Working with Adopted Adults in Counselling Practice - Birmingham

Innovative CPD Training from PAC-UK – Delivered by Professional Adoption Counsellors with Lived Experience
Gain the confidence and skills to provide meaningful therapeutic support to adopted adults through this new two-day in-person training.
Dates: October 6 & 7
Times: 9.30am to 5.00pm (both days)
Location: Signing Tree Venue, Deaf Cultural Centre, Ladywood Road, Birmingham, B16 8SZ
Price: £275 plus VAT (£330 incl. VAT)
Please click on the 'Register Now' button on our website for a detailed overview of course content and online booking.
Link: https://family-action.org.uk/events/working-with-adopted-adults-in-counselling-practice-birmingham-october-2026/

Gain the confidence and skills to provide meaningful therapeutic support to adopted adults through this new two-day in-person training.
Note: This training is for counsellors, mental health and adoption professionals.
The lived experience of adoption is often complex, layered, and deeply personal. This unique and comprehensive two-day training course - delivered by PAC-UK facilitators with lived experience -offers counsellors and mental health professionals a deeper understanding of adoption-related trauma and how to respond to it in therapeutic settings.
Whether you're new to working with adopted adults or looking to enhance your practice, this course equips you with practical tools, up-to-date research, and real-life insights from those who truly understand.
✔ CPD certificate provided
✔ Led by facilitators with lived experience
✔ In-person delivery at fully accessible venue
✔ Tea/coffee/water provided throughout both days
Please note, lunch is not provided - there are shops nearby and space within the venue for you to sit if you prefer to bring lunch in.
What You’ll Learn – Course Modules
Day 1:
Module 1: The Background Essentials
- History of adoption in the UK
- Current research on adoption and its psychological impact
- Common presenting issues in therapy
- Biological and physiological effects of adoption-related trauma
Module 2: The Developing Adoptee
- The lifelong losses associated with adoption
- The developing nervous system and the role of early trauma
- Parenting and attachment styles
- When trauma is unrecognised or misunderstood
Day 2:
Module 3: The Lifelong Impacts of Adoption
- Adoption as adaptation
- Addictions, compulsions, and identity
- “Being in the fog”: disconnection and dissociation
- The reunion experience and how the body remembers trauma
Module 4: Modern Adoption and Therapeutic Approaches
- Changes in adoption practices
- Best practices for counselling adopted adults
- How to ‘get in’ – engaging adoptees effectively
- Somatic work and other therapeutic interventions
Facilitators
Gilli Bruce: Gilli is an integrative therapeutic counsellor and NLP Master Practitioner with lived experience as an adoptee. She brings both professional expertise and personal insight to her work, offering compassionate, client-centred support. Gilli is also actively involved in the adoption community, partnering with 'Adoptees-in-Alliance' and 'How To Be Adopted' to advocate for adoptee voices and well-being.
Tanya Killick: Tanya is a qualified Social Worker who has worked at PAC-UK since 2014, supporting adoptees, first families and adoptive parents. She co-leads Adopteens, a project designed and led by teenage adoptees to build friendships and amplify young people’s voices in adoption. Tanya is passionate about enabling adoptees to have a voice on the issues that matter to them, improving understanding and shaping the way support is provided for people affected by adoption. She also supports adoptive families through PAC-UK’s Child to Parent Violence (CPV) Programme and has completed training in NVR and DDP.
Price excluding VAT
You have the option to pay online via PAC-UK PayPal or via invoice if preferred.
£275 plus VAT (£330 incl. VAT)
About PAC-UK
PAC-UK is the UK’s largest adoption support agency and part of the national charity Family Action. This training is developed and delivered by professional adoption counsellors with direct lived experience of adoption, offering unique perspectives not found in conventional training.
If you have any questions about this training, please email Leon Elias at [email protected] or call 0300 1800 085.
Address: Signing Tree Venue, Deaf Cultural Centre, Ladywood Road, Birmingham, B16 8SZ
Start Date: October 6, 2026
End Date: October 7, 2026
Start Time: 9:30 am
End Time: 5:00 pm