Take Two publishes evidence of effectiveness in international journal

Berry Street’s Take Two program recently published a paper in an international psychiatry journal demonstrating the effectiveness of our therapeutic work with children who have experienced significant developmental trauma.

The paper was published in the Frontiers in Psychiatry journal. The journal publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research and is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide.

The Take Two paper was written in collaboration with our research partner, Professor Margarita Frederico from La Trobe University and was edited by well-known US child psychiatrist Dr Bruce D. Perry.

What we are doing is working

The paper included data from a cohort of children aged 2-11 years old that we worked with over a 6-year period to the end of 2019. We studied baseline and repeat clinical measure data (HoNOSCA and SDQ) which explored the process of intervention, including intervention type, timing and dosage. Take Two uses Dr Perry’s Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) to guide our intervention decisions.

The study found that Take Two intervention was associated with improved relational health, measured by the NMT metric and supported by significant positive changes on the SDQ and HoNOSCA with medium effect sizes (cohen’s d).

The importance of improving a child’s relational health

Also included were several Take Two case studies that drew on the full case record for each child to illustrate the impact of NMT-informed interventions on the relational health, psychological and behavioural functioning of the children. Analysis of these case studies highlighted the importance of intervention addressing individual, family and systems elements to bring about positive change.

This study illustrates the value of neurodevelopmental trauma-informed interventions in improving the relational health and current functioning of children who have experienced abuse, neglect and family violence. It also shows the potential to reduce the lifelong impact of these adverse events experienced in childhood.

Read the article in Frontiers in Psychiatry:

‘Australian Maltreated Infants and Young Children Can Achieve Positive Relational Health With Neurodevelopmentally- and Trauma-Informed Interventions Provided Within Relationally-Positive and Stable Environments’

See other articles and reports in Take Two published research.

Berry Street’s Take Two program is a therapeutic service helping to address the mental health impacts on children of the trauma they have experienced from abuse, neglect or adverse experiences. At Take Two we see who the child is, not just the behaviour.

We use clinical frameworks, neurobiological research and evidence-informed approaches to repair family relationships and develop networks of caring adults that focus on what the child needs.

Take Two can provide specialist clinical consultancy services, including training to other organisations. Contact us for more information.