Adoption

There are many well-trained adoption caseworkers and adoption agency support staff that walk families through the adoption process. However, research shows that adoption members continue to feel unequipped to weather the unique challenges of adoption that arise over time. Whether you are considering adoption, are in the process of adopting, or have adopted in the past, adoption counseling aims to support adoption members at the next, deeper level.

Pre-Adoption Counseling/Consultation

Pre-adoption counseling and consultation services are for individuals, couples, and families that are considering adoption or are waiting for placement. Many people that desire to adopt begin the process by considering some of the challenges that lie ahead for themselves, their families, and their children. Sometimes these challenges seem easy to overcome whereas other times they seem insurmountable. Pre-adoption counseling involves consideration of these challenges as well as additional education on adoption. If or when an individual, couple, or family decides to pursue adoption, information and referrals to adoption agencies are provided. Additionally, pre-adoption counseling helps waiting families weather the wait, consider potential adoptive placements, and continue to prepare themselves for the changes that lie ahead.  Topics often addressed in pre-adoption counseling consist of infertility, grief and loss, marital partner agreement, financial challenges, racial and cultural considerations, availability of resources and support, the waiting process, parenting, and psycho-education.

Adoptee Counseling

Adoptee counseling services are for adopted children, adolescents, and individuals.  Adoptee counseling strives to supports adoptees in a way that sheds light on their unique identities as adoptees and encourages the embracing and development of that identity. Adoptee counseling usually consists of individual counseling.  Occasionally, involvement in an adoptee group (usually broken up by age and gender) is recommended in addition to individual counseling. Family work with the adoptive family or birthparent may also be integrated into the counseling process depending on the adoptee’s individual needs and desires. Challenges that many adoptees face are explored, such as identity development, self-efficacy, cultural and social barriers, parent-child connection, trauma, behavior management, grief, anger management, and search and reunion.

Adoptive Family Counseling

Adoptive family counseling services are for adoptive parents and families that have adopted and are in need of additional support. Services may include couples/marital therapy, family therapy, and/or sibling therapy. Services provided are determined on a case-by-case basis. Topics addressed in adoptive family counseling often include grief and loss, parental stress, difficult sibling relationships, isolation, strengthening family bonds, improving family structure, strengthening communication, developing individual and family identity, considering family member roles, adjusting familial patterns, developing new parenting skills and strategies, and supporting adoptee’s search and reunion.

Birthparent Counseling

Birthparents are important members of the adoption triad. While adoption may be a birthparent’s top choice, surrendering a child to adoption is only the first step in their lifelong journey as an adoption triad member. At some point in life, if not immediately, birthparents will find themselves struggling with the surrendering of their child.  Birthparent counseling is available for birthparents considering surrendering their child to adoption as well as birthparents in any particular place in their post-surrendering journey. Birthparent services consists of individual, couples, or family counseling and often address unique birthparent challenges including grief and loss, guilt and forgiveness, repression and denial, identity reconstruction, avoidance of intimacy, restoration of relationships, and consideration of or navigation through the search and reunion process.

Foster Care Counseling

Foster care allows youth to be removed from potentially harmful or neglectful homes or situations. While protecting our youth is integral, it is just as important to realize that when we extract children from their family and place them in an unfamiliar environment, we can expect them to experience a plethora of challenges.  Unfortunately, the foster care system often lends itself to instability and inefficiency; therefore youth are often bounced around from home to home and are unable to be placed in a permanent home in a timely manner. Providing counseling services for those in foster care can help mitigate the lifelong effects of being removed from their home and apart from family. Foster care services consist of individual or sibling counseling and integrate play and interactive techniques. Common topics addressed in foster care counseling are anger, distrust, fear, grief and loss, identity development, relationship building, behavior management, educational challenges, instability, conduct disorder, life and social skill development,processing of confusing events such as family visitation and court appearances. Additionally, community resource referrals are made to ensure all of the client's needs are being met.