Safe with dad

An examination of four significant mental health programs for very young children, which have protocols for the inclusion of fathers who have used violence; and implications for Australian practice.

Babies and very young children learn to feel safe through their relationships with caring adults. When their caring adults have been frightening or frightened, children may need extra help to learn to feel safe. A key way to deliver this help is by targeting children’s caring relationships. It can however be difficult to work out how to help children relate to an adult who is both caring and yet was also frightening. This paper considers some programs that have found a way to work safely with children and their fathers who have used violence. Learnings are discussed within an Australian context.

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