We can advise families on how to talk to children about adoption and to help explore the impact of adoption on a child and the family at the different stages of a child's development and level of understanding.

We work in partnership with families to develop the most appropriate ways of dealing with their young people, taking into account the child's history and previous experiences.

As adoption becomes increasingly open we can provide mediation and/or ongoing support to families in managing the emotional and practical issues which may arise from contact with the child's birth family.

Periodically Scottish Adoption arranges group training/support sessions for adoptive parents and staff when we can share and learn from each other's experiences. We also run groups for children and young people which can be helpful in overcoming the sense of isolation some adopted children feel. In conjunction with other agencies we have organised conferences on after adoption topics, inviting specialists from the adoption field in Britain and more recently from the USA.

Recurring themes in our work with children are -

• identity and ethnicity issues

• attachment difficulties

• emotional and behavioural difficulties

• self esteem

• anger management

• relating to peers/social skills

• education issues

• exploring feelings