Dan Hughes webinar for professionals – Keeping in Touch and Managing Relationships with Birth Families

A Note on Language: At Family Futures, we recognise that language is constantly evolving. While we now use the term “Keeping in Touch” to better reflect the nuance of maintaining family links, please note that this video was recorded when the terminology “Contact” was standard. As such, the speakers refer to “Contact” throughout the recording.

Dr Dan Hughes, founder of DDP discusses and explores the following areas for adoptive, foster and SGO families:

• How to consider if contact would be helpful for your child
• How to manage the feelings contact triggers for yourself and your child
• How to support your child in their thinking about their birth relatives and their array of feelings they may have about contact
• How to support your child before, during and after contact
• An increased awareness of PACE
• Ideas to assist your child with their distress even when you are feeling anxious or stressed yourself

This webinar for professionals took place on 27 May, 2021, and the recording is available for you to purchase here.

For all children and young people from the care system making sense of their life story is an important part of growing up and not surprisingly in adolescence this understanding is key to helping young people work out who they are.

It is now more vital than ever, as young people increasingly find birth relatives through social media and instigate contact themselves, that life story work, making sense of yourself and managing the complex array of feelings about contact is supported in a positive way, and that it happens safely.

The judiciary are also now of the view that adoptions, as well as fostering and special guardianship placements, need to be more open and that contact is integrated into the lives of adopted children and young people. Children, young people and their parents/carers need to be prepared and supported alongside birth family relatives, in a world changed by social media and virtual connection.

Dan Hughes’ therapeutic model of DDP involves assisting children (and their parents) to understand their troubled past while also enhancing their ability to form trusting relationships with their adoptive parents or carers. Parenting skills including PACE (playful, accepting, curious and empathic) will be explained and explored for assisting both children and their parents to experience greater safety when managing relationships with birth families.

Dr Dan Hughes is a clinical psychologist specialising in the treatment of children and young people with trauma-attachment problems. Dan trains professionals in this treatment model in the United States, the UK, Canada, and Australia. He is the author of various books and articles, and is also the President of the Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Institute.

Books by Dr Dan Hughes – special offer for Family Futures supporters

To order titles by Daniel Hughes at a special discount of 25% + free shipping please visit the Norton publishers website here and add the code WN606 when prompted at the checkout.

DVDs by Dr Dan Hughes – see our training resources by Dr Dan Hughes and order your copies here