Parenting When It’s Hard to Like Your Child — Understanding Blocked Care in Adoptive Families

By Darci Nelsen, PhD, LMHC, BC-DMT | October 13, 2022

“Why is my child withdrawing? And why am I tempted to give up and disengage?” This blog explains self-protective instincts for both adopted children (blocked trust) and parents (blocked care), how a child’s response may be rooted in early trauma, and strategies for parenting with empathy.

Adoption-Competent Therapy — What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Find It

By Brittany Purrington | June 23, 2022

Adoption-competent therapists have a trauma lens and understand that our body has memory through our senses even before we had verbal language.

Film Review: Reckoning with the Primal Wound

By Elena Li | June 9, 2022

Reckoning with the Primal Wound documentary

Reckoning with the Primal Wound, a documentary, asks us to understand relinquishment trauma. The child and birth mother’s separation is a profound loss that needs to be acknowledged, seen, supported, and cared for.

Shame and Adoption — A Guide to Parenting with Empathy

By Darci Nelsen, PhD, LMHC, BC-DMT | July 19, 2021

Shame is the feeling that we are inherently unlovable, unworthy, and undeserving of connection — and it’s a central theme in adoption. How do we parent without shaming our child? How do we teach values? Here are some empathy-based strategies and phrases to help children make positive choices.