Adoption Issues

Navigating the journey of adoption can bring unique emotional complexities for adoptees, biological parents, and adoptive families. In my practice, I offer a safe and understanding space to explore these intricacies. My therapeutic approach is tailored to each unique adoption story, always ensuring that every voice is heard and valued.

I have significant training and experience in working with individuals who are on the permanency spectrum (foster care, kinship care, transfers of custody, and adoption). This includes parents who have adopted and fostered and adult adoptees. I believe that adoption and permanency are lifelong journeys that involve powerful emotions. Within this, I take a holistic and strengths-based approach to grief/loss and adoption concerns that empowers without guilt/shame.

I have worked with adoption agencies in hospital settings as new mothers signed off their rights as parents to working with adolescents who transitioned from foster care to adoptive homes. I also have had clients of adult age learning to cope with what it has meant for them to be adopted.

I have completed the Center for Adoption Support and Education's accredited training in Adoption Competency program (TAC) and have supported adoptees of all ages and their families working on identity, grief and loss, and life transitions. In my work, I often support adoptees and their families going through the search and reunion process, processing trauma, and understanding neurodivergence.

The impact of adoption comes up a different times throughout the lifetime - starting school, graduation, moving away, getting married, starting a family. As an adoption competent therapist, and transracial adoptee myself, I know having better understanding the separation and loss caused by ambiguous losses of adoption can be so painful. Adoptees hear messages like, "you should be grateful" instead of holding space for the loss which can lead to anger, hopelessness, guilt, and isolation.

As a transracial adoptee myself, I have both the personal and professional knowledge of these issues. I know how unique the trauma is surrounding adoption and the questions it raises regarding identity.

For 20 years I have worked with children and teens in foster care. I provide a trauma informed approach to care.

I have provided services to those in the world of adoption including a support group for foster and adoptive parents, helping bio sibs adjust to foster sibs being returned to their families and working with adoptive children and youth in mental health crisis. In addition, I am an adoptive mother of three all of whom were adopted at older ages.

As adoptees, we know better than anyone that the impact of adoption lasts a lifetime. As an adoption competent therapist, and transracial adoptee myself, I know having better understanding the separation and loss caused by ambiguous losses of adoption, developmental trauma, and confusion about identity. Adoptees hear messages like, "you should be grateful" instead of holding space for the loss which can lead to anger, hopelessness, guilt, and isolation.

Navigating the journey of adoption can bring unique emotional complexities for adoptees, biological parents, and adoptive families. In my practice, I offer a safe and understanding space to explore these intricacies. My therapeutic approach is tailored to each unique adoption story, always ensuring that every voice is heard and valued.

As an adult adoptee, I bring insight and compassion into my work with members of the adoption triad. I utilize Attachment Theory and mindfulness to help clients build awareness of how adoption might be affecting relationship patterns and personal beliefs. I also have an interest in strengthening the adoption triad by processing individual losses and fears found in those roles and reframe those roles in support of the adoptee.

I have worked with multiple clients that have adoption stories. I also am adopted so working with this population is very close to home. I work with adoptees on re-discovering their identities and healing from their trauma.

While working previously as a home study evaluator, I first became familiar with the interpersonal dynamics and adjustments that families encounter when deciding to grow their family by adoption. Since then, I've undergone additional training on adoption issues and read anything I can get my hands on related to adoption! I take an adoptee-centered approach and support adoptees in positive identity formation, exploring grief and loss, and bravely sharing their unique stories.

As an adult adoptee, I bring insight and compassion into my work with members of the adoption triad. I utilize Attachment Theory and mindfulness to help clients build awareness of how adoption might be affecting relationship patterns and personal beliefs. I also have an interest in strengthening the adoption triad by processing individual losses and fears found in those roles and reframe those roles in support of the adoptee.

As an adoptive parent and counselor I understand the challenges faced in blending a family through adoption. I can work with you and your children on issues of grief and loss, identity formation, and attachment in blending your family.

I have a special passion for providing support and services to adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, resource parents and anyone from the foster, adoption and kinship circle. As an adoptee myself, it is an honor for me to be able to give back to the community I am also a part of. I have completed the Permanency and Adoption Competency Certification (PACC) and Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) training to become an adoption-responsive/aware therapist.

Are you adopted? Are you considering adoption and have questions or concerns about how to work with the child’s past? I have worked with clients who have had trouble reconciling the relationship with birth and/or adopted family or have self doubt and self esteem issues related to being adopted. I am an adopted adult and have worked in the foster care population and with adoptees for 15 years.

I have additional training as well as personal experience with adoption. I have experience dealing with adoption from a variety of perspectives including the challenges associated with adopting or with placing a child for adoption.

I have special interest in working with children who are adopted and struggle with attachment. I also have special interest in helping the parents of adopted children who are navigating the complex behavioral and emotional concerns with their children.

I have training and experience in trauma-informed care along with TBRI (trust-based relational intervention) to help transform the way you're connected to your kids and how they're connected to you. I am EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Trained and experienced in identifying the negative core beliefs that are lingering from adoption trauma.