Find a Foster Care Therapist

Understanding foster care and its emotional impact

Foster care covers a wide range of arrangements where children or young people live with carers who are not their birth family. People come into foster care for many reasons - parental illness, family breakdown, safeguarding concerns or temporary arrangements while long-term plans are made. Those experiences can shape identity, attachment patterns and everyday routines in ways that are often complicated and ongoing. Whether you are a foster carer, a young person in care, a birth parent or a professional involved in placements, you may find that the emotional effects are practical, relational and often deeply felt.

The experience of moving into foster care, managing visits, sharing information with agencies and coping with uncertainty about the future can leave people feeling anxious, grieving or mistrustful. Attachment needs may surface as challenging behaviour, self-soothing through withdrawal or difficulty forming stable relationships. At the same time carers can feel overwhelmed, unsupported or unsure how best to respond. Therapy focused on foster care aims to create space for those experiences - to help people make sense of them, to strengthen relationships where possible and to develop coping strategies for everyday life.

Signs that therapy for foster care could help

You might consider looking for a counsellor or therapist when day-to-day life is disrupted by stress related to care arrangements. For children and young people this could show as changes in sleep, school attendance, concentration, eating or sudden shifts in behaviour that are not explained by physical illness. Carers may notice feeling persistently exhausted, anxious about assessments, guilty about boundaries or unclear how to support a child who has experienced trauma. Birth parents can struggle with grief, shame or anger about separation and the changing relationship with their child.

Even if problems feel manageable, you may still benefit from talking to a specialist. Therapy is often useful when you want a safe place to reflect, to learn practical parenting or communication strategies, to process past loss or to work through attachment and identity issues. If you are involved with social services, a therapist who understands foster care systems, assessments and safeguarding can help you navigate those conversations and prepare for meetings or transitions.

What to expect in therapy sessions focused on foster care

When you arrange sessions you should expect an initial assessment where the therapist asks about your history, current circumstances and what you hope to achieve. This assessment is an opportunity to share information about any social work involvement, legal orders, school concerns and family contact arrangements. Therapists will usually discuss confidentiality, agreed boundaries around sharing information and how they work with other professionals - this helps everyone understand what will be shared with third parties and why.

Therapy can take many forms depending on age, need and goals. For children and younger adolescents you may find sessions involve play-based activities, creative work or sessions where carers and the child attend together. For older young people and adults sessions are more likely to be conversational but may still include experiential tasks, narrative work or emotion-regulation techniques. Many therapists adopt a trauma-informed stance, which means they focus on safety, pacing and building skills before exploring distressing memories.

Working with families and professionals

In foster care the therapeutic process often involves more than the individual client. Therapists may invite carers, birth parents or social workers to be part of the work where appropriate. This joint approach can help improve communication, set realistic expectations and strengthen placement stability. If you are a carer, therapy can offer coaching on boundaries, managing behaviour and understanding attachment needs. If you are a birth parent, sessions can support you in processing loss and preparing for contact arrangements in a way that prioritises the child’s wellbeing.

Common therapeutic approaches used for foster care

There is no single approach that suits everyone, and good therapists often combine methods to match your needs. Attachment-based therapies focus on patterns of relating and aim to repair and strengthen relationships through reflective work. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy adapts CBT techniques to help people process distressing memories and learn coping skills. Family and systemic therapies look at how family dynamics and wider networks influence behaviour and wellbeing, which can be especially helpful when multiple adults are involved in a placement.

For younger children play and creative therapies provide a language for feelings when words are hard to find. Therapies such as eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) may be offered by accredited practitioners for certain kinds of trauma work, while person-centred and narrative approaches can help you rebuild a coherent sense of self after disruption. It is reasonable to ask a therapist about their training, experience working with foster care issues and any additional accreditation they hold.

How online therapy works for foster care

Online therapy has become a common way to access specialist support, particularly if local services are limited or you need flexible appointment times. Sessions typically take place by video call, but some therapists also offer telephone or text-based options depending on what you prefer. Online work allows you to see therapists outside your immediate area who may have specific experience with foster placements, attachment difficulties or working with adolescents in care.

When you choose online therapy, discuss practical arrangements up front - how to join the session, what happens if the connection drops and where you should sit for privacy during the call. Therapists will explain how they manage records and what to expect regarding communication between sessions. For children and young people, therapists often advise on how carers can support the session without taking it over, and they will clarify how safeguarding concerns are handled when someone is not physically present.

Online therapy can work well as a standalone option or as part of a blended programme that includes occasional in-person meetings. Many people find that the convenience of remote sessions makes it easier to maintain regular contact, which is important for making steady progress when working through attachment or trauma-related issues.

Tips for choosing the right foster care therapist

Start by looking for professionals who list foster care, attachment or trauma as areas of specialism and who are registered with recognised UK bodies such as BACP, HCPC or NCPS. Registration is a sign that the therapist adheres to professional standards and ongoing supervision. Read profiles carefully to learn about a therapist’s experience with children, adolescents, carers and birth families, and check whether they offer assessments, family work or liaison with social services if you think this will be important.

Practicalities matter too - consider whether the therapist offers evening sessions, telephone or online appointments, and what their cancellation and fee policies are. It is appropriate to ask about their approach to safeguarding and how they will communicate with other professionals involved in the case. A short initial consultation can give you a sense of rapport and whether their style feels right for you or the young person in your care.

Finally, trust your judgement. Building a therapeutic relationship takes time, and it is acceptable to try a few sessions to see whether the work is progressing in a way that feels helpful. If a therapist does not seem to fit, look for someone with a different approach or more targeted experience. The right therapist can help you develop strategies, process difficult feelings and strengthen the relationships that matter most in foster care situations.

If you are ready to begin, use the listings above to compare specialisms, check registration and book an initial consultation with a foster care counsellor or therapist who meets your needs.