Perspectives on Challenged Family Building

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 [...]

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 [...]