Perspectives on Challenged Family Building

Take a few moments and experience the exercise below designed to help adults see moving through the eyes of the child*:
You are sitting in your apartment’s living room on a warm summer evening. Your spouse is dozing peacefully on the sofa. You’re curled up with a good book, and your feeling is one of contentment.
 
Suddenly, [...]

Living in Ohio offers great cities, beautiful countryside, diverse cultures, thrilling roller-coasters, Great Lake Erie and snow! This winter, we are privy to lots of snow! School cancellations seem never-ending! Parents—struggling, with challenging adoptees—are at their wits’ end!
 
This unexpected break from the world of academics generates many phone calls to the therapist. Yesterday, in a [...]

Welcome to part two of our post about “value competency.” As Part One explained, trauma causes children to develop values that are often at discord with those of the adoptive family. Thus, “value competency” is the ability to live—long-term—with children who, due to their traumatic histories, have a different set of values than the adoptive [...]