NOTA News Newsletter July 2018 1

that they are believed (by statutory
services) yet those same services
fearing a person’s communication
difficulties will interfere with taking
a case further. Having reflected
on some of these stories during
my supervision with Respond,
the overriding feeling has been
that a child/young person can be
(unwittingly) “framed” by the network
around them as “unreliable” and is
therefore not given the opportunity to
be listened to from the outset.
In therapy, some of the CYP I see are
able to use the space to express their
anger and resentment at this and of
being given the label, “vulnerable.”
For example, they may have been
given the news that their case will not
go to trial as the Crown Prosecution
Service deem the child too vulnerable
to be put through it. I have imagined
that instead of a child seeing this as
a sign of society protecting them,
they might experience it as a sign of
not being listened to. In the therapy
room, their pain is either palpable or
totally buried under layers of defence
and numbness.
A Presence
I am keen to emphasise that there
are many professionals and services
that do seek to provide specialist
post-trauma support to these CYP
and I am encouraged that referrals to
our service are evidence of this.
I can see the valuable space that
therapy sessions offer children,
where their feelings and experiences
are listened to. I am learning through
my further training to find a balance
between holding in mind the impact
of societal issues on a client and
staying with the symbolic work of
drama therapy and the therapeutic
relationship I make with the person.
This includes how CYP with learning
disabilities have used their sessions
to perhaps represent some of their
experiences of their difference or
disability, for example, stories of
a person who dreams of being a
teacher or a mother but fear they
cannot get past all the obstacles
in the way or, in play, the child who
always gets left out.
I am learning to listen to what
Corbett (2009, 2014) described as
the “disability transference” in which
the therapist receives an aspect or
feeling from the client’s disability
through an (unconscious) projection
of it, making both parties potentially
feel stuck and unable to process
thought. I have been thinking about
how this may be manifested in my
responses (countertransference) to
my clinical work. For example, my
experiencing the feeling of not quite
being able to “keep up” or suddenly
having difficulty holding onto all
my thoughts. However, I am also
learning to pay further attention to my
thoughts, for example: do I need to
act (in order to safeguard a client)?
Or is my desire to “act” an attempt
to over-protect a client and protect
us both from acknowledging their
learning disability as another part of
their trauma?
The process of writing this article has
highlighted to me the complexity of
the trauma experienced by CYP with
learning disabilities who have also
experienced sexual abuse. They
are experiencing multiple losses:
the loss of the non-disabled self
and the loss of childhood through
being forced prematurely into sexual
exposure. Both, in time, need to be
acknowledged within therapy often
represented by the child symbolically
within story or play.
Conclusion
Although much work is needed
to ensure greater access to
specialist support for CYP with
learning disabilities in this area, my
scholarship has supported me to
research and become aware of the
presence of other specialist services
both nationally (like Respond) and
locally (SARSAS in South West
England).
The consultation from Respond
and my subsequent reflections
throughout this period are teaching
me the importance of being aware
of the ‘bigger picture’ in order to
advocate for the needs of CYP with
learning needs in this area. For
example, the need to help services
further with their understanding
and use of accessible forms of
communication and the need for
more time whether in therapy, in
Police interviews, in processing
information and/or in responding
to it. I would be very interested in
hearing from other organisations
who are working in this field, or are
developing this specialist area within
their service and welcome contact
through: Josephine.lay@the-greenhouse.org.uk
Most importantly, I feel I am also
being reminded of the need to keep
the therapeutic relationship at the
centre of the work in order to deeply
hear and respond to the whole
person and what they are bringing
to therapy.
Josephine Lay
HCPC Dramatherapist
The Green House
www.the-green-house.org.uk
References
Corbett, A. (2014), Disabling Perversions:
Forensic Psychotherapy with People with
Intellectual Disabilities, Karnac Book Ltd.
Jackson, R (2016), Community Care and
Inclusion for People with an Intellectual
Disability. Floris Books.
Mearns, D. & Cooper, M (2005), Working
at Relational Depth in Counselling and
Psychotherapy, Sage Publications.
Rose, A. (2015) Sexual abuse of people with
learning disabilities is too often overlooked,
The Guardian Newspaper, (Fri 21 Aug 2015).
Sullivan, P. & Knutson (2000), Maltreatment
and disabilities: a population-based
epidemiological study, Child abuse & neglect,
(Vol 24, 10).
www.nota.co.uk conference@nota.co.uk @notaevents
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