Adoption Counselling for Adoptees, Parents & Families
Adoption can shape identity, impact relationships and affect emotional wellbeing at different stages of your life. Chloe offers specialist online adoption support counselling for adult adoptees, adoptive parents, birth parents and prospective adopters, combining professional training with lived experience as an adoptive parent. Therapy provides a safe, compassionate space to explore your experiences, understand the impact of adoption and move forward at a pace that feels right for you.
Chloe Billington
About me
I am an adoptive mother, a psychotherapeutic counsellor for both adults and children and have completed specialised training in adoption support counselling. My online practice welcomes all those individuals impacted by adoption, whether you are an adoptive parent, an adoptee, or a parent whose child was adopted many years ago. Every adoption story is uniquely complex and deserves to be carefully unravelled at a pace that suits you.
There is a prevailing narrative in society that regards children as ‘lucky’ to be adopted and the adopters as ‘saviours’, as if the adoption were a ‘happy ending’ in itself. This rose-tinted view of adoption can leave adoptees feeling completely unseen, even by close friends and family. It can also leave adoptive parents struggling to admit to the challenges of parenting an adopted child.
Qualifications and Training
- Certificate in Adoption Support Counselling – The Albany Centre
- CPCAB Level 5 Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling (adult) – Headstrong Academy
- Diploma in Psychological Therapies – The Association for Psychological Therapies
- Child & Adolescent
Counselling – Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (PGdip)
Adoption Support
Adult Adoptees
Society often fails to understand that the millions of adoptees who live full and rich lives are survivors of early trauma (infant-mother separation), who have successfully adapted to survive. Many adoptees have suffered repeated losses, the impact of which often only starts to reveal itself well into adulthood.
Chloe can offer a safe space to explore the many parts of you – from your birth family to your adoptive family- considering the resilience and adaptations of your body and mind have adapted to become the person you are now. If you would like therapy in a safe, informed and understanding space, please book a therapy session with Chloe.
Adoptive Parents
Becoming a parent by adoption magnifies all the usual highs and lows of parenting. What friends and family often don’t realise is that children who are adopted are survivors of the early trauma of infant-mother separation as well as having developed in highly stressful environments before and after they were born. The intense needs of your child can become so overwhelming that you find yourself in a drained or reactive state, wondering where your life got lost in the whirlwind. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, or simply need a space where the complexities of adoptive parenting are understood, book a therapy session with Chloe to access safe support.
Birth Parents
The majority of adopted children in the UK are taken from their birth parents rather than relinquished by choice. Even if relinquished, the pressures that led to relinquishment cannot be underestimated.
The pervading sense of having had your child taken from you by the state at a time in your life when you may well have been vulnerable adds complexity to the profound loss of losing a child.
If you would like a safe, compassionate space to explore what happened, the impact it has had on you, and who you are today, Chloe can support you. Book a therapy session with Chloe to begin exploring your experiences at your own pace.
Prospective Adopters
If you are considering adopting or are in the lengthy process of being assessed, Chloe can provide a safe and informed space to make sense of feelings and uncertainties that often arise around this time.
Many people adopt after having had miscarriages or IVF treatment. Perhaps you have been advised to ‘process’ these losses before applying. Chloe can support you in reflecting on what you have already experienced, exploring any feelings or uncertainties, and preparing emotionally for the life-changing experience of becoming a parent through adoption. Book a discovery session with Chloe to find out how therapy could support you at this stage of your journey.
Resources for Adult Adoptees
How to be Adopted
How to be Adopted is a UK-based resource created by adoptees, for adoptees. It offers honest articles, podcasts, events and a supportive community that helps adopted people explore identity, relationships and the lifelong impact of adoption while feeling understood and less alone.
Thriving Adoptees – Let’s Thrive
Thriving Adoptees – Let’s Thrive is a podcast hosted by adoptee Simon Benn, featuring conversations with adoptees, adoptive parents and professionals about healing, identity, trauma and personal growth. It offers thoughtful insights and lived experiences to help adoptees better understand themselves and thrive beyond their adoption journey.
IreneLyon.com
Irene Lyon is a nervous system educator whose website offers articles, videos and resources on trauma, stress and nervous system regulation. While not adoption-specific, her work can be helpful for adoptees and others affected by early trauma who want to better understand how traumatic experiences can be held in the body and how healing may support greater emotional resilience.
Adoption UK
Adoption UK provides a comprehensive guide for adult adoptees looking for support, bringing together trusted organisations, peer support groups, counselling services and information about tracing birth relatives. It’s an excellent starting point for anyone exploring their adoption journey or seeking specialist support tailored to the lifelong impact of adoption.
PAC-UK (Family Action)
PAC-UK (Family Action) – Services for Adopted People provides specialist, trauma-informed support for adult adoptees throughout their lives. Services include counselling, advice, access to adoption records, support with searching for birth relatives and intermediary services, helping individuals explore their adoption story and navigate identity, loss, relationships and reunion in a safe and supported way.
Resources for Adoptive Parents
CoramBAAF’s Parenting Matters series
CoramBAAF’s Parenting Matters is a highly regarded book series written specifically for adoptive parents, foster carers and professionals. Each book focuses on a different challenge, such as trauma, attachment, sleep or emotional wellbeing, combining expert guidance with the real-life experiences of adoptive families to provide practical, therapeutic support for parenting children who have experienced early adversity.
What Every Parent Needs to Know
What Every Parent Needs to Know by Dr Margot Sunderland is an evidence-based parenting guide that explains how love, nurture, play and secure relationships support a child’s brain development and emotional wellbeing. Drawing on decades of research, it offers practical strategies to help parents better understand their child’s behaviour and respond in ways that strengthen connection and resilience.
The A-Z of Therapeutic Parenting
The A–Z of Therapeutic Parenting by Sarah Naish is an invaluable practical guide for adoptive parents and carers. Organised around more than 60 common behaviours and challenges, it explains what may be driving a child’s responses and offers therapeutic, trauma-informed strategies to help parents respond with empathy, connection and confidence.
Why can’t my child behave?
Why Can’t My Child Behave? by Dr Amber Elliott is a practical guide for adoptive parents and foster carers, helping them understand the impact of developmental trauma on a child’s behaviour. Rather than focusing on rewards and punishments, it introduces empathic, trauma-informed parenting strategies that strengthen connection, build trust and support long-term emotional healing.
My Name Is Why
My Name Is Why is the powerful memoir of Lemn Sissay, who reflects on his experiences of being in care, fostered and separated from his birth family. Honest, moving and deeply insightful, the book explores identity, belonging, loss and resilience, offering an important perspective on the lifelong impact of early childhood experiences and family separation.
We Belong Together
We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and Families by Todd Parr is a colourful, child-friendly picture book that celebrates the many different ways families are formed. With simple language and inclusive illustrations, it offers a reassuring introduction to adoption, helping young children feel loved, accepted and proud of their family story.
Inside I’m Hurting
Inside I’m Hurting by Louise Bomber explores how attachment difficulties and developmental trauma can affect a child’s behaviour, emotions and learning. Written for parents, carers and professionals, it offers practical, compassionate strategies for understanding and supporting children who have experienced early adversity.
Online Booking
FAQs
How much will the session cost?
A standard session costs £80 per single session (50mins) For 18yrs + a sliding scale payment policy operates for students/low income so please discuss in your free discovery call.
What commitment is expected from me?
Therapy is a process that takes shape over time. It is up to you how long you commit for but 6 sessions is considered a short-term approach and many people find 12 sessions or 20 sessions a useful framework. Open ended therapy is also widely practiced for psychotherapeutic work where you start with a view to continuing until you are ready to end.
Can I contact you to discuss prior to booking?
Yes. You can book a free discovery call with Chloe prior to booking a session. If you would like to have a discovery call with Adriana, that can also be arranged. Please email chloe@childintime.co.uk.
What modality of therapy is this?
Chloe Billington and Adriana both work psychotherapeutically with an integrative approach, combining different approaches and techniques to suit each individual client.
What is Anti-Oppressive Practice?
As anti-oppressive counsellors we aim to challenge societal imbalances as well as discrimination and oppressions that operate within therapy, including race, gender, sexuality, disability and others.
How does online counselling work?
Once you have booked a session, you will receive a ‘pending’ email. This will be followed by another email confirming your appointment. At least 24hrs before your appointment your therapist will send you a video link for your session with a contract for you to read. If you have any queries you can ask your therapist in the first session.
What should I do before my first session?
It is quite common to start with goals for your therapy but that doesn’t suit everyone and goals often shift over time. Your therapist will travel alongside you on your therapeutic journey, so if you take a new direction, they will go there with you. It can take time to build trust before talking about sensitive issues so you may want to talk about your current situation, any previous therapy and your mental health more generally in your first session.
