‘Someone who’s there for you … even in your darkest days’: an evaluation of a psychotherapeutic counselling service for birth relatives of adopted children

Wright, Hannah; Morgan, Hannah C.M.; Forbes, Caoimhe; Nolte, Lizette

doi:10.1080/09649069.2022.2102762

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…As part of a recent service evaluation (Wright et al., 2022) of a birth relative counselling service, experienced counsellors who offer support to birth relatives following the compulsory loss of their child were interviewed. In this article we draw out some themes from their reflections that can guide practitioners and those developing counselling services for birth relatives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Building relational trust and hope: The experiences of counsellors in a service for birth relatives whose children have been adopted or taken into care

Nolte

Forbes

2023

Adoption & Fostering

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The profound and lasting impact of losing a child to adoption or foster care has been powerfully described, and the importance of offering therapeutic support to birth relatives is a requirement in most parts of the UK. However, little is known about effective counselling for this group. In this article, we report on the experiences of four counsellors and a project worker who offer counselling to birth relatives whose children have been removed following care proceedings. We present their reflections under four themes, namely: ‘It’s all about the person, it’s all about the relationship’; ‘Meeting clients where they are’; ‘Having a sense of achievement’; and ‘This work can really get into you’. These accounts offer valuable reflections for others offering counselling to birth relatives and their supervisors, as well as those who commission and design these services.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%