What Is Therapeutic Care? Are You Reaching the Therapeutic Level?
A few years ago, I was shocked to learn that the minister responsible for children in care in my jurisdiction didn’t know what therapeutic care was—nor did they believe it worked!
Sadly, this isn’t surprising. Too many organisations call a program “therapeutic” without actually delivering therapeutic care.
So, what’s the difference?
🔹 Therapeutic care brings healing.
For children and youth who have experienced trauma, healing requires consistent, repairing experiences from attuned caregivers. Many organisations label programs as therapeutic, but don’t necessarily reach the threshold needed for real healing.
A useful way to understand this is through therapeutic levels, a concept from medicine. When a drug reaches its therapeutic level, there’s enough in the system to produce the desired effect—healing.
💊 Take Panadol, for example. If I have a headache, I need 1g of paracetamol to relieve the pain. If I only take 0.25mg, it won’t work—there’s not enough of the drug in my system.
The same applies to therapeutic care.
✅ If a care home or organisation (like number 1 above) provides enough good care experiences, healing happens.
❌ If they fall short, even with some good practices (number 2 above), the impact is limited—healing remains out of reach.
Some organisations don’t get everything perfect, but they do enough to create meaningful change. That’s all that’s needed. As Donald Winnicott described, children need “good enough” care—not perfection, but consistent, reliable, and attuned care that fosters emotional development.
This is a conceptual explanation. If you want practical insights on how to achieve therapeutic care, stay tuned—or get in touch.
I’ve worked in organisations that did it well and others that fell short despite lots of effort. I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t—as a carer, manager, general manager, CEO, and foster carer.
💬 The question is: Is your organisation reaching the therapeutic level?
