Family Trauma Series: A mentalizing approach to supporting special guardians

About this webinar

The Anna Freud Family Trauma team’s new live webinar series provides expert practice insights into key clinical practice areas affecting families and children and young people. Special Guardians face specific challenges as they take on parenting of children who have experience loss and trauma, within what can be complicated familial relationships. By taking up an reflective, validating and inclusive approach to working with special guardians we can decrease their sense of isolation and improve outcomes for children. This webinar will look at ways professionals can support special guardians to self mentalise, feel better understood and increase their capacity to mentalise their children.

Aims of this webinar

This webinar aims to explore:

• Increasing awareness of the challenges facing Special Guardians and their specific needs.

• Intergenerational trauma and the importance of self mentalizing for Special Guardians.

• Reflecting on differences between working with Special Guardians and other groups of parents/ carers (e.g. adoptive parents & foster carers).

• How mentalization based psychoeducational groups can support Special Guardians and their children.

Speakers

Charlotte Morton

I am a qualified Clinical Psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Within the Family Trauma Team at Anna Freud, I work therapeutically with adopted children and their families, as well as supporting mothers and children who have fled domestic violence. I have experience in carrying out assessments of families where children are on the edge of care or are in care proceedings, and I have been involved in developing and facilitating a group Reflective Parenting Programme for Special Guardians. I also deliver Reflective Parenting training to professionals.

Outside of my work at Anna Freud, I am employed by a London-based local authority where I provide consultation, training and staff support to frontline practitioners working in children’s social care. Whilst training and since qualifying from Royal Holloway in 2021, I have worked in NHS CAMHS, social care and third sector settings, providing direct therapeutic support to children, young people and their parents and carers. I have also worked providing training and support to a range of professionals working in education and social care settings. I am passionate about working collaboratively with multi-agency professional networks to support vulnerable families and children who have experienced early adversity, and I primarily draw on attachment and trauma-informed and mentalization-based treatment approaches in my clinical practice.

Dr Abi Enlander (she/her)

I am a qualified Clinical Psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Within the Family Trauma Team, I work with children who are placed under adoption and Special Guardianship Orders and their families, as well as birth families where local authorities are involved due to safeguarding concerns. I am also involved in coordinating and delivering Reflective Parenting Groups to Special Guardians and deliver Reflective Parenting training to professionals.

I completed my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2021 and my MSc in Developmental Psychology with Clinical Practice in 2017. In my previous jobs, I have predominantly worked in clinical teams within local authority children’s social care to support families and children who have experienced complex trauma. As well as working directly with families, I have supported social workers through providing consultation, facilitating reflective practice, and delivering training

I have a particular interest in parental mental health and have published research in this area.

Who is this webinar for?

Solicitors and professionals working with families, children and young people.