Collaborative Solutions for Adoptive Family Wellbeing
Dr. Jennifer Ginger
Adoptive families often navigate uniquely complex emotional landscapes. Two major areas of concern are consistently raised by adopters, practitioners and researchers (Adoption UK, 2025):
- Supporting adoptive families in understanding, integrating and consolidating complex life-stories, particularly when histories involve trauma, fractured relationships or incomplete information; and
- Aggressive or challenging behaviour within the adoptive home, including behaviour directed at parents, siblings, or between siblings.
This project will bring together researchers, practitioners and adoptive families to develop a shared, nuanced understanding of these challenges and co-design resources applicable in real-life situations that will support families.
Using a safe, anonymous, moderated online platform, a series of asynchronous creative collaboration sessions will be held on each of the above themes. This format enables participants — including those who may feel inhibited in formal settings or professionals wishing to challenge current policy and practice — to contribute openly and creatively without fear of judgement. (Alternative non-digital participation pathways will be available for those less comfortable with technology).
The outcome will be a set of collaboratively generated insights, strategies and prototypes for use in both professional practice and by adoptive families. These will be unique in that they will have been co-produced by researchers, practitioners, adoptive people and their families. A publicly accessible report and worksheets will provide resources for use directly with, and by, families and adopted individuals.
Jennifer studied for her DPhil at the Rees Centre, Department of Education. Prior to that she worked in post-adoption support. She is Director and Founder of The Adoption Collaborative.
