Ingrid Ayling

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Service Delivery

My social work career spans a period of 28 years working with children and families, 5 of these years were spent as a social worker in a Safeguarding Team. I worked within the statutory framework of child protection and was involved in significant work within the court arena. This was the beginning of my interest in life story work/identity work, and I believe this is where my passion was ignited and my wish to support the identity needs of children and teens who do not live with their family of origin. I was also at this point exploring the impact of a Solution Focused practice within a child protection setting which later emerged in the Signs of Safety model that is now used within most statutory children’s services.

After 5 years in statutory work in child protection/safeguarding I changed path and was employed within a Local Authority Therapeutic Team. The referral criteria being that the children had an experience of trauma that had impacted on the emotional development and family relationships, this led me to work with families in the community, foster carers, kinship carers and associated professionals in providing not only direct work but also consultation and training. In those early days my main modality of work was a non-directive play approach, filial therapy, and systemic family work, amongst more creative approaches of music and art. This was the beginning of my journey into the area of developmental trauma, attachment disruption and the subsequent impacts on the developing brain. I completed significant extended training which also included CBT and the beginnings of an integrative /somatic approach that I use and have expanded upon.

After 15 years within this team my interest in therapeutic life story began to extend and this led me to move to work within a Local Authority Adoption Team where I was keen to raise the profile of life story and provide significant training and consultation to all involved. I developed my interest in a DDP approach and sat on the adoption panel as a specialist advisor. In addition, I designed and delivered stage 1 and 2 training for adopters as well as offering consultation to foster carers and kinship carers. My role was as a trainer in nurturing attachments and life story and a consultant which included consultation for other professionals within the agency, whilst also writing and producing policy and procedure relating to life story.

In the last 6 years leading to my present position as a full-time self-employed specialist adoption therapist, I have worked for a significant time as an associate for PAC UK specialising in life story and assessments of need, and as a freelance trainer for Inspired Foundations, offering training for education professionals on attachment and trauma, foetal alcohol and mental health with the aim to help them support their pupils in these areas with knowledge. 

I have become more interested in recent years to the use of NVR as a therapeutic parenting approach and have designed and delivered this 12 week programme to adopters and foster carers, NVR fits very well with a PACE /DDP model of practice and I am presently supporting a wide range of families using this model which includes consideration of the stored trauma in the body which I support both adults, children and teens to discharge using my knowledge and skills in EFT and AIT both modalities that address the traumatised bodies.

More recently I have become a member of a steering party for a charity, Tina’s Haven, which attempts to look at the need for more holistic support for birth mothers who have lost their children to adoption because of their addiction which is often rooted in trauma.

I am also presently supporting a number of schools providing ongoing consultation and training on how best to support their students within a context and knowledge of how we support both children and adults using a trauma informed lens. 

Myself and Carolyn are also beginning the journey for education providers in working within an NVR approach and are just at the beginning of that with a school in County Durham.

I have in the last 2 years found myself working significantly with teens who want reconnection with their birth family which includes access to records. I feel confident in my skills to support and hold all parts of the adoption triangle, adoptive parents, birth parents and the child.

I have been a regular speaker at a variety of adoption specific conferences and have also spoken at international mental health conferences. As well as having published articles.

I believe absolutely in a holistic approach and have in my tool kit a variety of therapeutic modalities including, DDP, NVR, AIT as well as my significant knowledge and expertise in the area of therapeutic life story and identity. I am both an accredited NVR practitioner and an Enhanced NVR practitioner.

I use a variety of creative elements to my work including art and textiles, play and exploration, yoga and meditation, storytelling and story stems.

On a personal note, I am a lover of the sea and the forests believing completely that the outside is where magic healing happens. I practice yoga daily and am beginning to develop my practice as a breathwork coach. I am a mother and a nanna and my origins lie in the place I am most rooted, Cornwall.

Professional Connections:

• A member of SW England Ingrid Ford SW 45471
• Enhanced DBS and on the update service
• Personal Indemnity and Liability Insurance with BASW
• BASW membership 122361/90430
• CPD regularly updated including:
• Safeguarding
• Data Protection
• Equality and Diversity