I am a qualified social worker and a certified Non Violent Resistance practitioner. I work with a range of families that care for children who have experience of being fostered and are in adoptive or kinship homes. The focus of this work is supporting children who have experienced early adversity or have special educational needs and are at risk of displaying challenging, violent or aggressive behaviour in the home.

The purpose of this Fellowship is to develop an understanding of how other cultures and contexts consider this challenge and support the children, parents and adults. I am an adoptive parent and have direct experience of the behaviour in my home as well as trying to identify and access appropriate support. As a professional I now support families and train professionals, drawing on my personal experience as well as my professional knowledge.

My hope is that I can develop the knowledge base in the UK and disseminate the knowledge I gather in relation to this issue both in terms of the impact across the whole family but more significantly how professionals in different countries, cultures and professional contexts work directly with families.