Therapeutic care,
grounded in daily life.
We do not treat therapy as something that happens in a room for fifty minutes a week. The way we cook, eat, talk, and spend time together is the intervention.
PACE: the foundation of everything we do
Our practice is grounded in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) and the PACE model developed by Dr Dan Hughes. PACE stands for Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, and Empathy. It is not a programme we run on Tuesdays. It is a way of being with children.
Playfulness means we bring lightness and warmth to everyday interactions - not because problems do not exist, but because children need to experience adults as enjoyable to be around.
Acceptance means we communicate unconditional positive regard for the child as a person, even when we are managing challenging behaviour. The behaviour is the problem, never the child.
Curiosity means we are interested in what is behind a child’s behaviour - what they are feeling, what they need, what they are trying to communicate. We narrate with children, not about them.
Empathy means we genuinely feel alongside children. We do not perform empathy for professional reasons. We hire people who have it naturally.
Behaviour is communication. When a child pushes us away, they are asking - in the only language they currently have - whether we will stay. We stay.- Tracey Brydson, Responsible Individual
Structure, routine, and space to breathe
Predictability is therapeutic. Children who have lived in chaos need to know what happens next. Our daily structure provides that - without being institutional.
Morning
Young people are woken gently, with the same staff where possible. Breakfast is cooked together where children want to be involved. The morning is unhurried. Getting to school matters; arriving regulated matters more.
School or education
Staff accompany young people where needed. We maintain a close relationship with each child’s school or education provider and communicate daily if a child is struggling. No child is sent to school in crisis.
After school
This is often the hardest transition of the day. Staff are prepared for it. Snacks, decompression time, and space to download the day. No demands made until a child is ready.
Evening meal
Cooked at home, eaten together. Young people are involved in choosing and preparing food where they want to be. Mealtimes are not managed - they are shared.
Activities & hobbies
We support each child to pursue interests that are theirs - sport, art, music, gaming, cooking. Not because it looks good on a review, but because having something that belongs to you is part of building an identity.
Bedtime
Consistent bedtime routines. Staff sit with children who need it. The house does not become clinical at night. The same warmth applies at 2am as at 2pm.
Many of the children placed at Lilly House have significant gaps in their education history. We do not expect them to close those gaps alone.
Learning as part of recovery, not separate from it
We work closely with each child’s school to ensure their educational experience is adjusted to their regulatory capacity - not the average child’s. We attend all reviews, speak to teachers regularly, and advocate firmly when a child’s needs are not being met.
For children who are not in school when they arrive, we work with the local authority to secure an appropriate placement as quickly as possible. In the interim, we provide structured activities at home that maintain engagement and build confidence.
We fund and support home tutoring where appropriate. We celebrate academic achievement, but we celebrate effort first. Many of the children we work with have never experienced an adult who was genuinely pleased by their progress. We make sure they do.
Physical and mental health, taken seriously
Every child placed at Lilly House has a health assessment within 28 days of arrival. We maintain and update a health plan in line with statutory requirements, and we attend every health appointment unless a child actively does not want us there.
We work with CAMHS, specialist therapists, and the child’s GP to ensure mental health support is in place, reviewed, and appropriate. We do not accept “on the waiting list” as an endpoint. We advocate, escalate, and find alternatives where the statutory system is too slow.
Physical health is not an afterthought. Good food, sleep, exercise, and fresh air are part of the care plan - not add-ons. We support young people to understand their own health and to develop the confidence to speak to professionals themselves.
Health at a glance
- Health assessment within 28 days of placement
- Named GP and dental registration on arrival
- CAMHS referral and advocacy where needed
- Trauma-informed approach to physical care
- Health plan reviewed at every statutory review
- Young people supported to self-advocate with health professionals
What we commit to when a child leaves
- Planned transitions only - no emergency endings without full process
- Minimum 3-month transition period for all planned moves
- Full handover to receiving placement or service
- Transition planning starts at the point of placement
- Young people involved in every decision about their future
- Pathway plans completed and reviewed with the young person
- We keep the door open. Former residents can contact us.
Leaving well is as important as arriving well
For children who have experienced multiple placement breakdowns, every ending carries the weight of every previous ending. We take this seriously. A child leaving Lilly House should leave with a plan, with support, and with the knowledge that the people who cared for them have not simply moved on.
We plan for transitions from the point of placement. We do not wait until a move is imminent. Pathway planning, independence skills, and connections to community and family (where safe) are built throughout the placement, not bolted on at the end.
For young people moving to supported accommodation, we maintain contact through the transition period and beyond where the young person wants this. We are not a revolving door. We are a place that stays in a child’s story.
We invest in the people who do this work
Every member of our care team completes trauma-informed practice training, PACE training, safeguarding (level 3 minimum), first aid, and medication training before working unsupported with young people. This is not a tick-box exercise. It is the foundation of safe, therapeutic care.
Diplomas in Residential Childcare are funded for all staff who do not already hold them. We do not ask staff to fund their own development. We see it as our obligation, not theirs.
All staff receive fortnightly clinical supervision from an external consultant with specialist experience in therapeutic residential care. This is not managerial supervision. It is a space to process the emotional demands of this work, to reflect on practice, and to grow.
We hire for values first and train for skills. Some things can be taught. The willingness to stay present with a distressed child at midnight cannot.
Want to know more about how we work?
We welcome visits from placing authorities before and during any placement.