Adopting Minds — a mentalization-based therapy for families in a post-adoption support service: preliminary evaluation and service user experience

Adopting Minds — a mentalization-based therapy for families in a post-adoption support service: preliminary evaluation and service user experience

Nick Midgley, Adriana Alayza, Hannah Lawrence, Rebecca Bellew · Adoption & Fostering

A preliminary evaluation studied 36 families referred to Adopting Minds, a six-session mentalization-based family therapy service, and interviewed five families completing therapy. Available before-and-after data showed improvements in mental health and parental confidence. Parents described a supportive setting, though some wanted longer or additional treatment.

Limitations: Incomplete outcome data, a small interview sample and no randomised comparison limit causal conclusions. Referred families do not represent all adoptees. Only the publisher-deposited abstract was reviewed; regional coverage and additional methods are not inferred where unstated. Related programme publications may use overlapping participants; these are separate publications, not independent replications. UK research context does not confirm an exclusively England/Wales sample. Two authors were affiliated with Coram, an adoption service provider; the study evaluated a post-adoption therapy service. Provider involvement and incomplete outcome data should be considered when interpreting findings. Evidence-provider note: this service evaluation includes adult-reported outcome assessments and parental service experiences. The parent-experience component is outside the revised scope; its inclusion is for the reported adoptee/family outcome assessment, not as adoptee testimony. Child-specific measurement details are limited in the reviewed abstract.

Research type

Mixed-method service evaluation

Source reviewed

Abstract

Peer reviewed

Yes

Age group

Mixed