Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) was developed by Dan Hughes as an approach to helping children who have experienced trauma from within the family. This is both a therapy offering therapeutic support to the child, supported by the parent and a model for parenting.  DDP-informed parenting helps parents to emotionally connect with their children in ways which increases feelings of safety and security.

The therapy and parenting model recognises that the children often fear emotional connection. It helps them to overcome these fears and to heal from past trauma. It draws on the therapist and parents’ capacity for emotional regulation and reflection so that they can adopt the attitude of PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy) with the children. This attitude helps to increase security and in parenting is combined with behavioural support.

“I found it fascinating, I was able to grasp the concept and have already started to use it in my professional and personal relationships” – Attendee, 2021

The training will give a brief introduction to the DDP model and its application as a therapy and a model informing parenting.

“This was an excellent topic as I am supporting a family who are about to start DDP parenting sessions and it helped me to understand more about what that will look like for them.” – Attendee, 2022

Learning outcomes

• Understand the DDP model and its application as a therapy
• Understand the principles of DDP-informed parenting support
• Understand the usefulness of this model for adoptive parents and their children
• Consider examples of DDP in practice
• Know the evidence base for DDP as therapy and as parenting support

Information about the trainer

Kim Golding

Dr Kim is a Clinical Psychologist living in Worcestershire, UK. Kim worked with children and families within the NHS for thirty years, specialising in working with parents or carers to develop their parenting skills tailored to the particular needs of the children they are caring for. She was involved in the setting up and evaluation of the Integrated Service for Looked After and Adopted Children; providing support for foster, adoptive and residential parents, schools and the range of professionals around the children growing up in care or in adoptive families. Kim now has her own business providing training, consultation and supervision.

Kim currently sits on the board of the DDP institute and is involved in accrediting and training other professionals in this approach. She is also one of the directors of the Community Interest Company: ‘DDP Connects UK’. Amongst her books, Kim co-authored: ‘Healing Relational Trauma with Attachment-Focused Interventions Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy with Children and Families’ with Dan Hughes and Julie Hudson, published January 2019.

Kim has additionally developed two DDP-informed programmes. ‘The Nurturing Attachments Training Resource’; and ‘Foundations for Attachment Training Resource’ Kim’s ‘Everyday Parenting with Love and security’ has been written to accompany Foundations for Attachment.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.