quick-escape

Feeling unsafe? Find support services   emergency? call 000

Research

Our research

Violence against women and children affects everybody. It impacts on the health, wellbeing and safety of a significant proportion of Australians throughout all states and territories and places an enormous burden on the nation’s economy across family and community services, health and hospitals, income-support and criminal justice systems.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

News and events

ANROWS hosts events as part of its knowledge transfer and exchange work, including public lectures, workshops and research launches. Details of upcoming ANROWS activities and news are available from the list on the right.

ANROWS

About ANROWS

ANROWS was established by the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments of Australia to produce, disseminate and assist in applying evidence for policy and practice addressing violence against women and their children.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

Resources

To support the take-up of evidence, ANROWS offers a range of resources developed from research to support practitioners and policy-makers in delivering evidence-based interventions.


RESEARCH REPORT

RECOVER – Reconnecting mothers and children after family violence: The child–parent psychotherapy pilot

When it comes to recovery from the trauma and harm of intimate partner violence (IPV), the evidence base shows a need for early intervention and responses that include women and their children. This research report provides findings from a pilot evaluation project examining the effectiveness of an early intervention therapeutic model, child–parent psychotherapy (CPP), designed for young children and their mothers experiencing trauma, including IPV. This therapeutic model was developed in the United States as a model of care for mothers and their children to enhance relationships and reduce trauma. This report’s findings aim to inform future trialling and expansion of CPP nationally.

With this aim in mind, the researchers tested the feasibility of CPP in the Australian context, assessed therapist fidelity to the model, and evaluated its effectiveness at improving the health and wellbeing outcomes of women and their children. The evaluation used a small-scale, multisite pilot featuring 18 mother–child dyads and 11 community-based clinical sites in both urban and regional locations in Victoria and South Australia.

The researchers found that the small-scale pilot was promising, reporting the mother–child therapy model to be feasible in the Australian context. Positive outcomes were reported for mothers and children, including increased parental warmth and improved child emotions and behaviours. Women also experienced less IPV post-intervention. Clinicians who adhered most to the model were also better able to build relationships with women and their children and convey a sense of hope. Importantly, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the overwhelming demand for evidence-based relational, child–parent, and young child-focused therapy like CPP, particularly in rural areas.

This research contributes to a better understanding of the service needs of women and children impacted by IPV, particularly the role of recovery interventions in buffering the long-term effects of IPV on families and developing children.

 

 

Publication details

This work is part of the ANROWS Research reports series. ANROWS Research reports are in-depth reports on empirical research produced under ANROWS’s research program.

 


Authors

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR LEESA HOOKER
Associate Professor, La Trobe University

EMMA TOONE
Practice Development Consultant, Berry Street Childhood Institute

PROFESSOR SARAH WENDT
Professor of Social Work, Flinders University

PROFESSOR CATHY HUMPHREYS
Professor of Social Work, University of Melbourne

PROFESSOR ANGELA TAFT
Professor of Women’s Health, La Trobe University

 


 

ISBN: 978-1-922645-25-8 (print) | 978-1-922645-36-4 (online)

102 pp.

 

Suggested citation

Hooker, L., Toone, E., Wendt, S., Humphreys, C., & Taft, A. (2022). RECOVER – Reconnecting mothers and children after family violence: The child–parent psychotherapy pilot (Research report, 05/2022). ANROWS.

Back to top