(COMING SOON)
Adoption changes lives — often in ways people don’t fully understand.
The impact of adoption and Special Guardianship Orders can be profound, lifelong, and complex.
It can affect:
- children and young people
- adoptive parents
- special guardians
- adult adoptees
- birth parents
- wider family members
- the professionals supporting them
Many people are doing their best but without the understanding they truly need.
That is where this course can help.
A unique course created by adopters, adoption specialists and a senior psychotherapist
Originally written in partnership with Barnardo’s Adoption Support Services, this comprehensive online course has already successfully trained counsellors and psychotherapists for nearly three years.
It has now been adapted for a wider audience so that those personally affected by adoption can access the same specialist knowledge in a clear, practical and compassionate format.
This course is ideal for:
- Adoptive parents and prospective adopters
- Special guardians and kinship carers
- Adult adoptees
- Birth parents and relatives
- Teachers, SENDCo’s and school staff
- Social workers
- Therapists and counsellors
- Health professionals
- Foster carers
- Anyone wanting deeper understanding of adoption and its lifelong impact
Aspects covered by the course
Emotional Impact
- trauma, grief, loss and separation
- attachment difficulties
- identity and belonging
- shame, rejection and abandonment wounds
Behaviour and Relationships
- why some behaviours make sense once understood
- relationship struggles linked to early experiences
- challenges in trust, regulation and connection
Families and Systems
- the experiences of adopters, birth families and adult adoptees
- Special Guardianship Orders explained
- contact arrangements and their emotional impact
- placement disruption and breakdown
Practical Support
- therapeutic parenting principles
- trauma-informed responses
- how to communicate more helpfully
- how to support healing and resilience
How this course is different
You will hear lived experiences from:
- adopters
- birth parents
- adult adoptees
- same-sex adopters
- intercountry adoption experiences
You’ll also gain insight into:
- attachment and loss
- brain development
- therapeutic parenting
- therapeutic life story work
This gives you a 360° understanding of adoption and special guardianship.
Flexible online learning format
- Study at your own pace
- Fully online
- 12 months access from enrolment
- Short learning modules
- Quizzes throughout to reinforce learning
- Downloadable resources
- Certificate of Completion awarded on successful completion
Most learners complete the course over approximately 3 months, fitting learning around work and family life.
If you support someone affected by adoption, this course could change everything
- greater confidence
- more empathy and patience
- improved relationships
- better professional practice
- clearer understanding of behaviour
- stronger communication skills
- feeling less overwhelmed and more equipped
When we understand the story beneath behaviour, relationships improve.
When we understand trauma, compassion grows.
When we understand adoption more fully, lives can change.
Important Note
Some material explores trauma, loss and emotionally sensitive life experiences. Please take care while studying and pace yourself as needed.
Includes:
✔ Full course access for 12 months
✔ All learning materials
✔ Quizzes and assessments
✔ Certificate of Completion
✔ Lifetime benefit from the understanding you gain
Please use the contact us button below if you would like to register your interest for this new course when it becomes available.