Post Adoption Support

Our work within post-adoption support at JSA stemmed from some initial work our team carried out at the request of the local authority in Rochdale a number of years ago, and our reputation has grown from there.

The process of adoption has huge impacts on the adoptive parents as well as the adopted child or children in a family. Though most agencies and authorities concentrate more fully on proceedings that take place prior to the adoption officially starting, the team at JSA are specially trained and equipped to support the family after the process has begun.

Therapy can be of far reaching benefit within the post-adoption phase and can really support the formation and development of a bond between the child and parent, as well as relationships within the wider family and community.

Whilst the adoptive parents may have been given detail, information and background on the child they are welcoming into their home and family, it is likely that other adverse developmental factors may have gone unaddressed. As a result, coping and even bonding with the child can be difficult owing to the behaviours that the child may present. Parenting on its own presents enough challenges but caring for Looked After Children is more intensive again.

A highly effective way that JSA can support adoptive families is via our Parent Child Relationship Therapy (PCRT). This therapy has been implemented at JSA in order to allow adoptive parents to utilise skills to support the children in their care that are similar to the ones our therapists practice. The sessions of the programme we deliver are an hour in length, following which we encourage our clients to hold a special 30 minute playtime session with their child each week at home. The programme as a whole takes place over a structured 10-week course. It’s a fantastic programme of therapy which allows our foster parents/ carers to build positive attachments with their children, and indeed allows for the children in turn to develop positive attachments with others.