Festival of Families - A Week of webinars From Monday 18th January we held a fantastic week long festival of webinars for Adoption UK members, thanks to our partnership with One Adoption West Yorkshire. Details of each of the sessions which took place are below, with links to recordings of most of the sessions available - if you are a member and logged in. These webinars are for all Adoption UK Members - please ensure you login to access the recordings Monday 18th January 2021 @ 8pm - FASD - an introduction and detailed insight to the condition...Missed it? Click here to view Join us for an evening session to hear from individuals with FASD, parents of individuals and those support families. The session will be hosted by Adoption UK’s Aliy Brown who leads FASD Hub Scotland, run by Adoption UK in Scotland, and a panel of experts with lived experience including Maria Catterick founder of FASD Network UK who are active in the local area. The session will include a short presentation providing key facts about FASD, information about FASD Network UK, followed by a panel discussion and opportunity for the audience to ask questions. This will be an interesting, interactive and informative session. Aliy Brown is the Project Manager for FASD Hub Scotland, a support service for caregivers in Scotland, which is run by AUK in Scotland. She and her husband have three adopted children and have personal experience of parenting and caring for individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Tuesday 19th January 2021 @ 1.30pm - Preparing for Primary School with Julie Pocklington and Paula Walker.Missed it? Click here to view This webinar hopes to provide you with a space to think about what your child will be taking on as they enter into Reception – it also aims to offer lots of ideas to make the transition as easy as possible for you and your child. Julie Pocklington is a teacher who has over 30 years’ experience working with children who have experienced trauma, and their families. She has supported children, parents, schools and professionals to understand the lasting impact of pre-birth and early years trauma and how this can sometimes make learning a little trickier. She is a firm believer that behaviour is a way of communicating and we need to ‘listen’ to this. Paula Walker has 23 years’ experience working in Early Years settings both as a practitioner, manager and latterly as a trainer. She is especially passionate about putting the child first. Seeing things from the child’s perspective, supporting emotional language and self-regulation are key to enabling the important adults in their lives to better understand them and nurture their development. Tuesday 19th January @ 8pm - Looking at the map of recovery from complex trauma with Betsy de Thierry. Please note that this session was not recorded. A one-hour overview of some of the main therapeutic milestones that need to be explored for long term recovery from developmental trauma. When we are less shocked by the very often misunderstood and very often ignored aspects of recovery, we can feel more empowered and less overwhelmed as we care and work with children and young people who have experienced severe trauma. Betsy is a psychotherapist and CEO of BdT Ltd, a training and consultancy organization that has started therapeutic mentoring rooms in mainstream schools for traumatised children and has trained 15,000 people in the basics of trauma recovery in the last 5 years. She is also the founder of Trauma Recovery Centre UK, trainer and qualified teacher. She has been working in the field of trauma recovery for 30 years and is passionate about training and supporting adults to be recovery focused. She is the author of 6 books about trauma recovery; Teaching the Child on the Trauma Continuum (2015); The Simple Guide to Child Trauma (2016), The Simple Guide to Sensitive Boys (2017); The Simple Guide to Understanding Shame (2018); The Simple Guide to Attachment Difficulties (2019); The Simple Guide to Complex Trauma and Dissociation (2020). Thursday 21st January @ 1pm - DDP Principles and Practice: Relevance for Adoptive Families with Dan Hughes. Missed it? Click here to view Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) is a model of caregiving and therapy that uses principles of attachment and trauma for providing services to foster and adoptive children and their carers or parents to promote healing from past traumas and the development of psychological skills in their new homes. Dan is a clinical psychologist located in South Portland, Maine, USA. He has provided psychological services to foster and adopted children and their families for over 30 years while developing a comprehensive intervention model, DDP. He has provided seminars and trainings for professionals and parents internationally while also writing many articles and books that describe this model. There are many professionals trained in DDP principles and interventions throughout the UK and other countries. Thursday 21st January @ 8pm - Managing Meltdowns with Sarah Fisher Missed it? Click here to view In the workshop we will be looking at how to manage meltdowns and challenging behaviours such as control, defiance and aggression. We will discover how we can help our child learn to express their emotions without needing these safety mechanisms, through creating connection with them and helping them to develop emotional understanding. You’ll leave with practical ideas you can start to use straight away. Sarah is a single adoptive mum, passionate about helping other families experiencing difficulties. She adopted a seven-year-old boy and together they have been on a journey of discovery. During her journey Sarah has learnt to support her son with his anxiety and has stopped most of his unacceptable behaviours. Through the use of Non Violent Resistance (NVR) their family dynamic has changed and her son is now more confident and understands how to appropriately express his emotions. Sarah now coaches parents who are struggling and want to create a safe, happier environment at home via the Connective Parenting approach. Sarah is the author of 2 books, Adopting Solo, and Connective Parenting. Friday 22nd January 2021 @ 11am - Parenting teens - the tricky years? with Rachel Gillett Missed it? Click here to view Teenage years are a time for change, for both your teenager and you, their parents. It can be a tricky role to navigate as teenagers still need you as a secure base to help them move into adulthood. However, their peer group is also very important to them. The webinar will consider brain development, identity, and parental self-care. There will be tips and strategies for you to use to stay connected with your teen. Rachel Gillett is a single parent, with an adopted son, aged 20 years, and a birth daughter, aged 26 years. Both her children are dual heritage. She also has a grandson aged 2 years. Rachel’s background is in education and she is now an independent trainer and consultant. Currently Rachel is completing an MA in Therapeutic Fostering and Adoption and is also studying a Professional Diploma in Therapeutic Life Story Work. Rachel is an NVR informed practitioner. Friday 22nd January 2021 @ 8pm - Life Journey Work focus group with Philippa Williams Missed it? Click here to view This session will be relevant to prospective adopters as well as adopters at all stages of their journeys with their children. Participants will have an opportunity to reflect on how and when to share their children’s past experiences with them in age and stage appropriate ways. Philippa will share some practical ideas to help keep the conversation going with children and young people from the moment they join our families through to adulthood. You will have an opportunity to reflect on the joys and challenges of this vital role all adoptive parents play in helping our children formulate a coherent narrative about their past. Manage Cookie Preferences