adoption counseling as a professional specialty area for counselors

Adoption Counseling as a Professional Specialty Areafor Counselors

Nancy G. Janus

Adoption is an area of professional specialization that has resided primarily with social workers. However, with some additionaltraining, many counselors can acquire the expertise to provide service to members of the adoption triad: birthparents, adoptiveparents, and adoptees. This article provides an overview of the major issues that may arise in the lives of triad members andsuggests ways in which counselors can be equipped to respond to those issues.

Various books have been written about theexperiences of the individuals who make upthe adoption triad: birthparent(s), adoptiveparent(s), and child (or children) (e.g., Bar-tholet, 1993; D. M. Brodzinsky & Schechter,

1990; D. M. Brodzinsky, Schechter, & Henig, 1992; Lifton,1994; Melina, 1986, 1989; Pohl & Harris, 1992; Reitz &Watson, 1992; Rosenberg, 1992; Schooler, 1995; Sorosky,Baran, & Pannor, 1989; van Gulden & Bartels-Rabb, 1994).Some writers address the implications for clinical practicethat derive from those experiences (D. M. Brodzinsky &Schechter, 1990; Reitz & Watson, 1992; Rosenberg, 1992;Winkler, Brown, van Keppel, & Blanchard, 1988), but littlehas been written about training for counselors wishing towork with members of the adoption triad. In fact, only afew articles have appeared in the professional counselingjournals to focus counselor interest in this field (Helvig &Ruthven, 1990; Kowal & Schilling, 1985; Myer & James,1989; Myer, James, & Street, 1987; Ramos, 1990; Rickard-Liow, 1994).

Theoreticians and researchers about adoption emanatefrom all of the mental health professions, Most adoptionprofessionals, however, are social workers (Johnston,1992). The Child Welfare League of America writes inits Standards for Adoption Service (1988) that “the serviceperformed, and the knowledge and skills required in adop-tion, are primarily those of clinical social work. The compe-tence to perform this child welfare service is best acquiredthrough graduate level professional education and experi-ence in social work” (p. 12). However, training standardsfor counselors in graduate programs following the Councilfor Accreditation of Counseling and Related EducationalPrograms, or CACREP, guidelines encounter curricula that

cover, among other topics, theories of individual and familydevelopment; basic interviewing, assessment, and counsel-ing skills; understanding of counselor and client characteris-tics and behaviors that influence helping processes; deci-sion-making models; appraisal methods; and awareness ofprofessional ethical standards. Mastery of this materialalong with enhanced knowledge of adoption issues andpractice should facilitate effective counseling work withinthe adoption field. This article is designed (a) to providean overview of many of the major issues related to adoptionthat may bring any member of the adoption triad to thecounselor’s door, (b) to relate the skills that counselorsalready have to adoption practice, and (c) to recommendareas for further development and training.

Although insufficient national data have been main-tained in the adoption field to quantify numbers and typesof adoption (Flango, 1990; Flango & Flango, 1993), it isgenerally agreed that the most frequent form of nonrelativeadoption is the adoption of Caucasian infants by Caucasianinfertile couples (Center for the Future of Children Staff,1993). This article focuses on the counselor’s role in work-ing with the adoption issues of this population. Thus, itdoes not deal with specific counseling issues related tosingle-parent adoption, gay or lesbian adoption, adoptionof older children, adoption of special needs children, orrelative adoption.

THE ADOPTION TRIAD

Adoption is a lifelong process (D. M. Brodzinsky et al.,1992). It is not a discrete event. It may be considered aprocess of lost and found for the three significant membersof the adoption triad (D. M. Brodzinsky & Smith, 1994;

Nancy G. Janus is an associate professor of human development at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. In addition to her teaching, writing, and research,she has worked for 7 years as an adoption worker for Jewish Family Services of West Hartford, Connecticut, and currently coordinates an adoption programplacing orphans from Bolivia, South America. She is the mother of three daughters, ages 9, 6, and 3, all adopted separately from Medellin, Colombia.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Nancy G. Janus, Eckerd College, 4200 54th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33711.

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Adoption Counseling

Rosenberg, 1992). The experience of these “losses andfounds” may reemerge at various points during the lifespan, requiring a new integration of the fact of adoptionfor any or all triad members. Specifically, the birthparentslose their child and the opportunity to raise and nurtureanother being of their own flesh. At the same time, theyfind freedom from a situation for which they have no bettersolution. Adopted children lose extended biological familyand a sense of genetic identity. If internationally adopted,they may lose a culture. At the same time, ideally, theyfind a loving family, well prepared to raise them and toprovide the opportunities that otherwise they might nothave had. The infertile adoptive couple loses their biologi-cal continuity, and the woman loses the experiences ofpregnancy and birth. The couple, however, finds a childto fill the void.

It is rarely the founds of adoption that cause triad mem-bers to seek counseling. It is the losses and the complexityof adoption that bring them to the counselor’s door. Theycome preadoptively for help in decision making and tomeet legal requirements for counseling before adoption.During the actualization of the adoption, they seek supportfor their decisions and help in handling the emotionallygrueling process that they go through before a baby isplaced. Postadoptively, triad members seek counseling tohandle the complex issues of lost and found. The fact thatadoption is generally perceived by society as a second-bestway to form a family (Bartholet, 1993; Wegar, 1995) mayraise issues of stigmatization for all triad members. Coun-selors’ skills and training as empathic listeners give themthe basic groundwork to be supportive of birthparents,adoptive parents, and adoptees. It is necessary to look atthose aspects of current training and at future training needsthat would prepare counselors to be truly helpful to allmembers of the adoption triad.

COUNSELING BIRTHPARENTS

Preadoption Counseling

Research has indicated that many birthparents who makeadoption plans for their children are teenagers, althoughthe trend may be shifting to older, unmarried women (Ada-mec & Pierce, 1991; Lindsay & Monserrat, 1989; Ward,1994). The vast majority of teenagers choose to keep theirbabies, and the counseling work with these young peopleis not the focus of this article. For the approximately 2%to 4% of birthparents who do choose to relinquish theirbabies (Custer, 1993; Lindsay & Monserrat, 1989; Stolley,I993), sensitive counseling around relinquishment issuesis critical. Counselors must help the birthparents to knowand evaluate their options and to feel a sense of acceptancefor the decision that they make. They must further helpbirthparents to maintain a sense of self-worth, mourn theloss of their child, and integrate the entire adoption experi-ence into their lives (Reitz & Watson, 1992).

It is incumbent upon adoption-sensitive counselors to befamiliar with the various ways that a woman or a birth

couple can place their child for adoption. Adoption existsalong a continuum from traditional, closed, agency place-ment to open adoption in which the birthparent canchoose and subsequently have continuing contact with theadoptive parents (Gilman, 1992; Plumez, 1987). Lindsayand Monserrat (1989) provided a detailed analysis of howto prepare the birthparents for the selection of the appro-priate adoption modality for their particular needs. Theysuggested that counselors must encourage the birthparentsto make a conscious decision about adoption rather thanto fall into a decision. Counselors must explore both theparenting alternative and the adoption alternative with thebirthparents. They must help the birthparents to determinehow much control they desire over where the child goesand the amount of future contact they will have with theadoptive family.

Counselors need to familiarize themselves with the adop-tion laws of their states and have a list of reputable adoptionagencies and attorneys to provide for the birthparents. Eachstate has a Department of Children and Families (titlesvary depending on the state) that can provide a list oflicensed agencies in that state.

Many young birthparents have difficult and complicatedrelationships with their own parents, and it is not uncom-mon for young people not to want to tell their parents thatthe woman is pregnant (Reitz & Watson, 1992). Keepingso profound a secret has long-term implications for familyfunctioning and for the mental health of the birthparentssubsequent to the relinquishment of the child (Reitz &Watson, 1992). Many counselors are trained in family con-sultation if not directly in family counseling, and they canthus be instrumental in helping the birthparents to talkwith their parents about the woman’s pregnancy if suchcommunication is possible. Family counseling sessions needto focus on helping the parents to be supportive of theirchildren through a crisis situation and on helping the familyto discuss the various options available to resolve the crisis(Lindsay & Monserrat, 1989; Reitz & Watson, 1992).

Although it sometimes seems that birthfathers are lessinvolved emotionally in the pregnancy resolution decision,their needs also must be carefully considered by adoption-sensitive counselors (Kiselica, 1995; Severson, 1993).Counseling may be equally important for some birthfathersas for birthmothers. A young father may experience manyof the same reactions of grief upon the relinquishment ofthe child as the birthmother. Many birthfathers are inti-mately involved in the process of adoption decision making.Others suffer from having been excluded from that process(Kiselica, 1995). Sometimes a counselor may wish to workwith the birthmother and birthfather together as they workthrough their decision to place their child for adoption.

Many counselors are trained to work with clients onresponsible decision making. They are exposed, throughcourses in counseling theory and techniques, to problem-solving paradigms such as those provided by Spivack andShure (1974), Sarason and Sarason (1981), and Kendalland Braswell (1985). Training for career counseling equips

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counselors to help young people plan for their futures ascollege students or workers. With sensitive modification ofthose paradigms, these counselors should be able to helpthe young birthparents to think intelligently about whattheir lives will be with or without the baby and to makea plan to keep or relinquish the child.

Postadoption Counseling

No matter how the birthmother feels about her pregnancy,the relinquishment of her child is likely to be a painfulexperience. For some women this is a brief agony, but forothers it is lifelong. Research and anecdotal data cited byA. B. Brodzinsky (1990) indicate that many women experi-ence “profound and protracted grief reactions, depression,and an enduring preoccupation with and worry about thewelfare of the child’ (p. 304).

Once the birthparents have separated from the child,the counselor can help them to understand the normalcyof their grief, express it, and come to some appropriateresolution of it. Counselor education programs that take alife-span developmental focus sometimes offer training inloss and grief counseling. As a part of this training, counsel-ors learn to be in touch with their own reactions to beingwith clients experiencing significant pain and to be support-ive without being dismissive or short-circuiting the expres-sion of that pain.

Birthparents also may return to counselors later in lifeto talk about their ongoing feelings about having relin-quished a child for adoption. Sometimes they envisionsearching for their child. In these cases, it is essential forcounselors to be familiar with the various services availableto birthmothers or birthfathers to activate such a search.The Adoption Resource Guide (Posner & Guilianelli, 1990) isa useful reference for counselors seeking such information.

Counselors also must be aware of any state laws thatgovern accessibility to adoption records and limit the possi-bility of a birthparent-initiated search (Hollinger, 1993).Should a search prove futile, the counselor must help thebirthparents cope with their frustration and disappoint-ment. On the other hand, if the birthparents locate theirchild, they may require counseling support as they struggleto integrate the relationship that they now have with thatadoptee into their lives.

COUNSELING ADOPTIVE PARENTS

Preadoption Counseling

The single most significant factor leading individuals orcouples to adopt children is infertility (Adamec & Pierce,1991; Rosenberg, 1992). Infertility is a problem for approx-imately 17% of couples of childbearing age throughout thedeveloped world (Craig & Kermis, 1995). Because advancesin medical reproductive technology have been dramatic,most couples have experienced long, painful, and expensivemedical evaluations and treatments before making the deci-sion to adopt. They have typically experienced major disap-pointments as they have repeatedly been filled with hope

for some new procedure and let down when it has beenunsuccessful (Bartholet, 1993; Valentine, 1988).

Losses for infertile couples are threefold (Brinich, 1990).First, the couple loses the image of themselves as biologi-cally intact and capable of conception. Second, even if thecouple has previously had a biological child, with infertilitycomes the loss of ongoing biological continuity. Third, thecouple loses the actual biological child about whom theyhave dreamed. The psychological impact of these losses isseldom dealt with in the medical practices that attemptto remedy infertility (Adamec & Pierce, 1991; Bartholet,1993). Couples usually find that they have to deal withthe grief around infertility alone. Referral for counseling isonly routine when the infertile couple is considering thepossibility of in vitro fertilization (Bartholet, 1993).

Infertility often places great stress on the couple relation-ship. Individuals experience and express pain at differenttimes and in different ways. If they move through thestages of grief resolution at different paces, there is ampleopportunity for misunderstanding (Carter & Carter, 1989;Conway & Valentine, 1988; Reitz & Watson, 1992). If thecouple already has difficulty with conflict resolution, thestress of infertility serves to compound the problem. Whenthe source of infertility has been assigned to one memberof the couple, there is the potential for blame and self-blame. Even well-functioning couples may regress in theirability to communicate openly and honestly in the face ofthe pain of infertility (Reitz & Watson, 1992).

Infertility needs to be mourned like any death (Renne,1977; Rosenberg, 1992). The counselor who understandsthe stages of grief resolution has the basics to help theinfertile couple handle their loss. Counselors should beskilled in allowing clients to ventilate their anger and frus-tration as they are educated to be “communicationexperts” who are able to facilitate effective communicationbetween people. These skills are critical in helping theinfertile couple talk about and move through the stagesof grief.

As the prospective adoptive couple works through theirinfertility, they simultaneously have to come to a decisionabout whether to adopt a child or to live child-free (Carter& Carter, 1989; Glazer & Cooper, 1988). The implicationsfor both choices extend well beyond the infertile coupleinto the expectations of their extended families (Reitz &Watson, 1992). The couple must examine their own needsand priorities and simultaneously consider the implicationsof their choice in terms of extended family relationships.

The choice of child-free living usually requires a majorreadjustment of priorities for a couple that has been work-ing hard to overcome infertility. Many adults have spenta lifetime envisioning themselves as parents (Rosenberg,1992). Choosing to live child-free requires them to reexam-ine their self-perceptions, dreams, even life meaning, todetermine if they can derive sufficient satisfaction fromhome and career without parenthood. Carter and Carter(1989) suggested that making the choice for child-free liv-ing requires the redefinition of why one wanted to have


Adoption Counseling

children and how the goals for having children might bemet in other ways.

Before deciding on adoption, couples must determinewhether they can truly love a child who is not biologicallylinked to them (Berger, Goldstein, & Fuerst, 1989; Carter& Carter, 1989; Glazer & Cooper, 1988, Rosenberg, 1992).They must examine closely the motivation behind theirchoice of pursuing infertility treatment as far as they mayhave pursued it. They also must ascertain the potentialreverberation through their extended families should theychoose to adopt a child.

Once a couple is ready to pursue adoption, they areoften confronted with a knowledge vacuum about how toproceed (Carter & Carter, 1989). Counselors can help themarrive at decisions about the kind of child they would liketo adopt and the kind of program that they might wish topursue. They can help the couple to consider questions ofexpense, the upper-age limits, or potential disabling condi-tions of the child or children whom they will adopt. Theycan help the couple to explore their feelings about thepossibility of adopting a child who is racially different fromthem. They can examine with the couple the extent towhich they wish to relate with the child’s birthparents, aswell as the pros and cons of domestic versus interna-tional adoption.

Counselors can help the prospective adopters learn aboutthe actual options available to them. Counselors workingwith adoptive couples should have information about repu-table state and private adoption agencies and attorneys,about adoption law, about adoption support groups, andabout the fundamental steps to pursue domestic or interna-tional adoption (Gilman, 1992). The development of anadoption bibliography is helpful for many clients as well.

The Homestudy Process

Once the prospective adopters have chosen a course, theymust select an adoption agency or, in some states, a licensedmental health practitioner, to do their homestudy (Gilman,1992; Smith, 1990). All agency-based domestic adoptionsand all international adoptions require a homestudy. Somestates also require a homestudy for a private or indepen-dent adoption.

The homestudy is both an investigative and an insight-giving process for the adoptive family (Gilman, 1992;Smith, 1990; Winkler et al., 1988). In a series of meetings,the adoption professional and the prospective parents typi-cally explore the couple’s upbringing and their families oforigin. The adoption professional and the couple extractthe important factors that will be carried into parenting theadopted child. The couple explores the marital relationship(and any previous marital relationships as well), examiningthe emotional climate, the ways in which the couple han-dles their differences, their sources of joy and satisfaction,and the aspects of their daily lives that will be most affectedby having a child. In individual or group formats, the adop-tion professional provides information for the couple aboutparticular issues relating to raising adopted children (e.g.,

talking about adoption, handling social biases against adop-tion, and involvement with the birthparents) and exploreswith them their own philosophies of child rearing. Theadoption professional should act as a parent educator, pro-viding information about what are considered to be effec-tive child-rearing techniques. In the case of a prospectiveintercountry or transracial adoption, the adoption profes-sional should educate the family about how to best helpthe child to integrate the original racial or cultural heritagewhile developing an identity in the world of the adoptiveparents (Zuniga, 1991). At the end of the process, a reportis generated that serves as the basis for state licensure ofan adoptive home, as a description of the family for reviewby potential adoption agencies, and for assurance of accept-ability to the U. S. Department of Justice, Immigration andNaturalization Services should the family require a visa foran immigrant child (Gilman, 1992).

Counseling During the Adoption Process

Most adoptive families find the adoption process long andgrueling (Hoffmann-Riem, 1990; Modell, 1994; Rosen-berg, 1992; van Gulden & Bartels-Rabb, 1994). By thetime the adoptive family has worked through infertility,undergone a homestudy, and readied themselves for adop-tion, they find waiting for a child very painful. There isinevitably a detailed collection of paperwork, and manystarts and stops occur along the way. Waiting lists withagencies for healthy White infants are long, sometimesyears long (Gilman, 1992; Rosenberg, 1992; van-Gulden& Bartels-Raab, 1994). Private or independent adoptionssometimes end up with birthmothers changing their mindsand keeping their children (Gilman, 1992; Johnston, 1992;Liptak, 1993; McKelvey & Stevens, 1994).

International adoption is no easier for adoptive parentsthan is domestic adoption (Bartholet, 1993; McKelvey &Stevens, 1994, Vitillo, 1991). Other countries have theirown bureaucracies and paperwork, requiring the family todo an enormous amount of running around in the collectionof documents (Altstein & Simon, 1991; Johnston, 1992;Liptak, 1993; McKelvey & Stevens, 1994). It is not unusualfor adoption laws in other countries to change along withtheir governments. Korea, Romania, and Peru are notableexamples (Altstein & Simon, 1991; Bartholet, 1993;McKelvey & Stevens, 1994; Vitillo, 1991). Families takerisks of encountering unsavory adoption practices, includ-ing bribery and coercion in some foreign countries (McKel-vey & Stevens, 1994), and may have to stay for extendedperiods in those countries to accomplish their adoption(Bartholet, 1993).

Taken as a whole, what is required for the prospectiveadopters throughout the adoption process is a lot of supportfrom the counselor. During this often difficult time, coun-selors need to do what they do best—listen and empathize.

Postadoption Counseling

Once the adoptive parents receive their child, they mayencounter a rekindling of the anguish over their infertility.


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The baby, beautiful as he or she may be, does not look likethem. They may experience a sort of postpartum depres-sion—a letdown at the end of the process and a new aware-ness that the child is not biologically theirs (Rosenberg,1992). The adoption expectations of the family may havegrown so enormous during the preadoptive period thatthey cannot help but be let down by the actual adoptionexperience (Reitz & Watson, 1992; Rosenberg, 1992).These feelings, although usually short-lived, frequentlyengender guilt (Melina, 1986). The counselor must beaware that such feelings sometimes surface during this timeand reach out to the adoptive parents who might not other-wise openly share their feelings.

The adoptive family, like the biologically linked family,often experiences feelings of being overwhelmed by a newbaby and subsequently the child it becomes. They strugglewith all of the same parenting issues, so that counselorscan be just as useful to adoptive families through parenttraining groups as they are to biological families. At thesame time, parenting issues in adoptive families are differ-ent from those of families who do not adopt children, andcounselors need to listen carefully to the unique issuesthat surface in the lives of the adoptive parents. Reitz andWatson (1992) alluded to many possible concerns that mayarise, such as feelings of mismatch between the child andthe adoptive parents, disappointment that the child doesnot meet the family’s expectations, lack of a real senseof entitlement that impedes appropriate discipline, anddoubts about attachment. All of these, and other issuesthat may surface, may be dealt with by a skilled counselor.In writing intended for professional audiences, Reitz andWatson (1992), Rosenberg (1992), Winkler et al. (1988),and Zuniga (1991) described intervention strategies withwhich most counselors are familiar. Books written for adop-tive parents can also be helpful in addressing problemsand concerns that arise throughout the childhood of theadopted person (Melina, 1986, 1989; Schaffer & Lind-strom, 1989; Watkins & Fisher, 1993).

When the adoptee reaches adolescence and begins tobehave as a sexual person, some adoptive parents find thepain around their own infertility rekindled once again(Reitz & Watson, 1992). Any unresolved negative feelingsthat they may have about a birthmother who had a childwhom she was unable to care for can surface if the adopteeacts out sexually during this time. The possibility of theirchild acting out sexually and becoming a parent may gener-ate fear that the child is repeating the pattern establishedby the birthparents (Reitz & Watson, 1992). It is importantfor the counselor to be alert to the ways in which adolescentsexuality can trigger grief and anger reactions on the partof the adoptive parents and, once again, to help them tomanage those feelings.

Although most adoptive parents’ anxieties about birth-parents should have been discussed and dealt with duringthe homestudy process, these issues often resurface as theirchild is growing up (Reitz & Watson, 1992; Rosenberg,1992). Although counselors cannot guarantee to an adop-

tive parent that the birthparent will not reappear in hopesof establishing a personal relationship with the child, theycan provide empathy and support to help deal with the fear.

A profound issue for adoptive parents as their childrenreach late adolescence and young adulthood is the possibil-ity that the adoptees will choose to initiate their ownsearches for their birthparent(s). Most writers about theadoption triad indicate that the desire to search is a normalone (D. M. Brodzinsky et al., 1992; Demuth, 1993; Lifton,1994; Liptak, 1993; van Gulden & Bartels-Raab, 1994).Knowledge that most adoptees who search do so to answeridentity questions and not to replace the adoptive parents(D. M. Brodzinsky et al., 1992; Campbell, Silverman, &Patti, 1991) is important to share with fearful adoptiveparents at this time. Demuth (1993) has written a guideto help adoptive parents understand and cope with theirchild’s search process, and this may be an appropriate biblio-therapeutic resource for the counselor.

Finally, normal family issues of letting go as the childreaches young adulthood can be heightened in the adoptivefamily (Hartman & Laird, 1990; Reitz & Watson, 1992).Any anxiety that the parents or the adoptee may have aboutattachment in the absence of a birth bond may becomeintensified at this point (Reitz & Watson, 1992; Rosenberg,1992; Winkler et al., 1988). Counseling at this timeinvolves helping the family with letting go and helping theyoung adult to separate guilt free (Haley, 1980; Reitz &Watson, 1992; Winkler et al., 1988), bearing in mind thespecial import of these issues for the adoptive family.

COUNSELING ADOPTEES

The adoption field tends to polarize around the questionsof just how traumatic adoption is for adoptees. A recentnational research project examining outcomes for 881adopted adolescents (Benson, Sharma, & Roehlkepartain,1994) revealed that the majority of adoptees copeextremely well with their adoptive status and grow up to behappy, successful adolescents and young adults. However,early research by Schechter (1960) showing an overrepre-sentation of adopted children in psychiatric clinics has hadan important and long-standing impact in the adoptionfield (Wegar, 1995). The term adopted child syndrome hascome to refer to the psychological difficulties that adoptedchildren may have (Grabe & Sim, 1990; Kirschner, 1988,1990). It is important to note that much adoption researchneeds to be viewed with some caution, as it has been fraughtwith methodological problems and researcher biases, suchas a focus on clinical populations of adoptees only (Wegar,1995). In many ways, research on adoption has served tofuel the controversy rather than to mitigate it.

Despite the controversy as to whether the advantages ofadoption outweigh the disadvantages, most authors agreethat virtually every adopted person experiences some lossand longing for the connection that a birth-bond suppliesfor nonadoptees. All of us spend a lifetime searching for self;


Adoption Counseling

the search of the adoptee is considerably more complicated(Lifton, 1994).

For some adoptees, identity confusion may be mitigatedby being a member of an open adoption triad (Baran &Pannor, 1993; Berry, 1993b; Liptak, 1993; Melina & Ros-zia, 1993). Open adoptions generally involve the sharingof information between birthparents and adoptive parentsbefore, during, and after the adoption placement. Theseadoptions provide adoptees with far more informationabout their birth history than do traditional closed adop-tions and, at least in the United States, have become com-mon adoption practice (Baran & Pannor, 1993; Berry,1993a, 1993b; Melina & Roszia, 1993). However, openadoptions also offer the adoptee the complexity of havingto reconcile having two sets of known parents (Berry,1993b). The counselor encountering clients who are partof an open adoption are referred to Melina and Roszia(1993) and Silber and Dorner (1989) for greater under-standing of counseling issues for the children of openadoption.

The complexity of counseling an adoptee comes inunderstanding which of the presenting problems are adop-tion related and which are not. Some clinicians tend toexaggerate the importance of adoption in understandingclient problems whereas others ignore it (Hartman & Laird,1990; Rosenberg, 1992). Rosenberg (1992) stated that“many therapists . . . receive referrals of adopted childrenwho have been in intensive inpatient, outpatient, or resi-dential treatment in which adoption and its related issueshave never been raised in spite of the fact that the referringclinician knew that an adoption had occurred” (p. 147).A key to any counseling work with an adoptee is the explo-ration of the issue of adoption and its personal meaningfor that counselee (Hartman & Laird, 1990; Rosenberg,1992; Winkler et al., 1988).

For some adoptees, issues of loyalty may cloud the abilityto talk about feelings of loss in adoption (Demuth, 1993;Reitz & Watson, 1992; Rosenberg, 1992). The world oftensees an adoptee as “lucky.” The adopted person who haslearned to be grateful for his or her adoption may haveconsiderable difficulty talking about those issues that mightimply a lack of gratitude (Reitz & Watson, 1992). It isoften this very feeling of guilt that stops adoptees fromsearching for their birthparents while their adoptive parentsare living (Winkler et al., 1988). The counselor experienc-ing this kind of client ambivalence about dealing with apainful topic must work especially hard to create a safeand nonjudgmental climate for sensitive exploration.

Counseling Issues for Young Adoptees

Children rarely understand much about adoption until theyreach school age and encounter a world of children whoare not adopted (D. M. Brodzinsky et al., 1992; Melina,1989). They initially understand that they are different byvirtue of their adoptive status but do not fully understandits meaning until they actually acquire an understandingof conception and birth. It is in later childhood, as they

begin to reason more abstractly, that adoptees may beginto recognize the loss that they have experienced (D. M.Brodzinsky et al., 1992; D. M. Brodzinsky, Singer, & Braff,1984; Rosenberg, 1992; van Gulden & Bartels-Raab, 1994;Watkins & Fisher, 1993). To help children deal with theirfeelings of difference and loss, counselors may wish to pro-vide adoption support groups. Cordell, Nathan, and Kry-mow (1985) provided a curriculum for group counselingof children adopted at older ages, and Myer et al. (1987)offered curricular recommendations for counseling interna-tionally adopted children in a classroom meeting approach.These groups allow children to understand the normalcyof their experiences and to gain the important sense thatthere are other children who share them. Although adop-tion groups may not help to fill in the missing pieces ofthe real-life puzzle, they can reduce the sense of differenceand alienation that young adoptees may feel.

Counselors must be aware of attitudes that teachers mayhave toward adopted children. School personnel are oftennaive about adoption issues and make mistaken assump-tions about the relationship between adoption and theschool problems that children may present (Melina, 1989).Teachers frequently make routine assignments such as thedrawing of the family tree, which are complicated andconfusing for adoptees (Ng & Wood, 1993).

An important role for counselors concerned with theyoung adoptee is consultation with teachers about adoptionissues. The counselor might provide inservice training to allteachers in a building or school district to enhance generalunderstanding of adopted children and their families.Understanding Adoption: A Guide for Educators (Ng &Wood, 1993) provides many useful materials for use in theinservice training of teachers.

Counseling Issues for Adopted Adolescents

Adolescent adoptees who present for counseling are typi-cally dealing with issues of identity formation. Lifton(1994) described them as “stuck in the life cycle” as theystruggle with the critical question, “Who am I?” By adoles-cence, adoptees have come to know how much they donot know. As their bodies change throughout puberty, theyhave no visual referents for how they are likely to turn out.They generally do not have complete medical histories.Normal adolescent rebellion may be confounded by fearsthat they might be rejected permanently by their adoptiveparents as they once were by their birthparents. Identityconfusion can be particularly profound for adolescentadoptees as they go through normal periods of introspec-tion (D. M. Brodzinsky et al., 1992; Melina, 1989; Reitz& Watson, 1992; van Gulden & Bartels-Raab, 1994). Sexu-ality also may represent a complex issue for adopted adoles-cent as they may find themselves rethinking the fact thattheir birthmothers became pregnant and then chose not tokeep them. Whereas Benson et al.’s (1994) research didnot indicate that adolescent adoptees acted out sexuallymore than their nonadopted counterparts, Sorosky et al.(1989) suggested that female adolescent adoptees may act


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out sexually more than their nonadopted peers throughidentification with their birthmothers or out of desire tobecome pregnant and create a blood link to a relative.

Adolescent problems are not new to counselors, but withadopted clients they may take on an added intensity. Thisis a time for listening. Through the supportive mirror ofthe counselor, adolescent adoptees can tell their storiesover and over again, integrate the facts of their lives, anddevelop a sense of mastery over them (Winkler et al.,1988).

Group counseling with adolescent adoptees is a particu-larly potent modality because it mitigates the sense of dif-ference and alienation that they may feel and allows themto identify with others who share their experiences (Cordellet al., 1985).

Counseling Issues for Adult Adoptees

Adoptees who are going to initiate a search for their birth-parent(s) tend to do so in young adulthood. D. M. Brodzin-sky et al. (1992) pointed out that the average age of search-ers is 29 years and that the vast majority of searchers arefemale. Often, young adult adoptees present in counselingsaying that they have been considering searching for birth-family members. It is necessary for the counselor to helpthe client explore the current motivation for the searchand to be aware of the means by which an adoptee canaccomplish a search. The counselor must help the youngadult adoptee anticipate the potential negative or positiveoutcomes of a successful search, decide whether to pro-ceed, and cope with the frustration should the search beunsuccessful. Reitz and Watson (1992), Schooler (1995),and Winkler et al. (1988) have provided useful informationfor counselors working with clients involved in the searchand reunion process.

It goes without saying that adulthood is the accumulationof childhood experiences, including all of those relating toadoption. Some adult adoptees are surprised to discoverthat the pain they may have about having been adoptedsurfaces as they go through the expected adult transitionsof marriage, pregnancy or adoption, and death of a parent(D. M. Brodzinsky et al., 1992; Reitz & Watson, 1992;Rosenberg, 1992; van Gulden & Bartels-Rabb, 1994).D. M. Brodzinsky et al. suggested that these issues resur-face in adulthood because this is the stage at which individ-uals reassess their identities in terms of new nuclear familyrelationships, career, and so on. Each encounter with iden-tity brings with it, once again, the awareness of adoption.They further suggested that the change in thinking pro-cesses in adulthood to a dialectical model invites adultadoptees to struggle anew with contradictions and incon-gruities related to being adopted.

It is important for the counselor working with adultadoptees not to assume that adoption issues have beenresolved by adulthood. Regardless of presenting complaint,the counselor must be willing to examine life events of theadult client in terms of his or her adoptive status. As withall adopted clients throughout the life span, the counselor

must be willing to probe sensitive adoption questions, yetnot overemphasize adoption as the root cause of the cli-ent’s problems.

PREPARATlON FOR COUNSELORS DESIRING TO SPECIALIZEIN ADOPTION

With an estimated 4 million adoptees in the United States,it is likely that most counselors are encountering adoptionissues in their practices already (Hartman, 1991). However,some counselors may choose to specialize in this work.Most counselors are well trained in the skills and techniquesnecessary to be supportive listeners and active explorerswith clients. What is needed is the added expertise to workeffectively with members of the adoption triad.

Because adoption is generally considered as a second-best way to build a family (Bartholet, 1993; Wegar, 1995),counselors must be acutely aware of what their own biasesabout adoption might be. They need to be aware thatthere is a vocabulary that reflects adoption positively (e.g.,birthparents as opposed to real parents). They must seekin-depth knowledge of the many issues that members ofthe adoption triad may encounter.

Counselors desiring to specialize in adoption practicemay wish to acquire further training in counseling skillsrelating to loss and grief. They may wish to improve skillsin family counseling and appraisal. Should counselors wishto perform homestudies, they will need to seek out specifictraining or apprenticeship opportunities to learn what vari-ous agencies or attorneys require as topics for exploration,and they must develop good report-writing skills. In thecase of international adoption, they must be aware of theissues that particular countries seek in homestudies fromUS. agencies.

Counselors must become familiar with the adoption lawsof their states and become aware of support resources fortriad members, such as search and reunion networks, infer-tility support groups, adoption healing groups, and post-adoption support groups. It would be particularly desirablefor counselors seeking to work with adoption to seek outinternships within adoption agencies, supervised by experi-enced practitioners in the adoption field.

Although adoption has not been a major focus withinthe American Counseling Association, several professionaldevelopment institutes have been offered at the nationalconventions (Janus, 1996; Janus & Levin, 1995), along withoccasional convention presentations (Borders, Janus, &Sharma, 1994). Finally, counselors may find professionaldevelopment opportunities through the annual conven-tions of organizations for which adoption is an importantfocus. The North American Council on Adoptable Chil-dren, Adoptive Families of America, and the Child WelfareLeague all have annual meetings that counselors would bewelcome to attend.

CONCLUSIONAdoption is fertile ground for specialty work in counseling.With some additional training, there should be professional


Adoption Counseling

opportunities for counselors wishing to work in adoptionagencies or in private practice related to counseling mem-bers of the adoption triad. Counselors in school or clinicalsettings can become better versed in handling the adoptionissues that clients may bring to them at any point in theadoption process. Although the founds of adoption are theprincipal note for many in the adoption triad, counselorsneed to be professionally equipped to deal with the issuesof those experiencing the losses.

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adoption counseling as a professional specialty area for counselors

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