Foster and Adoption Therapy
The Foster and Adoption world is not an easy one to navigate for biological families, adoptive families, foster families and the Adoptees/ Fosterees. In every stage, Foster & Adoption can be a long process filled with ups and downs, hope and disappointment. Children of adoption are almost twice as likely to develop some form of mood disorder. Multiple factors contribute to this such as age, location, family history, and the contact the child has with the biological family. Depending on their original home situation, children can experience trauma from a lack of consistent care and nurturing during crucial beginning stages. This can make bonding and attachment difficult for both the child and the adults in their life.
Every child in the foster/ adoption system has trauma and loss. This is important for us to acknowledge and accept. This unprocessed loss can be harmful to the adoptee’s sense of self and self-worth, causing difficulty later in their teenage years when they’re trying to develop their identity and decide their future. Adoptee’s often struggle with ambiguous grief and may find it hard to talk about it due to fear of hurting their adoptive family. Adoptee’s experiences can vary greatly based on circumstances of their adoption story. It can be hard to find a space to process these feelings due to fear people may not understand, this is the place for you.
Biological parents are often left out of the conversation when it comes to foster and adoption care due to stigmatization and systematic racism/ discrimination. According to the Child Welfare website, “Racial disparities occur at nearly every major decision-making point along the child welfare continuum.” Foster care is meant to be a temporary solution while the biological parent works on creating a safe space. The reality is biases in the child welfare system can create barriers and unrealistic timelines and expectations for biological parents. Bio parents who volunteer to give up their parental rights may also deal with grief surrounding the decision and may struggle to talk about it due to fear of judgment. Although it is not always realistic or the wish of the bio parent to be reunited, bio parents are important and we want you to know this space is for you too.
Foster & Adoptive parents often struggle with finding a safe place to talk about the difficulties of being foster/ adoptive parents. It can also feel very startling to go from a wide range of support while the child is a part of the system to little to no support from that system post adoption. Adoptive parents often feel out of depth when it comes to navigating their child's reactions related to trauma and attachment issues. Foster parents come in at some of the most vulnerable times and foster and adoptive parents alike can experience vicarious trauma and deserve a space to work through these feelings.
C.A.S.E. and Training for Adoption Competency
The Center for Adoption Support and Education created TAC to help adoptive families have access to quality mental health services. This is important for the continued health of both the child and the family. We are happy to provide such support to our clients as we continue training and furthering our education. We will consider a child’s early history during diagnosis to better aid them during our time together. And help provide support and education to families as a whole, navigating trauma and building trust,
Ideally, foster care gives children a safe place to land when things go wrong at home, with the end goal of reuniting the family. In practice, things don’t always run smoothly. A staggering 80% of children in the foster care system have mental health issues. And unfortunately, nearly every child welfare agency notes their services need to be improved. We see the results of that as children are bounced between foster homes that are not equipped to help, not giving them the sense of security that foster care is meant to provide. From there, almost 90% will come into contact with law enforcement.
We want to provide those children and families with the resources they need to succeed in the system. We will support foster parents and educate them to help advocate for those in their care and themselves; allowing foster children the security and help they need to heal and grow. We provide support for biological parents who are trying to reunite with their children or are experiencing grief from TPR. We provide support for adult adoptee’s who need a space to process whatever feelings they may have surrounding their experience.
Resources Used:
C.A.S.E. - Nurture, Inspire, Empower, 22 Feb. 2022, https://adoptionsupport.org/.
Guarino, GinaMarie. “Adopted Children Often Face Mental Health Struggles as Young Adults.” Claudia Black Center, 2 Aug. 2021, https://www.claudiablackcenter.com/adopted-children-often-face-mental-health-struggles-as-young-adults/#:~:text=Twelve%20to%2014%20percent%20of,like%20anxiety%2C%20depression%2C%20and%20behavioral.
Huber, Jennifer, and Bill Grimm. “Most States Fail to Meet the Mental Health Needs of Foster Children.” National Center for Youth Law, 28 Mar. 2022, https://youthlaw.org/news/most-states-fail-meet-mental-health-needs-foster-children.
Sheppard, Sarah. “The Mental Health Effects of Living in Foster Care.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 9 Feb. 2022, https://www.verywellmind.com/the-mental-health-effects-of-living-in-foster-care-5216614.
Child Welfare Department. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/racial_disproportionality.pdf
The Foster and Adoption world is not an easy one to navigate for biological families, adoptive families, foster families and the Adoptees/ Fosterees. In every stage, Foster & Adoption can be a long process filled with ups and downs, hope and disappointment. Children of adoption are almost twice as likely to develop some form of mood disorder. Multiple factors contribute to this such as age, location, family history, and the contact the child has with the biological family. Depending on their original home situation, children can experience trauma from a lack of consistent care and nurturing during crucial beginning stages. This can make bonding and attachment difficult for both the child and the adults in their life.
Every child in the foster/ adoption system has trauma and loss. This is important for us to acknowledge and accept. This unprocessed loss can be harmful to the adoptee’s sense of self and self-worth, causing difficulty later in their teenage years when they’re trying to develop their identity and decide their future. Adoptee’s often struggle with ambiguous grief and may find it hard to talk about it due to fear of hurting their adoptive family. Adoptee’s experiences can vary greatly based on circumstances of their adoption story. It can be hard to find a space to process these feelings due to fear people may not understand, this is the place for you.
Biological parents are often left out of the conversation when it comes to foster and adoption care due to stigmatization and systematic racism/ discrimination. According to the Child Welfare website, “Racial disparities occur at nearly every major decision-making point along the child welfare continuum.” Foster care is meant to be a temporary solution while the biological parent works on creating a safe space. The reality is biases in the child welfare system can create barriers and unrealistic timelines and expectations for biological parents. Bio parents who volunteer to give up their parental rights may also deal with grief surrounding the decision and may struggle to talk about it due to fear of judgment. Although it is not always realistic or the wish of the bio parent to be reunited, bio parents are important and we want you to know this space is for you too.
Foster & Adoptive parents often struggle with finding a safe place to talk about the difficulties of being foster/ adoptive parents. It can also feel very startling to go from a wide range of support while the child is a part of the system to little to no support from that system post adoption. Adoptive parents often feel out of depth when it comes to navigating their child's reactions related to trauma and attachment issues. Foster parents come in at some of the most vulnerable times and foster and adoptive parents alike can experience vicarious trauma and deserve a space to work through these feelings.
C.A.S.E. and Training for Adoption Competency
The Center for Adoption Support and Education created TAC to help adoptive families have access to quality mental health services. This is important for the continued health of both the child and the family. We are happy to provide such support to our clients as we continue training and furthering our education. We will consider a child’s early history during diagnosis to better aid them during our time together. And help provide support and education to families as a whole, navigating trauma and building trust,
Ideally, foster care gives children a safe place to land when things go wrong at home, with the end goal of reuniting the family. In practice, things don’t always run smoothly. A staggering 80% of children in the foster care system have mental health issues. And unfortunately, nearly every child welfare agency notes their services need to be improved. We see the results of that as children are bounced between foster homes that are not equipped to help, not giving them the sense of security that foster care is meant to provide. From there, almost 90% will come into contact with law enforcement.
We want to provide those children and families with the resources they need to succeed in the system. We will support foster parents and educate them to help advocate for those in their care and themselves; allowing foster children the security and help they need to heal and grow. We provide support for biological parents who are trying to reunite with their children or are experiencing grief from TPR. We provide support for adult adoptee’s who need a space to process whatever feelings they may have surrounding their experience.
Resources Used:
C.A.S.E. - Nurture, Inspire, Empower, 22 Feb. 2022, https://adoptionsupport.org/.
Guarino, GinaMarie. “Adopted Children Often Face Mental Health Struggles as Young Adults.” Claudia Black Center, 2 Aug. 2021, https://www.claudiablackcenter.com/adopted-children-often-face-mental-health-struggles-as-young-adults/#:~:text=Twelve%20to%2014%20percent%20of,like%20anxiety%2C%20depression%2C%20and%20behavioral.
Huber, Jennifer, and Bill Grimm. “Most States Fail to Meet the Mental Health Needs of Foster Children.” National Center for Youth Law, 28 Mar. 2022, https://youthlaw.org/news/most-states-fail-meet-mental-health-needs-foster-children.
Sheppard, Sarah. “The Mental Health Effects of Living in Foster Care.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 9 Feb. 2022, https://www.verywellmind.com/the-mental-health-effects-of-living-in-foster-care-5216614.
Child Welfare Department. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/racial_disproportionality.pdf