Foster/Adoption Therapy

Foster/Adoption Mental Health Therapy

Foster/Adoption mental health therapy offers support for children and their families working through the foster care or adoption process whether it is private program or State/County program. The therapeutic process can be a helpful and supportive way to preserve and to reduce the risk of adoptive or foster family dissolution.

Trauma in foster/adoptive placements

All families experience trauma differently. Some factors such as a child’s age or the family’s culture or ethnicity may influence how the family copes and recovers from a traumatic event. Trauma changes families as they work to survive and adapt to their circumstances and environment. While this adjustment may be smooth for some, for others the stress and burden cause them to feel alone, overwhelmed, and less able to maintain vital family functions. Traumas are frightening, often life-threatening, or violent events that can happen to any or all members of a family. Traumas can cause traumatic stress responses in family members with consequences that ripple through family relationships and impede optimal family functioning.

How can therapists support families after trauma?

Increasing awareness of the impact of trauma on families, including the important roles individual family members play in helping children recover, often assists, and supports putting families at the center of trauma services. When families follow through with routines, rituals, and traditions, they enhance, strengthen, and improve their connections together. Creating a healthy environment of open communication, laughing, sharing memories and feelings, as well as collaborating to solve problems, manage stress, and plan for the present and the future create resiliency and recovery from traumatic stress.

If you or someone you know is interested in learning how to get more support with the foster and/or adoption process and would benefit from therapy, contact me today for a free consultation.

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