Adoption Trauma – Part 1: What is Adoption Trauma?

By Erica Kramer, MSW

Few of us stop to consider the earliest experiences that predate the adoption process and how the body and mind might record them as trauma. This is the first of a series of BPAR blogs incorporating adoptee voices and research that will address these issues and the challenges they may cause.

Dance / Movement Therapy and Adoption-Competent Therapy

By Madison Janke, LMHC, R-DMT

Traumatic experiences leave a profound impact on our physical bodies. Sometimes those implicit memories or deeply buried traumas are inaccessible to verbal processing, and only accessed through body-focused and somatic-focused work. Here’s how Dance/Movement Therapy and Adoption-Competent Therapy intersect very effectively.

How Do You Know if Someone Is Trustworthy?

By Lisa Coppola, M.Ed, LMHC

Trust is hard for people with early childhood trauma and attachment disruptions. As adults who get to choose who we let into our lives, it can still be confusing for us to know who is worth investing our trust in. Here are some general ways to discern if someone is higher up on the trustworthy scale.

Connecting the Dots: Even Young Adoptees Sense the Loss of Relinquishment

By Erica Kramer, MSW

Adoptee Isaac Etter was one of the few people of color in his small town. His family didn’t understand how to broach topics around race or adoption. Most of what he learned about race and racism came from the internet as a teen. But by age five or six he already felt the rejection and abandonment of relinquishment.

Why BPAR Has to Talk About the Hard Stuff in Life After Adoption

By Kelly DiBenedetto, LMHC, ATR

Over the course of our eleven years at BPAR, we have witnessed a drastic change in the complexities faced by the clients coming for post-adoption therapy, especially in the past three years. To address the realities of post adoption challenges, BPAR has to take a stance and do what is right: we have to talk about the hard stuff.

EMDR Therapy for Trauma Recovery and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

By KC Craig, LICSW

EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing therapy helps the body remember or process a traumatic experience, while preventing our brain from reacting as if it is still in danger. This blog explains the value of EMDR and debunks some EMDR myths.

Crafting bracelets with beads affirms identities

How Does Play Therapy Help Adoptees and Therapists?

By Carolyn Brazil

Play therapy acts as a medium for communication, rapport building, and the exploration of themes related to safety, abandonment, identity, and integration for adoptees. Therapists strategically use play to help children express what is troubling them when they don’t have the verbal language to express their thoughts and feelings.

Adoption Trauma – Part 1: What is Adoption Trauma?

By Erica Kramer, MSW

Few of us stop to consider the earliest experiences that predate the adoption process and how the body and mind might record them as trauma. This is the first of a series of BPAR blogs incorporating adoptee voices and research that will address these issues and the challenges they may cause.

Dance / Movement Therapy and Adoption-Competent Therapy

By Madison Janke, LMHC, R-DMT

Traumatic experiences leave a profound impact on our physical bodies. Sometimes those implicit memories or deeply buried traumas are inaccessible to verbal processing, and only accessed through body-focused and somatic-focused work. Here’s how Dance/Movement Therapy and Adoption-Competent Therapy intersect very effectively.

How Do You Know if Someone Is Trustworthy?

By Lisa Coppola, M.Ed, LMHC

Trust is hard for people with early childhood trauma and attachment disruptions. As adults who get to choose who we let into our lives, it can still be confusing for us to know who is worth investing our trust in. Here are some general ways to discern if someone is higher up on the trustworthy scale.

Connecting the Dots: Even Young Adoptees Sense the Loss of Relinquishment

By Erica Kramer, MSW

Adoptee Isaac Etter was one of the few people of color in his small town. His family didn’t understand how to broach topics around race or adoption. Most of what he learned about race and racism came from the internet as a teen. But by age five or six he already felt the rejection and abandonment of relinquishment.

Why BPAR Has to Talk About the Hard Stuff in Life After Adoption

By Kelly DiBenedetto, LMHC, ATR

Over the course of our eleven years at BPAR, we have witnessed a drastic change in the complexities faced by the clients coming for post-adoption therapy, especially in the past three years. To address the realities of post adoption challenges, BPAR has to take a stance and do what is right: we have to talk about the hard stuff.

EMDR Therapy for Trauma Recovery and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

By KC Craig, LICSW

EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing therapy helps the body remember or process a traumatic experience, while preventing our brain from reacting as if it is still in danger. This blog explains the value of EMDR and debunks some EMDR myths.

How Does Play Therapy Help Adoptees and Therapists?

By Carolyn Brazil

Play therapy acts as a medium for communication, rapport building, and the exploration of themes related to safety, abandonment, identity, and integration for adoptees. Therapists strategically use play to help children express what is troubling them when they don’t have the verbal language to express their thoughts and feelings.

Adoption Trauma – Part 1: What is Adoption Trauma?

By Erica Kramer, MSW

Few of us stop to consider the earliest experiences that predate the adoption process and how the body and mind might record them as trauma. This is the first of a series of BPAR blogs incorporating adoptee voices and research that will address these issues and the challenges they may cause.

Dance / Movement Therapy and Adoption-Competent Therapy

By Madison Janke, LMHC, R-DMT

Traumatic experiences leave a profound impact on our physical bodies. Sometimes those implicit memories or deeply buried traumas are inaccessible to verbal processing, and only accessed through body-focused and somatic-focused work. Here’s how Dance/Movement Therapy and Adoption-Competent Therapy intersect very effectively.

How Do You Know if Someone Is Trustworthy?

By Lisa Coppola, M.Ed, LMHC

Trust is hard for people with early childhood trauma and attachment disruptions. As adults who get to choose who we let into our lives, it can still be confusing for us to know who is worth investing our trust in. Here are some general ways to discern if someone is higher up on the trustworthy scale.

Adoption Is a Lifelong Journey

BPAR's specialists are here to guide you.

At Boston Post Adoption Resources, we understand the challenges and impact that adoption can have on relationships, family dynamics, and identity. No matter what your adoption related question or concern is, you do not have to figure it out alone!

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The BPAR Bookshelf

Our Journal for Adult Adoptees:

Voices Unheard: A Reflective Journal for Adult Adoptees

Our Book for Parents/Caregivers:

Adoption Is a Lifelong Journey

BPAR's Clinical Services

Our clinicians offer many types of support for the adoption constellation:

Individual Therapy

Family Therapy

Peer Support Groups

Search Support

Contact us to decide what's right for you or your family.

Join One of Our Post Adoption Support Groups

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Resources for All Touched by Adoption

We offer a comprehensive online Post Adoption Resources Center.

Quick Links to Specific Resources

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Adoption
Is a Lifelong Journey

Voices Unheard:
A Reflective Journal for Adult Adoptees