Adoption Issues

Navigating the complexities of adoption can be tough – both for the adoptive parents and the adopted child. Adoptive children and their new families may encounter anxiety, tension or stress. Children, even those who are adopted into caring homes, can experience conflicted feelings about being given up for adoption. Additionally, for parents working towards adoption, the system can seem impossible to get through. A mental health professional who specializes in adoption can be a great asset in helping a family sort through adoption-related issues. Reach out to one of TherapyDen’s experts today!

Need help finding the right therapist?
Find Your Match

Meet the specialists

 

I’m an advocate for adoptees and families impacted by adoption. I have an extensive background with foster care and adoption and have worked with all sides of the triad, including adoptees, birth parents, foster and adoptive parents. I understand how difficult and complex these issues can be and the significant impact on families.

— Lauren Butcher, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Wylie, TX

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.

— Curtis Atkins, Licensed Professional Counselor
 

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.

— Andjy Joseph, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Atlanta,

Maybe your kid has sensory stuff, or they always need to be in control, or they scream all the curse words when they get upset. I've got you. None of that scares me. In fact, I consider all of that within the range of normal for a kid with trauma. And you can't really have adoption without a free side of trauma, no matter how young your kid was when they came to you. We will learn how trauma affects the brain. How sensory stuff not only makes sense, but can actually be managed, and more.

— Lindsay Garrett, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Shenandoah, TX
 

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-competent therapist.

— Elliott Odendahl, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Bloomington, MN

As an adoptee myself I know firsthand of the struggles we face. Who am I? Where did I come from? Why did they give me up? Even those who were adopted by a loving family can still struggle with identity issues. I can help you work through issues you might be having with being adopted.

— Troy Hylan, Counselor in Shreveport, LA
 

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.

— Caylin Broome, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Atlanta, GA

The separation between you and your birth family can lead to a deep sense of abandonment, rejection, loss, confusion, identity issues, guilt/shame, and issues with control. It can also leave you vulnerable with a strong desire to search for acceptance and a sense of belonging often in unhealthy places. Without healing this trauma fuels expectations of further abandonments, relationship issues, and addictions. It's time to begin the work of acknowledging how having been adopted has affected you.

— Leanne Tanis, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Carefree, AZ
 

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.

— Janice Reyes, Associate Marriage & Family Therapist in Austin, TX

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.

— Janice Reyes, Associate Marriage & Family Therapist in Austin, TX
 

Adult adopted people and former foster. Domestic, international, transracial; orphanage experiences; DNA discoveries; search and reunion; navigating relationships with biological family; narcissistic adoptive family experiences; abuse by adoptive family; family secrets. I am an adopted person and reunited 25+ years. Offering 2 virtual groups for adopted people.

— Katy Perkins Coveney, Clinical Social Worker in Fayetteville, NC

I work with adopted and foster children, teens, and adults. I am an adoptee myself and have specialized training to serve this community from my participation in Portland State University's Foster and Adoption Therapy Certificate Program.

— Sprout Therapy PDX, Licensed Professional Counselor in Portland, OR
 

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.

— Christa Carlton, Clinical Social Worker in Towson, MD

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.

— Emma Rady, Counselor in , MD
 

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.

— Jennifer Durbin, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Fullerton, CA

I enjoy working with adoptions issues including: open adoptions, closed adoptions, international adoptions, interracial adoptions, and attachment. I utilize an attachment-based model for all of my clients and focus on exploring loss and trauma associated with the adoption experience as well as ongoing adoptions issues including loss and identity development and consolidation. Adoptee advocacy is at the core of my work, understanding that adoption is often misunderstood societally.

— Natalie Chen, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Palo Alto, CA
 

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.

— Elliott Odendahl, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Bloomington, MN

I have worked with not only adoptees, but birth parents, adoptive parents and related family members who have been impacted by adoption. It is important to know and understand the complexities of adoption, including separation, loss, grief, trauma and related issues. I work with adults and teens in all aspects of adoption, pre and post adoption and search and reunion. I focus on the 7 core struggles in adoption (loss/abandonment, rejection, grief, guilt/shame, identity, intimacy and control)

— Lauren Butcher, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Wylie, TX
 

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.

— Emma Rady, Counselor in , MD

If you are adopted, it is likely the experience of being adopted is one of the most significant influences in your life. Many adults who were adopted as infants or young children, and were loved, accepted and valued by their adoptive families, still struggle with feelings of melancholy, grief and fear of loss, or are anxious about their capacity to belong, despite the experience of having loving adoptive parents and families. It seems that even with a wholesome family experience, the primal separation and loss that is a part of every adoption experience can fuel many anxieties in adoptees, especially fears of loss and abandonment and confusion about identity. Being adopted can influence a person throughout their lives. It is common for these influences to appear – or reappear. If you are seeking support to explore and process the impact of adoption in your life, having a therapist who understands both personally and professionally can be especially helpful. I'd like to help.

— Rawna Romero, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Alameda, CA