The Meaning of the Adopted Child – The Knowing Me Knowing You Course.

Aggression and violence in adoptive relationships is widespread and has in part its roots in trauma, loss and disrupted attachment relationships. The Knowing Me, Knowing You (KYKM) programme is a group-based intervention that supports parents to move towards a more reflective and less embattled stance, enabling them to better manage their own, and their child’s, anger, fear and distress. The MotC played an integral role in the development of the KYKM programme. Offering it at the outset acted as a catalyst for parental reflection, as well as identifying the needs of each parent.
The MotC was used to evaluate the programme. Intervention resulted in a significant increase in parental sensitivity compared to those receiving ‘service as usual’. Increases in parental reflective functioning, as well as reduction in parental stress, were also observed. Significant associations were found between MotC sensitivity, parental reflective functioning and a lack of parental stress, adding further evidence for the ability of the MotC to discriminate between struggling and well-functioning relationships.
Pre- and post-interviews of a mother of two adopted daughters illustrate the kind of change that can be brought about, and how this can be seen in how the parent thinks about their child.