Dan Hughes

I have been watching the amazing Dan Hughes over the last few days. Our social worker lent me a copy of  "Building the bonds of attachment" which interestingly is just a DVD of Dan Hughes talking about  Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, it's not full of CGI or flash imagery, just a man, a flip chart and a microphone and I am completely and utterly hooked. He has been researching therapeutic parenting for twelve years and his treatments have evolved over this time always changing and  developing following experiences and contacts he has with children who have been fostered and or adopted and their new parents. He helps the children come to terms and deal with abuse and neglect and helps the parents find therapies to ensure their child receives the best support. 

He consistently hits the nail on the head, when he talks about toddlers and how they attach to their parents or not in the case of many adopted/fostered children. I can see some of those behaviours in our child 4 and then know that we can overcome them generally just by understanding them and why they happen.  By understanding why adopted children behave as they do, we can help them understand why they behave as they do. This does not mean carte blanche on their behaviour, they still need to take responsibility and live and deal with any consequences of their actions but without a shadow of a doubt this form of parenting will help them to flourish and grow to be the people they deserve to be.

Dyadic Development Psycotherapy  

DDP involves creating a safe setting in which the child can begin to explore, resolve, and integrate a wide range of memories, emotions, and current experiences, that are frightening, shameful, avoided or denied.