If you are struggling with adoption-related issues, adoption counseling may be the next step for you. From the first conversation, Marie will listen to your story and feelings and work with you to develop a plan to help you achieve your goals. Marie believes therapy works best when it is a collaborative process, with clients describing their concerns and how their struggles impact them, while Marie uses a variety of approaches—from traditional talk therapy to trauma-focused techniques—to help individuals reach their goals.
Life is more complicated for birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive parents because of relinquishment and adoption. Core issues such as loss, grief, identity, rejection, loyalty, guilt, shame, fitting in, and intimacy are common struggles. These difficulties are often intensified for adoptees and birth parents who feel isolated, especially when they are treated “as if” adoption never happened. Adoptive families also face unique challenges, as adoptive parents often do not know how to talk to their children about complex adoption issues.
For some, relinquishment and adoption have been traumatizing. When adoption traumas occur, they can leave an imprint on the brain and body, causing individuals to view their world through the lens of trauma. Those who have experienced trauma may struggle with low self-worth, a small window of tolerance for stress, relationship difficulties, hypervigilance, and other trauma symptoms.
Common Topics for Birth Parents in Adoption Counseling
I am thinking of contacting my child who was adopted, and I would like some support.
My adopted child found me, and I feel overwhelmed.
My child lost to adoption is a secret no one knows. It is a burden to have no one to talk to about the most difficult experience of my life.
There are obsessive qualities in my reunion relationship with my child, and I don’t know what to do.
Common Topics for Adoptees in Adoption Counseling
Relinquishment and adoption have caused me to have low self-worth.
My fear of abandonment causes me to be a people pleaser and not be my true self in relationships.
I just contacted my birth relative, and it is not what I envisioned the adoption reunion would be like. I feel overwhelmed.
There are obsessive qualities in my reunion relationship with my birth relative, and I don’t know what to do.
Common Topics for Adoptive Parents in Adoption Counseling
I am confused about how to explain my child’s difficult birth family history to them.
My adopted child is argumentative and constantly pushes me away. I feel like I am walking on eggshells around them.
I am wondering if opening a closed adoption for my child is the right thing to do since my child is struggling with identity and other adoption issues.
We have an open relationship with my child’s birth relatives, and it is extremely stressful.
Trauma-focused therapies differ from traditional top-down talk-only therapies. Traditional talk therapies mostly focus on helping individuals think differently, learn new skills, and problem solve. In contrast, trauma-focused therapy focuses on removing the imprint of the trauma -trauma symptoms. Trauma-focused therapy helps trauma survivors widen their window of tolerance for stress and desensitization to trauma triggers. Psychoeducation about trauma helps trauma survivors understand that trauma symptoms are a normative response to abnormal events. Trauma-focused psychotherapy recognizes that education alone is not enough to remove trauma symptoms –specialized trauma-focused therapy techniques are needed to remove the effects of trauma. For individuals with a trauma disorder, Marie uses the recommended 3-stage trauma-informed treatment approach. The three-stage trauma treatment approach helps clients with emotional dysregulation, identifying trauma symptoms and defenses before processing trauma memories.
Certifications and Trainings
With Marie’s office located on Colvin Avenue in Albany, NY, adoption counseling services can be a reasonable drive for individuals in Albany, Schenectady, Troy, or Saratoga counties. Visit the contact page to learn how easy it is to get to Marie’s office in Albany, NY. If you are not in the Albany, NY area, or unsure if you can get away to the office, teletherapy may be an adoption counseling option for you. Teletherapy is only available to New York residents due to licensing regulations for clinical social workers.
To learn about Marie and the adoption-competent and trauma psychotherapy therapists Marie has trained with, visit the about page of the website.
Adoption triad members wanting support on adoption issues in a group setting should visit the adoption support group webpage.
To learn more about Marie’s thoughts on adoption counseling issues visit Marie’s adoption blog.
