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Secure Base Model in residential care
As described in the Introduction to the Secure Base model, the Secure Base model builds on attachment theory to provide a positive framework for therapeutic caregiving. This model helps caregivers to help children and young people of all ages, often from backgrounds of abuse, neglect and loss, to move towards greater feelings of security and resilience. It is based on the core concept of providing a psychological secure base for exploration, which children and young people in care will need to help them to recover from previous adversity and trauma, in order to fulfil their potential for learning and for enjoying positive relationships.
The focus in the model on the quality of day-to-day caregiving and the relationships between caregivers and young people which offer a secure base makes it very relevant to residential care. The model focuses on the interactions that occur between caregivers and children on a day to day, minute by minute basis within a caregiving environment. But it also considers how those relationships can enable the child to develop competence in the outside world of school, peer group and community. This is a key goal for young people in residential care and moving on to adulthood
Attachment theory itself has traditionally been understood as relating to family relationships but the increasing use of the theory for understanding as well as supporting children in other group contexts, such as schools, shows how valuable attachment theory and the concept of a secure base can be in the group context of residential care.
The caregiving cycle and the five dimensions that make up the Secure Base model can explained in language that is relevant for residential care, as it is for schools and families. This is also true of other resources such as the Secure Base checklists and the Secure Base interviews for caregivers and for children and young people found on the Secure Base Model Resources page.
However, it is important to think about how Secure Base caregiving by individual and groups of staff members works in residential care, so a training programme, training guide and implementation guide are also provided.
Training session for residential care
Introduction to the Secure Base model: promoting security and resilience in residential care: PPT talk and notes
Introduction to the Secure Base model: promoting security and resilience in residential care: trainer guide, including PPT slide text and notes