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You can guarantee there’s a child out there who needs you.

TheraParent Fostering is a family-run fostering agency with over 55 years combined experience working in fostering and care settings. Our agency offers Therapeutic support to all children placed with us to ensure we achieve the best outcomes for the children we work with and the families we support.

Family run foster care

About Theraparent

TheraParent Fostering is a Family-run fostering agency based in Waterlooville, Hampshire. Our Team is run by Mike Spencer, his daughter Katie Gibson-Cook and her husband Mark Gibson-Cook. What makes us unique is our personal experience mixed with our professional experience. We have a combined total of over 30 years’ experience as Foster/Adoptive parents, caring for children aged 0-18 years, alongside over 55 years’ combined experience in Social Work.

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FOSTERING & TRAINING

What makes us unique

There are hundreds of fostering agencies in the UK but not many like ours! Our agency is unique in that it is entirely owned and managed by our family. We have worked in our family team for many years and know that our unique team is able to offer an incredibly high level of support thanks to our close knit and trusting relationships paired with our first hand experience of fostering.

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Nurture & Support

Our Theraputic Ethos

We believe that every child in our care can benefit from receiving therapeutic care to recover from their traumatic experiences. We achieve this by training and coaching all foster parents to become Therapeutic Parents.

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Informed Care

Types Of Fostering

There are many different types of fostering depending on the needs of the child. In fostering, there is no “one size fits all” placement, therefore we offer placements and support which are tailored to the individual needs of the child(ren) we are caring for. We offer long-term and short-term placements, respite placements, emergency placements and sibling placements (to name a few). Click below to find out more.

Long Term

Short Term

Asylum-Seeking

Emergency

Siblings

Respite

Solo

Standard

Support, Supervision and Training

Want to find out more about fostering with us?

We are a family owned and managed fostering agency with therapeutic parenting at our core. If you’re interested in finding out more about fostering with us, please get in touch today. A member of our friendly team will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

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Specialists in supporting caregivers to meet the needs of children who have experienced developmental trauma.

FAMILY RUN FOSTERING

Meet The Team

What makes us unique is our personal experience mixed with our professional experience. We have combined over 30 years experience as Foster/Adoptive parents, caring for children aged from 0-18 years, alongside over 50 years experience in Social Work. We not only have the technical skills needed to work with children/young people who have experienced trauma, we also have the insight of how this works in reality thanks to our extensive personal experience. Our carers appreciate the fact that we have lived experience alongside specialist expertise.

Mike Spencer

Responsible Individual/Therapeutic Lead/Director

Katie Gibson-Cook

Registered Manager/Director

Mark Gibson-Cook

Supervising Social Worker/Director

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KIND WORDS

Clients Testimonials

Slide

“Mike’s therapeutic knowledge has been unbelievable and at times the only thing that has keep a placement going. His experiences of fostering, and working with young people, have given him such a high level of understanding of how life really is for foster carers, it is supportive, without judgement and empathic. Mike has had a huge influence on my foster carer to the point where I am now completing a Therapeutic course myself to try and gain more knowledge. Mike continues to work with the children I have in placement now through Theraparent, completing life story work and therapeutic session with me and a child in the home. I have always found Mike approachable, understanding and supportive. I am so pleased that I have been able to have this experience with him.”

– Foster Parent

Slide

“I have known Katie since I started my fostering carer over 8 years ago and have enjoyed working with her throughout this time. Katie has been my supervising social worker and on call duty worker. Katie’s experience of working with foster carers and living within a fostering family has given her an excellent viewpoint which is non-judgmental and understanding. She truly sees the need to be a safe sounding board during hard times and also therapeutically re-engaging a carer to reach their best potential. I have always found Katie approachable, accepting and empathic. The family feeling created within their hub has allowed me to feel like a friend as well as a colleague.”

– Foster Parent

Slide

“I have always found him approachable, empathic and extremely supportive. His ability to connect with young people is amazing and he shows a real understanding of the issues facing those in care. He is therapeutic in his approach with both the children and myself as a carer, especially when I contact him in through out of hours. Due to the experiences, he has had and the knowledge he has gained through hard work and study, Mark shows support to me as a carer whilst also being able to see the bigger picture and he helps to keep things in perspective. It is clear to see the passion Mark has for his vocation and his positivity is infectious.”

– Foster Parent

Slide

“I really appreciate working in the tight professional system that we have around the young person that we all work with and I’m very aware of the high-quality work that you have done for carers as well as that YP. The holistic approach really works and supports great collaborative work and multi-agency care planning which we at CAMHS advocate for Children in Care. It is really helpful for CAMHS to have this level of input from the service as we can then offer overview and consultation knowing that the majority of the therapeutic foundation work is being undertaken by yourselves with both the carers. It is very helpful to work with this high level of professionalism and expertise.”

– CAMHS Professional

Slide

“Mike’s therapeutic knowledge has been unbelievable and at times the only thing that has keep a placement going. His experiences of fostering, and working with young people, have given him such a high level of understanding of how life really is for foster carers, it is supportive, without judgement and empathic. Mike has had a huge influence on my foster carer to the point where I am now completing a Therapeutic course myself to try and gain more knowledge. Mike continues to work with the children I have in placement now through Theraparent, completing life story work and therapeutic session with me and a child in the home. I have always found Mike approachable, understanding and supportive. I am so pleased that I have been able to have this experience with him.”

– Foster Parent

Slide

“I have known Katie since I started my fostering carer over 8 years ago and have enjoyed working with her throughout this time. Katie has been my supervising social worker and on call duty worker. Katie’s experience of working with foster carers and living within a fostering family has given her an excellent viewpoint which is non-judgmental and understanding. She truly sees the need to be a safe sounding board during hard times and also therapeutically re-engaging a carer to reach their best potential. I have always found Katie approachable, accepting and empathic. The family feeling created within their hub has allowed me to feel like a friend as well as a colleague.”

– Foster Parent

Slide

“I have always found him approachable, empathic and extremely supportive. His ability to connect with young people is amazing and he shows a real understanding of the issues facing those in care. He is therapeutic in his approach with both the children and myself as a carer, especially when I contact him in through out of hours. Due to the experiences, he has had and the knowledge he has gained through hard work and study, Mark shows support to me as a carer whilst also being able to see the bigger picture and he helps to keep things in perspective. It is clear to see the passion Mark has for his vocation and his positivity is infectious.”

– Foster Parent

Slide

“I really appreciate working in the tight professional system that we have around the young person that we all work with and I’m very aware of the high-quality work that you have done for carers as well as that YP. The holistic approach really works and supports great collaborative work and multi-agency care planning which we at CAMHS advocate for Children in Care. It is really helpful for CAMHS to have this level of input from the service as we can then offer overview and consultation knowing that the majority of the therapeutic foundation work is being undertaken by yourselves with both the carers. It is very helpful to work with this high level of professionalism and expertise.”

– CAMHS Professional