Supporting carers to coregulate with children in care: learnings from action research with caseworkers

Trauma negatively impacts on the ability of children in out-of-home care to experience safety in their relationships. Trauma rearousal can continue to occur even when children are living in a safe and stable setting due to environmental triggers. Carers who are emotionally regulated themselves can model and support emotional regulation (known as coregulation) when their child becomes dysregulated. To do this, carers need agencies to provide trauma-informed and therapeutic models of care, so they in turn can offer an emotionally secure experience for their child. This article reports on participatory action research with caseworkers from two nongovernment and one government organisation who supported foster and kinship carers to coregulate with children in long-term care. Reflective practice meetings were held over an eight-month period to capture the perspectives and experiences of 16 caseworkers who trialled practice changes for coregulation. An inductive analysis approach was used to elicit themes. Findings revealed a three-phase process took place for caseworkers and carers to (1) acknowledge the presence of trauma and stress, (2) become aware of their own emotional capacity and (3) apply coregulation strategies. This process was possible when organisations promoted trauma awareness and relational safety, thereby creating a ‘holding environment’ for their caseworkers and allowing coregulation to be experienced by carers and their children.