POWER 13-16 years

Introduction to POWER

 

The following document will give you all the information you need to understand the purpose of this resource in supporting young people with their recovery from Technology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse (TACSA) and will offer guidance in using the resource in your direct work. 

Introduction to the POWER resource 13-16

You will find below, along with the full resource, sessions and information for each stage of POWER and guidance on the content of each session.

You will begin your journey with the opening and foundation sessions which are mandatory before choosing from the pick n mix targeted sessions that give you flexibility of choice, ensuring that the needs of each individual young person you work directly with are met. Before finally working together through the closing session. 

Contents & Looking After Yourself Session

 

Contents of POWER

This document will provide you with a full list of all of the sessions available to you in the POWER resource along with a brief description of each session. 

Contents POWER 13-16

 

Looking After Yourself sessions

These self-care activities form a set of exercises or ideas that can be shared with young people to give them a range of tools, which will help them manage different difficult situations. The activities can be revisited time and again and with repetition will become even more effective.

At the end of each session a “looking after yourself” exercise will have been selected and will be worked through together. This will allow the young person to not only build up a range of tools to look after themselves but will give them the opportunity to ‘de-brief’ from each session, leaving with a positive strategy for self-care.

The 5-4-3-2-1- technique

Extended exhale breathing

Writing it down - journaling

The AWARE technique

A positive spin

Thoughts are like buses

Sleep hygiene

The worryspace

Move more

Mindfulness

Relaxing your body - Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

A hero's journey

Three chairs of perspective

 

Opening & Foundation Sessions

 

Here you can download the sessions that begin your journey through POWER. 

Opening session

Getting to know each other 

This session is beginning the process of building trust, rapport and a connection between the young person and practitioner to support their recovery. This will be the opportunity to discuss expectations and give clarity on what is to come.

 

Foundation sessions

There are three mandatory sessions that will be relevant to the young person regardless of their experience. These are completed before moving onto the next stage of the resource.

Relationships
This session is to set out what good and healthy relationships look like and how to behave and treat each other in ways that feel safe and respectful.

Dealing with change
This session is to explore the different things that may change in a person’s life – good and bad, expected or unexpected – and how you can anticipate and prepare for some changes and how you can manage changes.

Managing and understanding emotions
This session is to help the young person understand how emotions are triggered and what effect they have on the mind and the body. Widening understanding of emotions beyond simple angry/sad/happy etc and to have greater awareness of how to manage their own emotions.

Opening & Foundation sessions

 

'Pick n Mix' Targeted Sessions

 

This stage is where practitioner and the young person will choose at least 3 sessions from a broad range of different topics that explore supporting the young person in their recovery from Technology-Assisted Child Sexual Abuse (TACSA). 

Acceptable and unacceptable behaviours in relationships

This session looks at behaviours that are acceptable and unacceptable in relationships and how we might respond to these whilst developing an awareness of the different contexts.

Feeling safe

This session allows the young person to explore what feeling safe looks like in their life, and what and who offers them the feeling of safety. This will allow discussion around safe places and people.

Telling people about the support I need

This session gives the young person opportunity to explore how they can tell certain people in their life what support they need without having to find the words to vocalise it. This session will provide families and other trusted adults with ways to interact with the young person in a way that is helpful and supportive to them.

Victim blaming

This session is an opportunity to discuss language and attitudes – some of which are quite common in society – but which victim blame rather than place the responsibility with the abuser.

Self blame

This session gives the young person opportunity to consider scenarios where we may blame ourselves but where we need to look at the context of a situation in order to reframe our thinking – preventing us from blaming ourselves.

Intrusive thoughts and reframing

This session is an opportunity to explore managing unhelpful or intrusive thoughts.

The pressure to consent

This session builds on the targeted session Self blame, offering a more focused look at the issue of consent not just in regards to sex but in other life experiences. It will explore the issue of consent for young people and support the development of their thinking, empowering them to find ways to do only what they feel comfortable with.

Dealing with change in a relationship

Building on the core session of “Dealing with change” this session looks specifically about when relationships change. When someone doesn’t support you in a way you thought they would or behaves differently towards you. Accepting and knowing that relationships can change and sometimes people change too.

Building strengths

This session allows the young person to explore the positive things in their life and their strengths. Reflecting on our strengths helps in our recovery.

Image taken and shared with consent then shared or shown to another person without consent

This is an opportunity to explore thoughts, feelings and responses when someone shares an image with another person without consent.

Image taken and shared with consent then shared widely after a relationship ended

This is an opportunity to explore thoughts, feelings and responses when someone shares an image with other people when their relationship ends.

Image taken and shared with consent then shared widely by another young person

This is an opportunity to explore thoughts, feelings and responses when someone you trusted shares an image with other people after tricking you into believing you were in a relationship.

Grooming

This is the term given when one person acts or says something to increase the chances that another person will do what they want. This session will allow the young person to explore what grooming can look like.

It’s so hard to tell someone what happened and to talk

This session provides the opportunity for the young person to develop an understanding as to why it can be so difficult to tell when someone causes us harm. By identifying these barriers it is possible to find ways to break them down.

Financial exploitation, or ‘sextortion’

This session looks at how anyone can be manipulated and blackmailed or exploited and how quickly this can happen. It provides an opportunity to discuss what this might look and feel like and what we might do.

“Who has seen it?” Coping with an image being out there

This is an opportunity to talk about the young person’s fears when an image of them has been shared and to help them with their thoughts and feelings around this.

Closing session

 

What makes us us?

All sessions have been designed to support recovery, teach skills and open up discussion. This mandatory closing session is about bringing it all together and reassuring the young person that they are able to move forwards

Full POWER resource 

 

Although POWER is available to download in the above sections you have the option here to download the resource in its entirety. 

POWER 13-16