Healing Together added to Foundations’ Guidebook

Supporting Children and Young People Affected by Domestic Abuse Through Evidence-Informed Practice

Healing Together has been added to the Foundations Guidebook!

We are proud to share that Healing Together, Innovating Minds' trauma-informed programme for children and young people affected by domestic abuse, has been added to the Foundations Guidebook.

The inclusion of Healing Together on the Guidebook reflects the growing body of early evidence and suggests that Healing Together may help children and young people develop their emotional awareness and engage with early trauma-informed support.

Foundations is the national What Works Centre for Children & Families. The Foundations Guidebook contains information on existing research on over 130 interventions with at least preliminary evidence of improving children and families’ outcomes.

The Guidebook is designed to help local leaders, commissioners and practitioners, and researchers and policy makers, to use evidence when they make decisions about how best to support children and families in their local area.

What is Healing Together? 

Healing Together is a trauma-informed programme designed for children and young people aged 5 to 16 years who have been affected by domestic abuse.

Delivered by accredited frontline practitioners, the programme helps children understand the connection between their body, brain, emotions and experiences. Through practical, child-friendly activities they learn strategies to feel safer and calmer.

Across six structured sessions, children and young people develop:

  • Greater emotional awareness

  • A better understanding of how their body and brain are responding

  • Practical body-based calming and regulation strategies

  • Healthier ways to express and feel their intense emotions

The programme can be delivered one-to-one or in groups and is designed to be inclusive, accessible and adaptable to the individual needs of the children and young people.

Included in the Foundations Guidebook

The evidence for Healing Together has been independently reviewed through the Foundations Guidebook assessment process and awarded:

Level 2 Evidence Rating

A Level 2 rating means the intervention has preliminary early evidence that it may improve children’s outcomes, based on measured changes in a study. It shows things are moving in the right direction, but at this stage, we can’t yet be sure the intervention itself caused those improvements because the study design doesn’t fully rule out other explanations that could account for the changes.

Two studies met Foundations' Level 2 Evidence Rating, demonstrating preliminary evidence that the programme improves outcomes for children and young people.
Study #1
Evaluation of the Healing Together Programme Supporting Children and Young People Affected by Domestic Abuse

👉 Read the study

Evaluation-of-the-Healing-Together-Programme-2026
Study #2
The impact of the healing together programme for children and young people affected by domestic abuse 

👉 Read the Study

Child abuse and neglect article
This means that Healing Together has preliminary results through quantitative impact studies, with findings indicating improvements in children's outcomes. While further research is needed to demonstrate direct causal impact, the findings show that the programme may contribute to positive outcomes for the children and young people who participate.

Cost Rating

The intervention can be delivered on a one-to-one basis or in a group setting. Healing Together received a 2 out of 5 cost rating for one-to-one delivery, and a 1 out of 5 cost rating for group delivery, indicating a relatively low implementation cost.

This makes it a practical and sustainable solution for local authorities, family hubs, schools, domestic abuse services, early help teams and community organisations seeking high-quality trauma-informed support that can be delivered at scale.

Delivering Meaningful Outcomes for Children and Young People

The evidence reviewed by Foundations identified statistically significant improvements in key areas of emotional wellbeing, including:

  • Increased emotional awareness
  • Improved ability to identify and understand emotions
  • Greater confidence in verbally sharing emotions
  • Reduced tendency to hide emotions

Why This Matters

Domestic abuse can affect every aspect of a child's life, including their emotional wellbeing, relationships, physical health and sense of safety.

Without early trauma-informed and domestic-abuse-informed support, children and young people do not have the opportunity to process the trauma they have experienced and therefore this can affect their wellbeing both now and in the future.

Healing Together provides a practical, trauma-informed approach that helps children learn how their body and brain are responding, make sense of their experiences, utilise body-based strategies and build the foundations for healing.

Inclusion on the Foundations Guidebook demonstrates that Healing Together has met the criteria for preliminary evidence, indicating the programme’s potential for improving outcomes for children and young people.

Part of the Wider Healing Together Framework

Healing Together is more than a programme. It forms part of the wider Healing Together Framework, developed by Dr Asha Patel Founder of Innovating Minds to help services embed trauma-informed principals into frontline practice that supports children, young people and families to heal and thrive.

The framework helps services move beyond responding to immediate challenges and create lasting support that addresses the impact of trauma and adversity at every level.

Alongside Healing Together programme, Innovating Minds also offers:

Healing Together Communities

Supporting schools, family hubs, local authorities and community organisations to build trauma-informed cultures where children and families feel safe, understood and connected.

Workforce Development and Training

Providing accredited training and professional development that equips practitioners with the knowledge, confidence and practical tools needed to support children and young people affected by trauma and mental ill health.

Early Intervention and Prevention Programmes

Delivering evidence-informed programmes that strengthen emotional wellbeing, relational health and enable access to earlier support.

Strategic Consultancy and System Change

Working alongside services to embed trauma-informed practice, improve service delivery and create sustainable, system-wide change.

Together, these services help create environments where children and young people can feel safe, experience co-regulation, heal and achieve their aspirations.

Powerful Programmes Designed by Clinical Psychologists and Trauma Experts

DA-children-and-young-people

Domestic Abuse:
Supporting Children & Young People

A trauma-informed programme helping children aged 5–16 heal from domestic abuse. Includes animations, worksheets, and facilitator support.

Learn more
Domestic Abuse: Parents and Carers

Domestic Abuse:
Supporting Parents & Carers

Empower parents and carers with trauma-informed tools to support their children affected by domestic abuse. Safe, structured sessions with expert guidance.

Learn more
children-angry-feelings

Angry Feelings Programme:
Supporting Children & Young People

A trauma-informed programme helping children to feel and calmer. Safe, supportive sessions with animations and facilitator resources.

Learn more
anxiety-children-and-young-people

Anxiety Programme:
Supporting Children & Young People

Help children manage anxiety with Healing Togethers trauma-informed programme. Includes calming strategies, animations, and facilitator support for ages 5–16.

Learn more
Healing Together: Early Years Training

Healing Together for:
Early Years

Equip early years professionals with trauma-informed training to support babies and young children affected by trauma such as domestic abuse. Includes coaching and resources. 

Learn more

Breaking Language Barriers

The Healing Together Programmes are also available in: Arabic, Polish & Bengali

Healing Together is available in Arabic, Bengali and Polish

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Start the conversation

Every service is different, which is why we begin by understanding your needs, challenges and priorities. Whether you are looking to support children affected by domestic abuse, strengthen trauma-informed practice across your workforce, or create lasting system-wide change, we are here to help.

Ready to learn more?

Book a conversation with Dr Asha Patel to explore the Healing Together programme, learn more about the wider Healing Together Framework, and discover what implementation could look like within your organisation.

Book Your Discovery Call Today

Together, we can create safer, more supportive environments where children and young people can heal, grow and thrive.