The Attach Team

The ATTACH team (Oxfordshire County Council) are a therapeutic team working with young people and families who experience the impact of a young person no longer living with their birth parents.

We work with young people who may be struggling with their mental health, have powerful feelings and behaviours that are difficult to make sense of or control and/or are finding relationships hard.

We meet young people who might be living with foster carers, adoptive parents or with their special guardians.

Take Action: Find out more about the ATTACH Team. 

We believe

• That children and young people who are in care or care experienced are resilient. You may have had to be strong to survive
• That  things may not  just “get better” when you 'leave it all behind'
• That living in a new family or with foster carers can be confusing, strange and at times difficult for everyone
• That you do not have to do this alone. We work with parents and carers, to help them understand and meet your needs

Working with us (therapy) is not about forgetting the past, it is about learning to live alongside the things that have happened to you. It is about making sense of your experiences and their impact on you. 

Many young people we work with think that what has happened is their fault, they may feel great shame or have a very negative view of themselves. 

We work to help people make the changes in their lives they want or need to make. 

What to expect

We think very carefully before we meet a young person, we do not want you to have to meet another new person if this isn’t needed. We often work with parents, carers or social workers to help them support you. 

When we do meet a young person

• We will talk about what we do, what you can expect from us and what you think will help
• Talking can be hard, so we may draw together, play games, listen to music. We will do what we can to make you feel comfortable and to help you let us know what is important to you.
• We will want to hear your story and understand how you make sense of your experiences.
• We will make a plan together. This makes it clear what we are going to do and how we will know if this is helping. Sometimes this may mean we will see you alone, maybe just your parents/carers or all of you together 

Getting in touch

Young people and their adoptive parents or carers can ask to see us. Children we care for and foster carers can ask their social workers to get in touch with us. Adoptive parents and special guardians can contact us through Adopt Thames Valley or directly.