation. The power to change is within them.
When we look for successes, strengths and abilities as a starting point, it changes the helping relationship from fixing someone, to nurturing someone's potential. Instead of dwelling on problems and seeing hopelessness, the WAGS approach focuses on opportunity, empowerment, capacity building and hope.
What is Trauma - Informed Care?
A program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed: realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma; responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into practices; and seeks to actively resist re-traumatisation.
A trauma-informed approach can be implemented in any type of service setting and is distinct from trauma-specific interventions or treatments that are designed specifically to address the consequences of trauma and to facilitate healing.
A trauma-informed approach can be implemented in any type of service setting and is distinct from trauma-specific interventions or treatments that are designed specifically to address the consequences of trauma and to facilitate healing.
A trauma-informed approach reflects adherence to key principles rather than a prescribed set of practices or procedures:
Trauma-informed practice is inherently strengths-focused and emphasises the young person’s ability to survive. It specifically resists the idea that a young person has a distorted or pathological world view in the aftermath of violence and instead requires the practitioner to understand that a young person’s responses or ways of coping have developed in the context of trauma. Trauma informed practitioners will validate and attempt to understand a young person’s resilience even if the chosen coping strategies are now causing difficulties.
A commitment to trauma-informed practice requires the WAGS identity to be co-constructed and constantly re-negotiated in relationship with young people. Our identity is challenged and changed by our willingness to explore and understand the impact of trauma on young people's development and their capacity to learn.
Read more about WAGS being focused on Early Intervention and Evidence Based Practice.
- Providing a physically and emotionally safe environment
- Sharing power with the young people, maximising their choice and control
- Providing a culturally safe and gender-sensitive service
- Ensuring communication is open and respectful
- Supporting young people’s goals and interests
Trauma-informed practice is inherently strengths-focused and emphasises the young person’s ability to survive. It specifically resists the idea that a young person has a distorted or pathological world view in the aftermath of violence and instead requires the practitioner to understand that a young person’s responses or ways of coping have developed in the context of trauma. Trauma informed practitioners will validate and attempt to understand a young person’s resilience even if the chosen coping strategies are now causing difficulties.
A commitment to trauma-informed practice requires the WAGS identity to be co-constructed and constantly re-negotiated in relationship with young people. Our identity is challenged and changed by our willingness to explore and understand the impact of trauma on young people's development and their capacity to learn.
Read more about WAGS being focused on Early Intervention and Evidence Based Practice.