Useful for foster carers, adopters and professionals as the themes relate to parenting and living with children who experienced maltreatment, neglect or frequent changes of carers. Multiple concepts, metaphors, examples and diagrams help you understand the legacy of trauma and offer tools to future-proof children.
Below the books are downloadable articles, roughly grouped by content. Scroll through, something will grab you.
A Wish List (for adoption support) by Helen Oakwater.
First published in 2003 as Chapter Two in "Models of Adoption Support: What works and what doesn't."
Sadly it's still very, very valid in 2022.
Helen Oakwater’s book, Bubble Wrapped Children, published on 5th January 2012, generated a worldwide storm, lifting the lid on a major crisis within adoption.
Reuters, The Times (in a front page article), The Sun, The Australian, The Daily Mail were among dozens of major print media outlets that carried features. Helen was interviewed on multiple national and radio programmes including ITV, Sky, Radio4.
“British youngsters adopted after abusive childhoods are at risk of fresh emotional turmoil as some birth parents turn to Facebook and other social networking sites to track them down, adoption agencies said on Thursday. The ease with which birth parents can use technology to get in touch with their children without warning and without following established safeguards has alarmed adoption agencies.
Families who have been contacted have described the experience as like being in a “slow-motion car crash” leaving them “battered and bruised.” Reuters
Please note: Bubble Wrapped Children was published in 2012. The issue has not gone away, despite recent media stories suggesting it's a new problem.
Helen is currently updating/rewriting Bubble Wrapped Children for publication in 2022. Buckle up.
Buy here Chapter Zero Audio Chapter Zero DownloadOriginal title: "Want to adopt, foster or be a special guardian?
Need to parent a birth child who has experienced neglect, abuse, maltreatment, trauma or domestic violence?
Discover how to prepare yourself now and continue that growth for decades. Develop skills, understanding and tools for transformation for yourself and the child. You'll have Helen beside you offering theories, models, route maps and tool kits whilst being an honest mentor and kick ass friend."
Sadly the front cover was too small for those 71 words so this 30,000 word book, with 16 diagrams, published in 2019 is simply called "Want To Adopt?"
Buy hereTrauma comes in different sizes and intensities. This article offers both a metaphor and formula for measuring trauma. Quantifying damage can help explain why children behave how they do and why early intervention, truth telling and understanding is vital.
Read moreEarly intervention is cost-effective and morally right. First published in April 2008, this article demonstrates the cost-benefit of early intervention. Although the actual costs have changed the principles are equally valid today. A decade later the child in this case study did not have a good outcome.
Read moreNewspaper articles brings child abuse into “normal peoples” lives. Sympathy is not enough. Repair, healing and truth telling is needed to future proof children.
Read moreBy comparing and contrasting two different parents (including “a mother like Alex”) the challenges of parenting attachment disordered children become clear. Both the financial costs and emotional costs are compared.
Read moreFirst of two articles published in 2010 exploring the threat of Facebook, what’s happening plus the link to identity, teenage angst and loss of control when birth family enter adopters homes via the internet.
Read moreAdopted children need an enduring safe place to grow, create a solid sense of self and to melt the pervasive shame their early maltreatment created. The need for therapeutic reparenting and truth telling is explored.
Read moreBased on Susan Foreward’s 6 categories of toxic parents (inadequate, controlling, alcoholic, physical, sexual & verbal abusers,) this article steps into the childs shoes and highlights the distortions it creates plus tools for healing.
Read moreJohn Bradshaws model explains how the “wonder” child can be contaminated by trauma and toxic parenting. The different developmental stages of children (based on Erik Erikson’s model) is explained with impact of deficiencies.
Read moreChristmas brings heightened expectations, so focus on children's enduring needs not short term wants . and yes that may disappoint some adults – including your family. Plus glorious ‘gifts’ others can give you and the family.
Read moreChildren need to know their history, it shapes how they see themselves, hence key to their identity. Life story ‘work’ must honour the child’s somatic (body) experiences and memory.
Read moreOur needs and values affect our motivation and behaviour. Children whose early developmental needs were not met have an emptiness inside. Often their ‘nonsensical’ behaviour is a window into their inner turmoil and deficits, if we can read the cues. Maslow and Barrets models illustrate the concepts.
Read moreBeing in the flow is a useful state. Reduction of anxiety by increasing skills and a method of measuring “Subjective Units of Distress” which can help children calibrate hurt, pain and trauma. (Part 1 of flow articles).
Read moreCriteria for matching a child to a new set of parents is often vague and subjective. We need robust measurement and techniques that will enable placements to last.
Read moreWritten primarily for teachers this article explains why and how children who have experienced maltreatment and neglect have a legacy of trauma which impacts their ongoing life.
Read moreONE of the many challenges adopters face is not understanding the reason their child suddenly ‘goes off on one’, i.e. flips for no apparent reason.
Read moreAs adopters we hear enlightened therapists say “their behaviour is not the problem – it’s the answer to the problem”.
Read moreDuring the drafting of this article, I had an ‘interesting Sunday’, which for me illustrated how the complexities of adoptive parenting change as our children grow older.
Read moreWhen my children were placed in the early 1990s I had a view of how my life would be as a mother. I anticipated some things; however….
Read moreThe legacy of childhood trauma is huge and complex. The more you understand, the more you can do in your field to either prevent or heal childhood trauma. These links and resources will aid your learning.
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