There is a time-limited opportunity to take part in a national clinical trial of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP), which would give you the possibility of receiving a much higher number of sessions of DDP from Chrysalis than are currently available via the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund.
The aim of the research study is to evaluate the effectiveness of DDP, compared to ‘services as usual’ (which can include other therapies but not DDP).
Children eligible for the trial are:
- Adopted children aged between 5 and 12 years old
- Living in the South Yorkshire area and either with a current social worker or eligible for an assessment of need from One Adoption South Yorkshire
- Have not received any DDP in the past 12 months (although they may have had other therapies such as Theraplay)
- Not receiving any current therapy
If you choose to take part in the Trial, you would be randomised to either the DDP group or the Services as usual group.
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
DDP is founded in attachment theory and aims to provide a therapeutic model for the treatment of attachment and trauma in children and young people.
Sessions usually last 1hour to 90 minutes. DDP involves conversations between parents, child and therapist which involves feeling as well as thinking. The therapist explores all aspects of the child’s life; safe and traumatic; present and past. The conversations and interactions (verbal and non-verbal) within the therapy room are all based upon PACE. This means that the therapist will be Playful, Accepting, Curious and Empathic.
Many adoptive and fostering families access therapeutic support at some point in their journey together as a family. Some families have found DDP to be very helpful, while others have found the weekly appointments quite time consuming and challenging to organise. There currently isn’t an evidence base for DDP, or any other treatments, and in this study, we want to find out whether DDP is worth the effort for families.
Services As Usual (SAU)
‘Services as usual’ means that you will receive support via your Adoption Support Team or your Social Care Team as usual. What this looks like will depend on your families’ individual needs. Support may include social work support, courses, peer support, or any therapy other than DDP.
If you are randomised to the DDP group (a 50% chance) you would receive 20 sessions of DDP with Chrysalis (accompanied by 20 therapeutic parenting sessions) which would all be funded by the trial. This means that you would still also be able to use your child’s £3,000 ASGSF funding for an assessment if your child needed one, although not for other therapies this year.
If you are randomised to the Services as Usual group you would still be able to use your child’s ASGSF funding for an assessment or non-DDP therapies with Chrysalis or another provider, although you would not be able to access DDP for a full calendar year from the point when you join the trial
The research trial involves you and your child taking part in some evaluation measures with the researchers from the RIGHT Trial (who are completely separate from Chrysalis) when you first sign up and then again 12 months later.
We have had very positive feedback from parents taking part in the Trial around the benefits of having a bigger package of DDP sessions through the trial so wanted to make you aware of the opportunity to take part. More information on the trial is attached above.
The deadline for families signing up for the trial is the end of July 2025. If you would like to know more about the Trial or sign up, please contact Kelly.plummer@nottingham.ac.uk