Perspectives on Challenged Family Building

Children who have experienced trauma enter the family with thoughts about themselves, adults and the world that are faulty. For example, children who resided in homes replete with domestic violence and physical abuse may think:

Aggression is a means to solve problems. In homes with domestic violence and physical abuse, it is the strongest member of [...]

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 [...]

Over time, we have put forth many posts to help alleviate the negative behaviors presented by children with histories of trauma. Frequently, adopted sons or daughters—adopted very young or older, internationally or domestically— develop or enter the adoptive family with a lengthy list of behavioral difficulties. Lying, stealing, aggression, destroying household objects and toys, bedroom [...]