UKTC Insight Series Webinar: Parenting after Complex Trauma
Join this webinar to explore how complex trauma can shape the transition to parenthood, and how better support for parents can improve outcomes for their babies.
About this webinar
Pregnancy and early parenthood are times of major change. For some families, this period is made more difficult by mental health challenges. In the UK, mental health difficulties affect up to 27% of the birthing population during pregnancy and the first two years after birth, with suicide remaining the leading cause of maternal death.
These challenges are particularly common in families where parents have experienced complex (developmental) trauma - repeated or prolonged trauma in childhood, often within caregiving relationships. One in four adults in England experienced abuse before age 18, rising to 75% among adults accessing secondary mental health services, including NHS Perinatal Mental Health services.
While awareness of the impact of parents’ own childhood experiences is growing, there are still significant gaps in screening, shared understanding, and evidence-based pathways to support parents and babies.
In this webinar, Sophie Olson, Dr Adele Greaves, and Dr Kim Alyousefi-van Dijk discuss recent developments in the field and emerging trauma-informed approaches to supporting families.
Aims of this webinar
To understand how complex trauma shapes the parenting journey and affects early parent–infant relationships.
To identify key gaps in current provisions and how this impacts families.
To bring together lived‑experience, clinical, and research insights to model the integrated approach families need and deserve.
To highlight emerging, trauma‑informed innovations in assessment, support, and care for parents and babies.
Who is this webinar for?
This webinar is suitable for professionals across (perinatal) mental health care, parent-infant teams, researchers and anyone else involved in supporting new families.
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Sophie Olson - Survivor Activist, Founder of The Flying Child CIC, Author and Trainer
Sophie Olson is a survivor activist, writer, and founder of The Flying Child CIC - an organisation leading survivor-led training and awareness-raising around child sexual abuse (CSA). Her work centres on normalising conversations about CSA and bringing lived experience into professional spaces.
A survivor of intrafamilial CSA, Sophie’s creative therapeutic journey led to her book The Flying Child – A Cautionary Fairy Tale for Adults, co-authored with therapist Patricia Walsh. She now delivers training across education, social care and healthcare, advocating for non-pathologising, trauma-informed support for survivors. Sophie also contributes to research projects aimed at improving survivor access to appropriate care and is a consultant, co-producer and trainer for the CSA Centre Practice Leads Programme for Midwives and Health visitors.
Dr Adele Greaves - Clinical Psychologist and Trauma & Perinatal Mental Health Specialist
Dr Adele Greaves is a Clinical Psychologist with over 15 years' experience supporting adults affected by developmental and relational trauma. She is the founder of Compassionate Space Psychology, dedicated to working with parents who are breaking intergenerational cycles of trauma, abuse, and neglect, through their own therapeutic journey and parenting. She has worked across NHS Adult Mental Health and Specialist Perinatal Services, specialising in complex trauma, dissociation, and the emotional challenges of becoming a parent.
Adele is an Internal Family Systems therapist, trained at Levels 1, 2 & 3 and working towards certification. She is also skilled in parent–infant therapy and has a strong commitment to socially aware, anti-discriminatory practice. In addition to clinical work, Adele provides supervision and training for professionals across trauma-informed services.
Dr Kim Alyousefi-van Dijk - Senior Research Fellow (UCL & UKTC) and NIHR DSE Fellow
Dr Kim Alyousefi-van Dijk is a Senior Research Fellow with the UKTC at Anna Freud, leading a review of psychosocial interventions for forcibly displaced children, young people and families. Additionally, she is a Senior Research Fellow in the Psychoanalysis Unit at University College London, where she works as an NIHR DSE Fellow. Her research focuses on perinatal mental health and the parent–child relationship in the context of complex trauma and psychosocial adversity.
Kim leads the RESTORE research group (Resilience, Self-organisation and Trauma Outcomes in the Reproductive and Early years) and is principal investigator on several studies, all aimed at improving outcomes for new parents who have experienced childhood maltreatment. Her work includes a consistent commitment to cross-sector collaboration and ensuring that people with lived experience are at the heart of research design and delivery
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The online platform Zoom will be used to deliver this training. Prior to booking on, please ensure you meet the system requirements so you're able to join this training.
Before the training, please test your equipment is working by going to Zoom.us/test and follow the instructions.
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