Dr Dennis Trent Award winning Psychology services

Gains Recognition with Top Award

FORENSICS INDUSTRY E-MAGAZINE

AWARD

It gives us great pleasure to announce that MIDLANDS PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES LTD has been chosen as this year’s winner of the coveted PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES AWARD 2015, an independent Award Scheme sponsored by Forensic & Expert Witness E-Mag.

In presenting this Award the team at Forensic & Expert Witness E-Mag were particularly impressed with the fact that Chartered Clinical Psychologist and founder of the company Dr. Dennis Trent, a Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, has been providing Expert Witness Reports for over 20 years dealing with Child Protection/Custody issues, Pre-Sentence Reports, Risk Assessments, Fitness to Plead, Learning Disabilities and other court related psychological assessments.

This Award Scheme was created in order to recognise those businesses and individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to their particular field. Forensic & Expert Witness E-Mag is always keen to bring attention to those who are providing a product or service that stands out from the crowd and deserves to be appreciated not only by its’ readers, but also by a wider audience.

Acknowledged both locally and nationally this Award is a milestone for Midlands Psychological Services Ltd and forms the final piece of the jigsaw that confirms the company's success.

NEWS

PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES AWARD 2015

On receiving this accolade Dr. Trent has this to say:

“All of us at Midlands Psychological Services are honoured to have received this award. It is the combined efforts of many who have made it possible and it is shared by all of us.”

Explaining the need for psychology in child protection Dr. Trent added: “It has often been said that the greatest asset of any culture is its children. To say that they are our future is like saying that day is light and night is dark. Someone who has been blind from birth may not understand that and it would appear that kind of blindness is more common than we would sometimes like to admit. The protection of children, while a widely recognised ideal, is often derailed by political and financial based decisions which are not in the best interest of our children.

Children tend to see the world in a markedly concrete manner. That is to say that in a child’s life there is black and white with little or no grey. Things are either good or bad, right or wrong with little ability to recognise nuances between the two extremes. If a child has done a ‘bad’ thing, it is easy for the child to assume that he or she is a bad person.

They also tend to take on responsibility for events and situations over which they have no control. Although they will often attempt to evade responsibility by denying an obvious action, they make connections which make sense at a concrete level, but which do not stand up to rational examination. “If I had eaten my corn Mum and Dad wouldn’t be fighting. If they weren’t fighting they wouldn’t be getting a divorce, therefore it is my fault they are getting a divorce” is a good example of concrete reasoning. It appears to be linear in that one leads to the next, but when examined the components, i.e., eating corn and getting a divorce, are very tenuously related at best. In years of clinical practice I have never met a couple who divorced because the child did not eat their corn. While to an adult it may be a flashpoint, to a child it is the reason.

Children rely on adults for their very existence. We know that nurturing a child is essential to the development of the child. Shortly after World War II children in an orphanage were investigated because the infant nearest the door always did better than the others and it was not known why. When cameras were placed in the room it was noted that when the matron would turn out the lights at the end of the day she would reach down and caress the child nearest her before she left the room. Even a seemingly simple gesture as a passing caress is enough to have a positive impact on an infant’s life.

The primary damage, other than physical, of child abuse is a breach of the trust relationship between children and adults. When the very person a child relies on for safety, security and nurturing creates an environment which is not safe, secure or nurturing, the child will often take responsibility for having created that environment.

Anyone who has worked with abused children will recognise such statements as, “I deserved it”, “if I hadn’t....”, and “it was my fault”. These same statements are frequently heard when working with adult survivors of child abuse. If children cannot trust the environment, then when they become adults their ability to trust themselves as well as others is likely to be impaired, thus having a marked effect on both their self-concept and their ability to empathise with others.

Most parents recognise that it is important to have a consistent meal and bedtime schedule for their children. It establishes a structure within which a child can experiment and play, and forms the basis for the child’s sense of security and stability. When a child is abused there is little ability for the child to experiment or play as most of the child’s efforts will be directed at stabilising the environment and ‘pleasing’ the abuser in an attempt to avoid future abuse. This is likely to set a pattern for future behaviour as an adult. Since the individual sees little self value, efforts are often directed at gaining a sense of value from others, often by establishing a relationship to gain that sense of value. The problem is that people will not accept something they do not believe to be true, and therefore the individual will negate any value given by a partner. The lack of trust will cause a ‘testing’ of the relationship to find the breaking point and, when reached, another partner will be sought to gain the sense of value which was not obtained in the first relationship. As such, a pattern of unstable relationships follow, often with significant domestic violence inherent within those relationships.

Sex enters into the equation in that within the Western culture, sex is frequently seen as an indicator that emotional intimacy, acceptance, love and approval or value has been established. While the individual in almost all cases is searching for an emotional intimacy, that is acceptance and security, what is achieved is a physical intimacy devoid of the very thing being sought.

It is often seen by the individual that the answer to this dilemma of poor self-concept, lack of trust in others and feelings of estrangement is to have a baby. A baby is often viewed as someone who will love unconditionally and give worth to the individual. The child is viewed as there for the parent, not the parent there for the child. What is not recognised is that within a poor relationship a child is demanding and an added stress. Now the pattern repeats as the parents are not receiving what they wanted from the child and the child is therefore often seen as the problem.

The problem is now exacerbated by taking the child out of the family and placing him or her in care, a process designed to protect the child. While it is understood that a social worker wants to progress a career, multiple changes of social workers only increases the instability in the child’s life. The same applies to Foster Parents. While there are many very good foster parents, children who have been taken from families present many problems for those foster parents who are less able or willing to deal with those problems.

Placement in multiple foster homes is not uncommon and again will be more damaging than helpful. Unfortunately, there is no formal psychological assessment of potential foster carers or children’s homes workers and while experts in social care systems, social workers are not always best placed to assess the psychological make-up of parents who are very adept at covering over abuse and presenting themselves as caring individuals.

Enter the psychologist. Psychologists are extensively trained to make the assessment of risks to children. With tested and proven instruments, many of which identify information the individual is not aware is being sought, the underlying risk presented by taking a child from a family unnecessarily, or placing a child into a high risk environment, often can be avoided. As fully independent experts we have the ability to view parents, children and environments from a completely objective viewpoint keeping the needs of the child paramount. We can make recommendations to the Court as to the needs of the child as well as ways in which the parent can improve themselves and their parenting skills in order to provide a more safe and secure environment for their child. We can assess the level of risk a parent or potential partner presents to a child. While past behaviour is a good indicator of future behaviour, it is not an absolute predictor. It is well accepted that the best place for a child is with the parents when that is safe and appropriate.

In conclusion Dr. Trent went on to say:: "Psychologists are best placed to help tease out that level of appropriateness. They can also assist Social Services in assessing the appropriateness of potential foster carers and support social workers in working with both children and adults.

Most importantly, they can assist the Court to make a decision which is in the best interest of the child. Failure to do so will only build a significantly greater problem for the future. It is commonly accepted that the incidence of mental disorders in the prison population has markedly increased over the past years. The protection of children and early intervention facilitated by formal assessments of risk posed to them by parents, partners and carers is the first step in reducing, and turning around, a time bomb with huge personal, social and financial costs for the future."

For further information contact: Dr. Dennis Trent, MIDLANDS PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES

Tel: (0121) 224-3051, Fax: (0121) 224 3252, Email: mps@midpsych.co.uk Website: www.midpsych.co.uk