We offer a range of therapeutic services designed to support children who are looked after, or previously looked after, their caregivers, and the professionals around them. Our work includes specialist assessment and intervention for children and their parents or caregivers, as well as support, training, and consultation for the important adults in their lives. Grounded in relational and trauma-informed practice, our approach integrates evidence-based models and creative therapies with a focus on individual person centred support.
What we do
Our work with children and families is rooted in a person-centred, relational approach that recognises the importance of safety, trust, and connection. We fuse evidence-based therapies with non-directive, creative approaches to meet each child and parent where they are. At the heart of our work is a focus on relational repair, helping children and their caregivers to rebuild connection, strengthen attachment, and co-create new patterns of safety and understanding. Every therapeutic journey is unique, and we adapt our approach to reflect the needs of each child and their wider caregiving network.
Each assessment and intervention will be individually tailored depending on the presenting difficulties and needs identified. These will be discussed as part of the referral process.
Assessment
Our standard therapeutic assessment includes the use of psychological measures and clinical observation as appropriate and incorporates the Meaning of the Child Interview (or similar relational based interview), MIM and a child-based attachment assessment measure to provide a holistic assessment of the inter relational dynamics, family functioning, strengths and vulnerabilities within the family from an attachment and developmental trauma perspective. This can be adapted to meet the needs of the family and commissioning service.
Intervention
Children who have experienced early relational trauma, loss, or disrupted caregiving often carry the impact of those experiences into later relationships and emotional development. These early experiences can affect how safe a child feels with others, how they understand themselves, and how they respond to stress, connection, and everyday family life.
At Ragdoll we offer a range of therapeutic interventions designed to support children and families affected by these early experiences. This may include individual therapeutic work with a child or young person, relational interventions that strengthen the parent–child connection, and therapeutic parenting support to help adults better understand and respond to their child’s needs. Each intervention is carefully tailored to the individual child and family.
Our approach is grounded in the understanding that meaningful, lasting change happens when adults are reflective, resilient, and therapeutically equipped. We support individuals and teams to:
Create meaningful, relational change for both your staff teams and the children and young people in your care.
Enhance psychological understanding of the emotional and developmental needs of children and young people.
Develop a therapeutic toolbox rooted in evidence-based models, including trauma-informed care, attachment theory, and therapeutic reparenting approaches.
Embed therapeutic models of care into everyday practice, making them accessible, sustainable, and practical for frontline staff.
Build skills in therapeutic reparenting and therapeutic practice, tailored to your role and the needs of the children you support.
Strengthen team cohesion, reflective capacity, and mutual support within your services.
Our bespoke support services are grounded in an understanding of trauma and attachment, recognising the profound impact early experiences can have on a child’s emotional world and relationships. We know that providing trauma and attachment informed care takes immense emotional energy, and it can be difficult to sustain. Parents and carers of relationally harmed children are at high risk of compassion fatigue or burnout and experiencing blocked care. That’s why we focus on nurturing the resilience and reflective capacity of the adults around the child. In the same way that airlines advise passengers to put their own oxygen masks on before helping others, it is essential for caregivers and professionals to focus on their own mental, emotional, and physical health to be able to be the best compassionate and effective parent or carer they can be.
This support can take many forms, including consultation and formulation, regular supervision, thinking spaces and training in therapeutic approaches, and self-care initiatives.
Therapeutic Reparenting course for adoptive parents and special guardians which covers the following topics:
Understanding Trauma and Its Impact
- How early trauma affects brain development, behaviour, and relationships.
- The difference between intentional behaviour and trauma and survival responses.
- The survival brain vs. thinking brain—what’s really happening in moments of dysregulation.
Attachment and Connection
- The function and role of attachment and how it can show up in daily life.
- How our own attachment strategies can interact with our child’s attachment strategies.
- Rebuilding trust through consistent, attuned caregiving.
Blocked Trust and Blocked Care
- Why children sometimes reject care or closeness—even when they need it.
- How blocked care affects adult responses and relationships with the child.
- Strategies to restore emotional connection and caregiver resilience.
Reflective Parenting / Mentalisation
- Staying curious rather than reactive.
- Understanding what drives behaviour (what’s the hidden need versus the expressed need).
- Tools to reflect on your own emotional responses and triggers.
Regulation Before Reasoning
- Co-regulation as a foundation for helping children learn to self-regulate.
- The role of rhythm, routine, and sensory awareness in calming the nervous system.
- Why “connect before correct” matters so much.
P.A.C.E. (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy)
- Using P.A.C.E. to foster safety and emotional closeness.
- Real-life examples of P.A.C.E. in action, especially during difficult moments.
- The importance of play and play based activities to build connection and also help develop underdeveloped sensory systems.
- The importance of language to convey understanding and increase connection.
Creating Psychological Safety
- How to help a child feel truly safe—physically, emotionally, and relationally.
- The importance of predictability, boundaries, and non-punitive discipline.
Loss, Grief, and Identity
- Helping children make sense of their story in age-appropriate ways.
- Understanding ambiguous loss and how it may surface.
- Supporting children in exploring identity, belonging, and self-worth.
Parent/Carer Burnout and Compassion Fatigue
- The emotional toll of long-term therapeutic parenting.
- Self-care beyond bubble baths: real strategies for emotional sustainability.
- Building a network of support and reflective thinking.
Collaborating with Professionals
- Being part of a child’s wider team: school, social workers, therapists.
- Advocating for the child while managing the emotional labour of the system.
The course aims to increase parents and carers understanding and empathy towards their children by providing a therapeutic space alongside providing practical skills and parenting strategies that will strengthen parent child relationships.
FEEDBACK ON THE REPARENTING COURSE:
“Very good practical advice.”
“Thank you for giving us permission to believe we don’t always have to ‘get it right’.”
“I was in quite a low place at the start of this course. You’ve restored my resilience”.
If you are interested in commissioning this course or learning more about an online version of the course that can be delivered to individual parents/couples via video please contact us.
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