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What is The Therapeutic Care Journal?
The Therapeutic Care Journal (TCJ) is an online publication for people who work with children and young people affected by trauma. It publishes reflective articles, working notes and papers written by practitioners, with the aim of sharing knowledge about therapeutic child care, social pedagogy and trauma-informed practice. Its content is aimed at an international readership of carers, teachers, social workers and others in similar roles, and it emphasises lived experience rather than purely academic writing. The site was formerly known as The Children Webmag.
As of the May/June 2023 update shown on the homepage, the journal is being redeveloped by The Mulberry Bush, so the current site is a transitional version. In the meantime it continues to carry contributions, including a regular column by Dr Keith White drawing on his long experience at Mill Grove; two pieces highlighted on the page discuss looking forward to holidays and managing boundaries between school and home.
If you are deciding whether it is worth your time, ask what you want from it:
- Practical reflection for your own practice — the articles are written by people doing the work, so they suit practitioners who want to compare notes rather than read formal research.
- A place to contribute — the journal invites comments, questions and article ideas, and its stated purpose includes creating space for people to learn, share and reflect.
- A reference source — it positions itself as a resource for anyone working with those made vulnerable by childhood trauma, so it can be useful for background reading or training discussions.
A sensible next step is to read one or two of the latest articles and see whether the tone matches how you like to think about your work. There is also a subscription option on the site if you want ongoing access. For a wider professional body in this field, you could also look at BACP, though its focus is counselling and psychotherapy rather than residential child care.
How can I subscribe to The Therapeutic Care Journal and what does it cost?
You can subscribe through the journal's own subscription page: The Therapeutic Care Journal. The site lists a "Subscribe Now" link, but the page evidence provided does not state a price, so the cost is not confirmed here. Check the subscription page directly for current rates, including any print or digital options.
H3. What you are subscribing to The journal is aimed at people working with children and young people affected by trauma. Its stated focus is therapeutic child care, social pedagogy and trauma-informed practice, with articles written by and for practitioners internationally. It publishes reflections and working notes as well as formal articles, so it suits readers who want lived-experience accounts alongside practice discussion.
H3. A practical next step Before subscribing, decide what you need from it: if you want peer reflection and practice ideas, start with the free articles listed on the homepage, such as "Healthy Boundaries between School and Home" and "A Reason for Getting out of Bed in the Morning." If those match your work, then use the subscription page to confirm the price and terms.
H3. Alternative and related reading For sector news and professional resources, you might also look at Community Care or Research in Practice. These are separate organisations, so compare their focus and access terms with the journal's before committing.
What types of articles and topics does The Therapeutic Care Journal publish?
The Therapeutic Care Journal publishes practice-focused writing for people who care for and work with children and young people affected by trauma. Its stated aim is to promote therapeutic child care, social pedagogy and trauma-informed practice through articles and information that "inform, stimulate and educate." A distinctive feature is that contributions come from those who live and work with children, capturing the "lived experience" of the work rather than only academic commentary.
Recurring topics
- Therapeutic child care and social pedagogy — the core professional frames the journal is built around.
- Trauma-informed practice — how trauma affects children and what good support looks like.
- Reflective practice — learning, sharing and reflecting on the impact of the work on practitioners themselves and on others.
- Everyday care and development — for example, the importance of holidays and of having something to look forward to, and managing healthy boundaries between school and home.
- Education and engagement — such as how a nurturing environment supports the academic engagement of traumatised children.
- Relationships and identity — including pieces on what a child should call a carer, and on belongings and belonging.
- International and residential care perspectives — including International Centre news and reflections drawn from long experience in residential settings.
Formats and voices
The journal mixes personal reflections, working notes, articles and papers. Some pieces are short observational essays; others are more structured papers. Regular contributors write from sustained practice experience, and readers are invited to respond, comment or ask questions that may feature in later articles.
Who it is for
Foster carers, residential care staff, social workers, teachers, therapists and students who want writing grounded in daily practice rather than purely theoretical texts. It also suits practitioners who want to publish their own reflections, since the journal explicitly presents itself as written by and for the child care workforce internationally.
A practical next step
If you are deciding whether to read or contribute, start with a current piece such as the reflection on holidays and "a reason for getting out of bed in the morning," then read the boundary-management article alongside it. If the first speaks to you, the second shows the more applied side. To follow new content or submit ideas, use The Therapeutic Care Journal, where subscription details and contributor contact information are available.
Who is Dr Keith White and what insights does he contribute to The Therapeutic Care Journal?
Dr Keith White is a long-standing contributor to The Therapeutic Care Journal, writing from his experience at Mill Grove, a residential community for children and young people. The journal describes him as a regular contributor who shares "insights, observations and perspective" drawn from that long career in therapeutic child care.
His articles tend to be short, reflective pieces that take an everyday subject and draw out its significance for children who have experienced trauma and for the adults caring for them. Two examples named by the journal:
- "A Reason for Getting out of Bed in the Morning" — reflects on the importance of holidays, and specifically on the value of looking forward to them.
- "Healthy Boundaries between School and Home" — reflects on actively managing the boundary between a child's school life and home life.
He also appears in the journal's article listing with a piece titled "What Should He Call You?", which suggests an interest in the small, everyday questions of relationship and role that arise in residential and therapeutic care.
How to use this
If you work in residential care, fostering, or a school supporting traumatised children, White's pieces are most useful as reflective prompts rather than as how-to guidance. A practical approach: read one article, then take the specific situation it raises — a child returning from a holiday, a child moving between school and home — and ask what your own setting currently does at that moment, and what you might change.
Where to start
- For a sense of his style and subject matter, begin with the two articles above, both listed on the journal's homepage: The Therapeutic Care Journal.
- The journal invites responses, comments and questions, which it says may feature in upcoming articles — useful if you want to test your own practice against other readers' experience.
One caveat: the site notes that The Mulberry Bush is developing a new version of the journal, so some content and navigation may change or be temporarily incomplete.
How can I contribute an article or submit content to The Therapeutic Care Journal?
The Therapeutic Care Journal (TCJ) invites contributions from people working with children and young people, but the site currently describes itself as mid-redevelopment under The Mulberry Bush, so the practical route is to make contact directly rather than look for an online submission portal.
How to propose content
- Email the contact named in the current update, Sarah, at the address given on the site, with a short pitch: your topic, the audience it serves, and your connection to the work (practitioner, carer, researcher or someone with lived experience).
- The journal explicitly welcomes responses, comments and questions on published articles, and says these could feature in upcoming pieces. If you have reflections on an existing article, that is the lowest-friction way in.
- The site describes its content as written by and for those working in child care internationally, covering therapeutic child care, social pedagogy and trauma-informed practice, so pitches that connect personal experience to practice are the best fit.
- Expect an editorial conversation about tone, length and whether your piece is a reflection, working note, article or paper. These are the formats the journal says it publishes.
What to send in a first email
A paragraph on who you are and where you work, two or three sentences on the idea, and why it matters to readers. Avoid attaching a full draft unless asked; the journal is rebuilding its site, so editors may want to agree the shape first.
A worked example
A residential support worker has noticed that young people settle better after school when handover between school and home is planned. She emails a short proposal describing the pattern, what she tried, and what changed, offering to write 800 to 1,200 words. That maps onto the kind of practice reflection the journal already publishes, such as its article on healthy boundaries between school and home.
For wider context on therapeutic care and trauma-informed practice, The Therapeutic Care Journal is the starting point, and The Mulberry Bush is the organisation developing it.
What is the relationship between The Therapeutic Care Journal and The Mulberry Bush organization?
The Therapeutic Care Journal (TCJ) is being developed by The Mulberry Bush, which describes itself as currently working on the journal and its website. In practical terms, The Mulberry Bush acts as the organisation behind TCJ rather than as a separate partner: it is overseeing the journal's development and the planned relaunch of the site as a resource for people working with those made vulnerable by childhood trauma.
The journal's editorial identity remains distinct. TCJ presents itself as a space written by and for people working in child care internationally, with articles, reflections and papers capturing the lived experience of the work. Its stated focus is therapeutic child care, social pedagogy and trauma-informed practice. The Mulberry Bush's role, as described on the site, is developmental and supportive — building on existing work and preparing an improved version — while TCJ continues to publish contributions, such as those from regular contributor Dr Keith White.
If you are deciding whether to use TCJ, the relationship matters in two ways. First, expect the site to be in transition, so some sections may be incomplete or change. Second, the journal is not simply a Mulberry Bush house newsletter: it invites comments, questions and ideas from a wider readership, and its mission is to share knowledge across the child care field. A useful next step is to read the current articles and then use the contact route given on the site to respond or propose content.
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