Training Programmes
As a child develops and becomes a teenager there are significant changes occurring within the brain at an emotional and executive functioning level. As the child is attempting to cope with these changes, they are also attempting to manage their understanding of their own lived experiences.
Adoption support training largely focuses on the needs of those parenting younger children. However, all children become teenagers and this brings with it a new set of challenges for any parent, especially adoptive parents.
This brings a new level of complexity for carers of previously looked after children and drives the need for a teenage centric programme, Talking Teenagers.
The outcome for parents and carers is they feel more empowered to parent their teenagers in a therapeutically informed manner, and so meeting the needs of their teenagers that were to some extent misunderstood by them until attending this programme.
Guiding Guardians is a therapeutic parenting programme specifically designed for Special Guardians, who can acquire knowledge that enables them to understand their child in the full context of their lived experiences.
This enables their relationship to develop to one of much greater security, providing the child with a belief that they are wanted, are lovable, and that they do belong in their new family. Most significantly the child will experience safety, will learn to trust and the relationship will emerge over time into a secure attachment.
For the carer, the relationship will develop to a point that they have a desire to connect with their child, rather than just care for them.
Adopted children are likely to have experienced trauma whether it be from earlier abuse and neglect or from the separation and loss of their birth family and subsequent changes of carers. The more that carers understand about the impact of abuse and neglect on children, the more likely they are to offer nurturing care.
Traditional parenting techniques may not work, and so adopters need to develop alternative therapeutic parenting techniques.
“Six Months In” is a therapeutic parenting programme specifically designed for adopters in the early stage of placement of their child.
Parents acquire knowledge that enables them to understand their child in the full context of their lived experiences. This enables their relationship to develop to one of much greater security, providing the child with a belief that they are wanted, they are lovable, and that they do belong in their new family.
“Persevering Parents”, is ideally accessed from about 3 years into placement. It is a therapeutic parenting programme specifically written for adopters at this stage of placement of their child.
There can be an unspoken belief that the child should be settled in by now and fully embracing family life, this programme is designed to help parents reach a place of security in their relationship with their child - providing the child with a belief that they are wanted, they are lovable, and that they do belong in the family.
The successful nurtured relationship between the adopter and child will provide the child with lifelong skills of successful relationship building, which will be crucial for peer relationships at school, siblings, friendships, employment relationships, and long-term relationships such as with a partner and then with children of their own.