The Family Journey: Therapeutic Support for Adoption & Special Guardianship
Body & Soul's Adoption and Special Guardianship programme offers a creative therapeutic group approach to strengthen the whole family. We know children and young people often carry experiences of trauma, loss and disrupted attachment. These early adverse experiences, despite being placed in new families, can manifest as emotional, behavioural and relational challenges, affecting not only the child and young person, but the whole family system.
The Programme
The Adoption and Special Guardianship Monthly Programme is designed to provide a strengths based, trauma-informed support that strengthens both individual and family resilience. Grounded in the therapeutic approach of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), the in-person programme equips children, young people and caregivers with strategies for emotional regulation, communication and connection. Through structured age specific groups, the programme integrates a wide range of creative arts alongside DBT, fostering secure attachment, relational stability and building the capacity for long-term wellbeing.
Therapeutic Elements
Community Days: A monthly in person therapeutic session rooted in DBT, centring learning, growth, wellbeing & connection.
DDP informed sessions: Catered to families in adoption and special guardianship working around attachment through a dyadic model, both in-person and/online.
Age-specific programmes: For 7–12 and 13–18 year olds, with a focus on emotional wellbeing, resilience and the unique challenges of each developmental stage.
Open Door Support ensures help is always available via phone, text, email, or in-person guidance.
"Until my child was 9 years old, I had never been informed that most of her challenging behaviours were an outcome of the trauma she experienced as a child before adoption...now I understand things better and have a community to help me through it."
Joanna
Member of Body & Soul
