“This is a necessary book and a welcome one. Necessary because it provides a powerful and moving insight into the experience of being adults who have adopted traumatised children. Welcome because it provides a model for research in this field that brings real hope of reaching some difficult and empowering truths about adoption.” Kate Cairns, author of Attachment, Trauma and Resilience (foreword)
This is the story of a group of nine adoptive parents who came together for mutual support to look at the effects on themselves of living with traumatised children. They based their task on a form of research known as co-operative inquiry. The group describes their journey from setting up the inquiry through the process of exploring the effects of their children's trauma on themselves and their families, to their development into a cohesive support group and the sense of empowerment this has brought to their lives.
The book includes:
a brief survey of attachment and trauma in relation to adoption
highly personal accounts of what it is like living with a traumatised child
a description of the inquiry process and step-by-step guidance on how others can set up their own "co-operative inquiry" group
insights into the impact the inquiry has had on participants and their families two years on
Written with courage, honesty and humour, this book should inspire and encourage any adoptive parents who are struggling to take control of their situation. It should also closely inform new developments in adoption support. And as the first piece of research carried out with rather than on adopters, it provides a model for research in this field that brings real hope of reaching some difficult and empowering truths about adoption.
Megan Hirst: for reasons of confidentiality, all participants in the co-operative inquiry wish to remain anonymous and Megan Hirst is a collective pseudonym chosen by the group.
