Being a member of the adoption circle (birth parents, adoptive parents and persons adopted into their families) can bring some unique life challenges. For many individuals, these challenges are compelling. Adoption-related issues tend to arise and recede at several predictable points in both the individual and the family life cycle.
I have been a part of the adoption circle in various personal ways, and worked as an adoption professional for 11 years before going to graduate school to become a therapist. The picture on this page is a pendant the artist called Tangled Hearts. The ribbons connecting three hearts represent the not always straightforward feelings between members of the adoption circle.
I can come alongside as you process what has happened in the past and find meaning and wholeness in the present. If you are considering meeting a birth family member for the first time, I can help you prepare emotionally and be thoughtful and intentional in your plans.
Counseling can help if you:
- are parenting a child who is sad and/or angry about loss of the birth family
- are an adoptive parent who finds it difficult to literally or psychologically share the child with the birth family
- are in the life phase of “launching” your adopted teen
- are considering beginning a search for or reunion with a birth parent
- are a birth parent with unresolved grief issues
- are in the midst of an unplanned pregnancy and are deciding whether to parent or to make an adoption plan for the child
- are an adopted person of any age who wants more clarity on any of the core issues of adoption
