I am continually appalled at the lack of progress in the education system understanding the needs of vulnerable children and young people. It’s been 15 years since I started working in this field and whilst the neuroscience has moved on, many
There’s been so many reminders of this recently in my life. What we pass onto our children is lifechanging for them – either in a negative sense or positive. Whilst writing this I’ve just watched a drama on TV called TIME
As it’s the lovely summer weeks I thought I would do a little book review for my blog this week. I do read quite a lot throughout the year but there have been a few I’ve recently read or started reading
I am aware I have gone quiet again. For those who follow me regularly you will know I went quiet for a few years and then at the start of this year (2023) I resurfaced and began writing regularly again. I
I’ve been supporting a family with issues with their school at the moment and something came up which is such a common thing I hear from schools. The issue is that the child in question took half the year to settle
There is so much change in our family at the moment. It often feels like that doesn’t it? That this stage is harder than the last but I honestly can say this stage in our lives in proving the most challenging
Siblings within the care system can be complex. I have talked earlier about trauma bonds and the difficulties that can come from being part of a sibling group who have experienced trauma. However, there are also great benefits of keeping siblings
I was on a course this last weekend that talked about the philosophy of language – it was very interesting and was in the context of a therapy I’m studying for work. I’m not a philosopher by any means, and much
This week is Mental Health Awareness week in the UK. I’ve seen numerous posts on social media and it’s great to see so many people recognising the challenges of keeping our mental health strong. It is something that affects us all,
Most of the time on my posts I talk about what helped us in the past, as our children were growing up. Like having supportive people around, learning about attachment theory, and looking after ourselves. However today I want to talk
I’m conscious that I often write blogs about my two eldest children as they have experienced the most trauma and have the day-to-day challenges that comes with that. However, I do have a youngest son. He is now nineteen years old
‘The only certainty in life will be uncertainty because the world they are inheriting, and in turn, reshaping, is characterised by change’. Brooker 2008. This quote in used in our transition guide that’s due out in a few weeks and it’s
For the next few weeks, I am going to share some of the content of our Transition Guide which will be available to buy as a digital copy in a few weeks’ time. Let’s look briefly at daily transitions today. ‘Whatever
I’ve been asked recently to say what my most used word is in terms of trauma informed practice and I’m struggling to come up with what that might be. There are several words I use a lot and they all are
Hypervigilance – ‘the elevated state of constantly assessing potential threats around you’. Web Med. Another way of looking at it is -‘a heightened state of arousal, stress, or sensitivity to certain sensory stimuli. It can cause intense emotional reactions, anxiety, and
There is another adaptation of this classic on TV right now and it sparked some thoughts for me this week about my own expectations. As an adoptive parent it is something we are encouraged to examine when we start this journey.
That is a good question…..should we, and when should we, if we should? Over the 15 years that we have had our children, through adoption, we have had many therapy sessions, talks with social workers and assessments. It is the nature
‘Mother knows best’ – a quote from a few different places. Tangled, for example, the animated take on Rapunzel where it would appear Mother didn’t know best or was acting out of fear from her own view of the world and
