I qualified as an adoption counsellor in 2008. I am an adoptive parent myself and understand attachment issues. All behaviours reflect communication and our children carry so much baggage from their early formative years. I can help you understand your childrens’ emotions and behaviour better and find a way forward. I work with adoptive parents; adoptees and birth families.
One of the most difficult issues in adoption is attachment. Children who have been in care before being placed with an adoptive family will find it very difficult to attach as they have often been rejected and let down on many occasions not only by their birth family but by social services. It takes time and effort to build their trust and we have to learn to separate the child from the behaviour. They will act out and this is very hard for adoptive parents to deal with. They have to learn new strategies and boundaries in their parenting. It is important for Adoptive parents to understand their own attachment issues and look at the way they were parented. Adopted children and their parents need support and this can be provided by Adoption Counselling. I have ongoing training on these issues and gain a vast amount of knowledge about the emotions and stresses for all those involved in adoption.
I work with adoptive parents, adoptees and birth parents; same sex adoptive parents and single adoptive parents.
I work with Adoptees and Birth Parents helping them to come to terms with their bereavement and loss. Often they have buried their emotions and ongoing grief. In counselling we gradually work through deep rooted emotions which have an adverse affect on their everyday life.
I have vast experience working in social care, education, youth work and have worked with various ages of children, young people in care homes and foster care. Within schools I have worked with adolescents who were not accessing education. I worked with the young person and their family. Every person has so much potential often life events initially lowers confidence and self-esteem! With counselling new goals can be achieved.
Growing up in the care system can be very difficult and many suffer from drug and alcohol abuse as well as self harming. A high proportion of children and young people from the care system end up in trouble which leads to imprisonment or they often become homeless as they are not able to cope when they have to leave foster care in their teens. These are very difficult issues to deal with and counselling can help to understand the underlying issues and eventually set new goals for the young person . School life can also be difficult and I have a lot of experience working in schools. It is important to be non-judgemental and have a good understanding of the underlying cause of anger and frustration that these young people have.
