Adoption &Fostering, Ahead of Print.
Children who have experienced trauma require emotionally responsive parenting to support them to make sense of their early stories and build healthy relationships. Foster care can be an important resource for these children, but the task can be challenging. This study uses Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore the lived experiences of foster carers in holding the stories of trauma and loss brought by the children in their care. Ten local authority foster carers were interviewed, all caring for children aged between eight and 13 years and placed with them on a long-term basis. Three superordinate themes were identified from the analysis: (1) Processing the story; (2) Holding different stories; and (3) The personal and professional. ‘Processing the story’ highlighted the emotional task engaged in as carers tried to make sense of and process their child’s story, for themselves and their child. ‘Holding different stories’ captured the different ways in which the foster carer and the child’s story interacted. ‘The personal and professional’ explored the challenge of managing the personal task of care within the wider professional context, and the relationships carers held with the professional team around them. The importance of acknowledging the considerable emotional task of caring for children who have experienced trauma was identified.Plain Language SummaryChildren in foster care have often experienced a history of trauma, loss and neglect. They often have complex emotional needs and require skilled and sensitive parenting. Foster care can be a valuable resource for these children. However caring for children who have experienced trauma is an emotionally demanding task.This study aimed to better understand the experiences of foster carers who are caring for children who have experienced trauma and loss. Ten local authority foster carers were interviewed. All 10 carers were caring for children between the ages of eight and 13 years old. The children were all placed with the foster carers on a long-term basis. The researcher used semi-structured interviews and analysed the data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.The research findings highlight the difficult emotional task that foster carers undertake. They show the emotional demands involved in caring for children who have experienced trauma and loss. They demonstrate the challenges involved in working with the child’s wider family. They show the difficulties foster carers experience in having to balance their role as carers with their role as professionals, and the challenges involved in working with other professionals around the child. The research underlines the importance of understanding the complexity of the fostering task and the importance of providing appropriate support to help foster carers fulfil their role.