No abstract

Pre‐pandemic research has suggested that video counselling is as effective as face‐to‐face practice. However, the mass migration of therapy to the online video domain as a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic makes it essential to interrogate the evidence base. This paper provides a critical commentary on how video therapy is defined/labelled, the current evidence about whether video therapy is effective, and whether the working alliance and therapeutic relationship functions differently in video counselling. The paper concludes that while the evidence to date is promising, it is limited in quantity and applicability and hence generalisability. Lack of evidence is not evidence that video therapy is ineffective, but the large gaps in understanding highlight the importance, both ethically and empirically, of further research in this area.

The current research explores young adults '

In the UK, domestic violence (DV) is one of the most common safeguarding concerns children and young people report (CAADA, 2014). However, little is known about how children experience participation in interventions that aim to support their recovery if they have been affected by DV. This study aims to understand children's experiences of participating in a group programme facilitated by a DV organisation in the UK. Interviews were conducted with four children (aged 7-10) using a flexible, creative and child-led approach. A thematic narrative analysis was used, using a small story approach to narrative data. Results indicate that issues of children's agency, choice and intersecting identities are central to not only how children experience DV but also how they experience recovery. Findings highlight the experiential and relational aspect of therapeutic spaces that can enable children to form relationships and construct meaningful identities. Conclusions suggest that children need to be consulted in inclusive ways in order to contribute to the development and accessibility of services designed to support them when they have been affected by DV.

A small scale qualitative project, undertaken by an interdisciplinary domestic violence research group involving academic researchers and research assistants, with colleagues from Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS), investigated youth aggression and violence against parents. Following the literature review, data was generated through several research conversations with young people (n = 2), through semi-structured interviews with mothers (n = 3) and practitioners (n = 5), and through a practitioner focus group (n = 8). Thematic analysis and triangulation of the data from parents, practitioners and young people, elicited interconnected and complex overarching themes. Young people could be both victim and perpetrator. The witnessing or experiencing of domestic aggression and violence raised the concept of ‘bystander children’. The impact of young people experiencing familial violence was underestimated by parents. For practitioners, the effects of working with domestic violence was shown to be significant - both positively and negatively.