Stuart Mulholland
Director and Child Care Consultant

Stuart qualified with a post graduate diploma in Social Work at Glasgow University in 1990. During his career as a Social Worker he worked in Child Protection and Criminal Justice. He was particularly interested in developing specialist services as part of Local Authority provision. These included the creation of a group work service for young lifers in Dumfries YOI and the "Creating Control" group work programme with adult sex offenders within HMP Barlinnie. The latter was the first in Scotland to deliver formal programmes to short term prisoners within the custodial setting and the community. During the 5 years of the group over 40 offenders per week benefitted from the service developed by Stuart and his co worker Robert Dempsey. Throughout this period he presented at several NOTA annual conferences and was a regular contributor to the joint Child Protection Training programme for Social Workers and Police Officers in Glasgow.

In 1995 Stuart continued to specialise by taking up a post in a community based Project for young people who displayed sexually harmful behaviour. He was instrumental in the development of the Project's assessment process and intervention programmes. Stuart's interest in the creation of developmentally appropriate relapse prevention techniques for adolescents led to an invitation to present at the 1996 ATSA Conference in Chicago.

The creation of a programme of work with the families of the young people in 1998 included the first application of Multi Systemic Treatment principles in Scotland. The development of trauma informed sexual behaviour specific programmes were also among the first in the United Kingdom. This led to the co authoring of a chapter in "Working with young people who sexually abuse" (Martin Calder 1999) with Jeanie McIntee (Clinical Psychologist) of the Chester Therapy Centre.

In 2000 Stuart left the Halt Project to help set up the first specialist secure unit in the United Kingdom for young people who exhibited sexually harmful behaviour. He also assisted in the development of the one of the first community based residential programmes in Scotland. Stuart developed and delivered specialist programmes to young people over a 9 year period. This work was supplemented by a consultancy and training service to a wide range of Local Authorities including North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles, Highland and Renfrewshire. It has also included the delivery of consultancy training and treatment services to a range of Residential Schools including St.Mary's Kenmure, Kibble, Moore House, St.Philips Secure and Good Shepherd Secure Unit.

In 2003 Stuart began offering consultancy and treatment services to young people in the Republic of Ireland. Since then he has continued to assist Residential Services operated by the HSE to respond to the needs of traumatised children and assisted in setting up the first specialist High Support Centre to address the issue of young people who exhibit sexually abusive behaviour.

Winnie McCarthy

Trauma Counsellor and Child Care Consultant

Ms. McCarthy's career has spanned 30 years and throughout that time she has worked exclusively within the residential child care sector, working with both boys and girls with an ages ranging from 11 - 18 years.

In 1979 Ms. McCarthy attained a diploma in Primary Teaching. However she began work as a residential child care officer in a Secure Unit. During this time she completed my Social Work qualification and developed a comprehensive understanding of the needs and risks presented by children in this type of residential setting.

In 1987 Ms. McCarthy gained employment in a specialist resource centre first as an assessment officer then as a senior assessment officer with management responsibilities for one of the Units. During this time she also completed her practice teaching qualification, and became a T.C.I trainer.

In 1996Ms. McCarthy moved to work in a residential school where she was employed as a Manager with responsibility for setting up an Assessment Unit and developing a specialist resource for children who exhibit sexually harmful behaviours. Through time the Units delivered services to 16 young people and she collaborated in the development of the therapeutic role of Residential staff.

While in this job Ms. McCarthy completed the certificate in residential care and also became a practice assessor for practice teachers. She also was fortunate to be considered to attend and latterly chair practice assessment panels. During this time She  contributed to a variety of training events with Residential staff, Children’s Hearing members and Social Workers.

In 2005 Ms. McCarthy was offered the opportunity to work for Welltree as a Child Care Consultant and Therapist.She completed my Diploma in Counselling at Strathclyde University in 2008 and has continued to provide therapeutic inputs in relation to the young people’s problematic behaviour and the effects of their experiences of trauma. She has continued to work as a volunteer counsellor at the CRISIS Centre in Paisley.

This resource offers counselling to any child or adult who suffers from the effects of trauma.