Dyadic developmental psychotherapy for children with developmental trauma histories: An exploration of children’s therapeutic experiences
Six children aged 8–12, five adopted and one under special guardianship, used play-based interviews and visual activities to describe ongoing therapy. Interpretative phenomenological analysis identified trust, feeling understood, repair after difficult interactions and perceived closeness to caregivers. Most children expressed benefits, alongside discomfort or uncertainty.
Limitations: Small selected sample referred through therapists, all White European. Some caregivers were present during research sessions. Projective activities require interpretation and cannot establish clinical effectiveness. Same research as Christopher’s 2024 doctoral thesis; UK recruitment does not give an England-only estimate.
- Research type
- Qualitative child-participation research
- Source reviewed
- Full text
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Age group
- Children
Study context and review
Age group as recorded: children
Adoption context: Adoption from care
Programme: Christopher children’s experiences of DDP study
Institutional context: No relationship identified in the material checked
No adoption-sector organisational relationship identified from metadata reviewed. Funding and conflicts were not comprehensively audited; this is not confirmation of institutional independence.
Bibliographic screening. Bibliographic relationships are not a bias or safety rating.
Topics: adoptee voice, attachment, post-adoption support, research methodology
Review scope: Source checked: Full text. This does not imply full-text or independent human verification.
Country as recorded: United Kingdom
- Funding
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Commissioner
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Funder role
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Declared conflicts
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Recruitment
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Adoptee involvement
- Not yet checked for this entry
Entry: study_09a58b9b2824fd6b