Welcome to Aspire

Keep Safe© is a therapeutic intervention programme for young people who are displaying problematic or harmful sexual behaviours and their parents/carers. It is helpful for young people who are getting in trouble, acting inappropriately, and/or who may have an intellectual disability, neurodevelopmental condition or an autism spectrum condition.

Keep Safe© aims:

* To help stop harmful sexual behaviour in children and young people

* To help children and young people make positive life choices

* To help protect current and potential victims

* To support families/carers to understand harmful sexual behaviours

* To contribute to keeping the child/young person and others safe from harm

Keep Safe© is a weekly group for young people and a twice monthly parent/carer group which run over the course of a complete academic year. There are six modules covering:

1: What Keep Safe is about and getting started

2: Relationships, sexual relationships and boundaries

3: Feelings and managing feelings

4: Understanding my behaviour

5: Empathy and consequences

6: Making my Keep Safe Plan and getting ready to move on (relapse prevention)

The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is a social skills training intervention for young people with social challenges. It has a strong evidence-base for use with adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder, but is also appropriate for preschoolers, adolescents, and young adults with ADHD, anxiety, depression, and other socioemotional problems. PEERS® is the only social skills training intervention with an evidence-base of research to prove its effectiveness. During each group session children/adolescents are taught important social skills and are given the opportunity to practice these skills in session during socialisation activities (e.g. playing sports, board games, etc.). Parents are taught how to assist their child/teens in making and keeping friends by providing feedback through coaching during weekly socialisation homework assignments. 

Aspire periodically runs the following PEERS groups when a clinical demand arises. Please ask your clinician for more details or to join the waiting list for the next group. 

PEERS® for Preschoolers: a 16-week evidence-based social skills intervention for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder between 4 to 6 years of age who have difficulty in their peer interactions and friendships. 

PEERS® for Adolescents: a 16-week evidence-based social skills intervention for motivated adolescents in middle school or high school who are interested in learning ways to help them make and keep friends.

PEERS® for Young Adults: a 16-week evidence-based social skills intervention for motivated young adults (18-35 years old) who are interested in learning ways to help them make and keep friends, and to develop romantic relationships. 

SPARCS© is an evidence-informed group therapy intervention recommended by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and Department of Children and Family Services, U.S. SPARCS is used in a variety of treatment delivery settings, including community-based programs, schools, outpatient clinics, shelters, residential, and juvenile justice settings. 

As a strength-based approach, SPARCS was designed to help adolescents to-

· find the wisdom in their responses, 

· support skills they already possess, 

· and foster new ways of coping. 

Through education, validation, and connection, SPARCS strives to provide group members with the freedom to address problems that are important to them and create opportunities for change. 

SPARCS is based on three empirically-informed interventions that were adapted and integrated in an effort to address the topics specifically relevant to adolescents exposed to chronic trauma. 

These interventions include: 

∙ Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) 

∙ Trauma Adaptive Recovery - Group Education and Therapy (TARGET) 

∙ Trauma Grief Component Therapy for Adolescents (TGCT-A)

The SPARCS program includes a 16 session treatment guide that was specifically created for teens who have been traumatized, often repeatedly, and who continue to live with high levels of stress. SPARCS aims to help adolescents find that “sparc” of light within them and enhance their strengths and resili