The following speech was shared at our London Celebration event in October. We have permission from the author to share this anonymously.
“Thank you for having me here today. It’s really lovely to have the opportunity to reflect on the work of the FFT team and what it has meant from the perspective of a social worker working alongside the service.
I think one of the things that first stood out to me about FFT was how different the pace and approach could feel compared to statutory children’s services.
As social workers, we are often working in a very fast-paced and reactive environment. There are assessments to complete, meetings to attend, timescales to meet, risk to manage, and a lot of focus on recording, processes and statistics. Obviously, all of those things have their place, particularly when we are safeguarding children, but sometimes that way of working can make it difficult to slow down and really meet a family where they are.
And I think that is where FFT offered something really valuable.
FFT created a space where the family could just be a family.
There was time to slow things down, to listen to one another, to understand what was happening for each person, and to think about the relationships and dynamics underneath some of the challenges they were experiencing.
I saw this particularly clearly with one family I worked with. Having FFT involved gave them a predictable, consistent and safe space to come together. Sometimes that looked very simple, sitting together, having a hot chocolate, talking…or not talking…, listening and building the courage to go near things that felt scary.
But actually, I think those seemingly small things were incredibly significant.
The FFT practitioner was able to meet the family where they were at, both physically in their home environment, and emotionally, by building a relationship with them in a way that felt accessible and collaborative. What this did was facilitate a space where [they] felt safe enough to be vulnerable with one another. Over time, this allowed them to connect, to develop new ways of understanding each other, communicating and tools for managing difficult moments.
They weren't necessarily going to use those tools perfectly every single time… I don't think meaningful change ever looks like that. But they had developed something that they could take with them beyond the intervention. They had new ways of understanding each other and communicating, and those are things that don't just disappear when the sessions finish.
One of the moments that really stayed with me was during a Review Child Protection Conference following the completion of the family's engagement with FFT. Both identified that what would benefit them most was having more sessions with their FFT practitioner.
For me, that said a lot.
It showed that the relationship had become meaningful to them, and that they experienced the space as something that was genuinely helping them. They weren't asking for another service or another assessment. They were asking for more of the time and space that allowed them to experience closeness, to share, connect and work things through together.
FFT also made a difference to me as a social worker.
Having FFT support gave me somewhere to slow down my own thinking. It allowed me to step outside of the immediate pressures of risk management and statutory processes and think more deeply about what might be happening within the family.
It helped me consider the dynamics at play, what might sit underneath the presenting behaviours, and what the family might actually need, sometimes in ways that weren't immediately obvious.
I also really valued the team-based nature of the work.
I think community and connection are incredibly important protective factors for families, and I experienced the relationship between the social worker and FFT practitioner as an extension of that. It didn't feel like we were working in separate silos. We were able to bring different perspectives, think together and support the family collectively.
That collaborative approach was particularly valuable in an environment where it can sometimes feel like there isn't enough time to think creatively or outside of the usual systems and processes.
I also think the fact that FFT was part of an RCT was important. Research can sometimes feel quite separate from frontline practice, but this experience showed me how research and practice can actually inform one another.
The families weren't just numbers within a trial. They were people with very real and complex lives, and the research was being delivered through relationships, trust and day-to-day therapeutic work.
For me, the biggest value of FFT was that it brought together some things that can be difficult to hold onto within statutory services: time, consistency, curiosity, relationships and collaboration.
It met families where they were at. It gave them space to connect. It helped family members understand each other. And it gave professionals the opportunity to think differently about what meaningful change might look like.
I think if there is one thing I would want other local authorities and services to take from FFT, it would be that meaningful change often needs more than a plan, an assessment or a service referral.
It needs relationships.
It needs time.
And sometimes it needs someone to sit down with a family, slow things down, have a hot chocolate, and create enough safety for people to slowly let down their defences and actually hear each other.