VPRS 18003 Triad Group Therapy Minute Books

Full description

This series consists of handwritten exercise books containing the minutes of Triad Group meetings. These books reflect the therapy program undertaken across all of the residential sections, the Winbirra Remand centre and the Leawarra pre-release section. These minutes were taken by a designated secretary who could be a staff member or a trainee. The minutes consist of the names of people present and notes about what was discussed at the meeting.

Triad Group Therapy was devised by Dr Eileen Slack and her husband Dr Charles Slack in the early 1970s. Dr Eileen Slack was the Superintendent of Winlaton Youth Training Centre (VA 5093) with Triad Groups being the major program/ therapy used at the centre during this period. The purpose of this Triad program was to enable trainees to change destructive/negative aspects of their behaviour and/or attitudes. To do this, Triad groups were formed. Each group consisted of trainees who had the same problem, youths who had never had the problem and people who had once had the problem but had resolved it, such as ex- Winlaton trainees. A Triad Group usually consisted of the trainees from a particular section. Each trainee had to attend a Triad Group five times a week. At a session the problems of a particular trainee were discussed.

The goals of a Triad Group meeting were to:
- identify individual problems
- work on alternatives to behaviour identified as a problem
- to overcome dwelling on or keeping silent about problems
- to help one another while discoveries are made
- to help one another find a healthier, more responsible integration of one's self.

Mini-triad Groups consisting of one trainee, one staff member and one ex-resident or more advanced trainee, were also held to accomplish a particular purpose e.g. to help a trainee to control self-damaging behaviour. Advanced Triad Groups were held for trainees who had got to a stage where it was felt that they had a good understanding of their problems. People from the outside community were encouraged to attend Triad sessions.

The volumes contain the notes taken by the designated minute secretary for each meeting and detail the trainee's problems, feelings and points of discussion. The notes often depended on the whether the designated secretary felt engaged and involved in the meeting; the notes can be are very descriptive and comprehensive or brief and not coherent. When the centre became the Nunawading Youth Residential Centre in 1991, and housed a predominantly male population, the Triad Therapy program ceased.

Researchers should note not all meetings were dated.