Going the extra mile: a qualitative analysis of the experiences of clinicians working within the assessment, consultation and therapeutic service (ACTS)

Introduction: Residential child care has a long and ignoble history both in Ireland and throughout many parts of the Western World. A small but established field of research exists within the sector. The qualitative studies in the area tend to highlight various phenomena within residential child care while providing little context for those phenomena. The qualitative studies tend to provide more context for the phenomena and reflect the multifaceted nature of residential child care and how the answers to the questions about residential child care tend to depend significantly on who is asked.. The Assessment Consultation and Therapeutic Service (ACTS) was established to provide clinical services to young people residing in special care residential centres and detention centres in Ireland. Method: The study aimed to capture the experiences of clinicians working within the ACTS service. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 11 ACTS clinicians who are based in each of the three regional centres of ACTS and in each of the professional disciplines represented within the service. Results: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach was utilised and three superordinate themes entitled ‘The Journey’, ‘The Path’ and ‘The Passengers’ were identified under the heading of ‘Going the Extra Mile’. Discussion: The findings are discussed in the context of relevant therapeutic approaches and previous research within the field. The application of the findings of the current study to further research, clinical practice, education and policy are discussed. The strengths and limitations of the study as well as the reflections of the primary researcher are also discussed.