The community-based framework of adoption literacy (AL), outlined in this practice brief, offers organized and tangible guidance for mental health practitioners who may engage with adult adoptees in individual, couples, or family counseling. AL is an ongoing process of learning about, and effectively responding to, dynamic public health needs that surround the institutionalized practice of family separation and adoption, both domestically and transnationally. The author examines AL as a community intervention, therapeutic process, and multidisciplinary conversation. Readers are given background and applications for four core relational cues: humanize adoptee narratives, own your part in the story, promote adoptee-specific resources throughout the lifespan, and elevate adoptees into positions of influence (H.O.P.E.). Additional considerations and recommendations are provided to help practicing counselors and therapists organize their learning, resources, interventions, and outcomes as they seek to ethically and competently address the dynamic counseling needs of adult adoptees through the AL framework.
BadenA. L.TreweekeL. M.AlhuwaliaK. M. (2012). Reclaiming culture: Reculturation of transracial international adoptees. Journal of Counseling and Development, 90(4), 387–399. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2012.00049.x
6.
BadenA. L.WileyM. O. (2007). Counseling adopted persons in adulthood: Integrating practice and research. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(6), 868–901. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000006291409
BrancoS. F. (2022). Relational–cultural theory: A supportive framework for transracial adoptive families. The Family Journal, 30(1), 22–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807211028986
11.
BrancoS. F.KimJ.NewtonG. (2024). The adoptee consciousness model: Integration with family counseling theory and practice. The Family Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807241290244
12.
BrancoS. F.KimJ.NewtonG.Cooper-LewterS. K.O’LoughlinP. (2022). Out of the fog and into consciousness: A model of adoptee awareness. Self-published manuscript.
13.
BrancoS. F.StellaS.LangkuschA. (2023). Liberating our ancestors, finding ourselves: Colombian transnational adoptee first family reunion experiences. Adoption Quarterly, 27(2), 134–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2023.2172505
14.
BrodzinskyD.GunnarM.PalaciosJ. (2022). Adoption and trauma: Risks, recovery, and the lived experience of adoption. Child Abuse & Neglect, 130(Pt 2), 105309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105309
15.
BronfenbrennerU.CeciS. J. (1994). Nature-nurture reconceptualized: A bio-ecological model. Psychological Review, 10(4), 568–586. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.101.4.568
CrossT. (1997). The relational worldview model. Printed originally in the 1997 May/June issue of Pathways Practice Digest, volume 12, No.4.
20.
CrossT. (2014). Relational worldview: A tribal and cultural framework for improving child welfare outcomes. Training series by National Indian Child Welfare Association, the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, and the Minnesota Department of Human Services. https://cascw.umn.edu/portfolio-items/rwv-videos/
21.
DuVernayA.KaepernickC.StarrburyM.BremnerS.GarnesP, (Executive Producers). (2021). Colin in Black and White [TV Series]. Netflix.
FesslerA. (2006). The girls who went away: The hidden history of women who surrendered children for adoption in the decades before Roe v. Wade. Penguin Press.
25.
FranklV. E. (1992). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy (4th ed.) (I. Lasch, Trans.). Beacon Press.
26.
GarberK. J.GrotevantH. D. (2015). “You were adopted?!”: Microaggressions toward adolescent adopted individuals in same-race families. The Counseling Psychologist, 43(3), 435–462. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000014566471
HarrisN. B. (2018). The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Trauma and Adversity. Mariner Books.
29.
HelderE. J.HorstmanH. K.HennessJ.LyssyK.VallanceC.WarnersA. L.BaileyF. X. (2024). Memorable messages regarding adoption and religion: Perspectives of adult adoptees. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 41(12), 3688–3719. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075241276696
JavierR.BadenA.BiaforaF.Camacho-GingerichA. (2007). Handbook of adoption: Implications for researchers, practitioners, and families. Sage Publications, Inc.
37.
JoyceK. (2013). The child catchers: Rescue, trafficking, and the new Gospel of adoption. Public Affairs Books.
38.
KaepernickC.EwingE. L.CaicedoO. (2023). Change the game: a graphic novel. First edition. Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic.
39.
KalbS. (2024, July 28). Post traumatic saved disorder [Conference session]. BIPOC Voices 2024 Conference, Portland State University, Portland, OR, United States.
40.
KimE. J. (2010). Adopted territory: Transnational Korean adoptees and the politics of belonging. Duke University Press.
41.
KimJ. (2013). Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain: Learning how to be a critical consumer of adoption research. Gazillion Voices, 1(4). Retrieved November 18, 2024 from https://harlows-monkey.com/my-publications/
KimJ. (2022). “Forever family is like a manufactured hallmark idea”: Adoption discontinuity experiences of intercountry adoptees. Child Abuse & Neglect, 130(Part 2), 105184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105184
44.
KimO. M.HexterL. J.DonnellyE. Y.HayashiY. (2024). Reclaiming lineage: Experiences of pregnancy and childbirth for Asian American adopted adults. Asian American Journal of Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000353
45.
KimA. Y.KimO. M.HuA. W.OhJ. S.LeeR. M. (2020). Conceptualization and measurement of birth family thoughts for adolescents and adults adopted transnationally. Journal of Family Psychology, 34(5), 555–565. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000631
46.
KimJ.TuckerA. (2019). The inclusive family support model: Facilitating openness for post-adoptive families. Child & Family Social Work.
KriederR. M. (2020). US Adoption by the numbers. In WrobelG. M.HelderE.MarrE. (Eds.), The routledge handbook of adoption (pp. 21–34). Taylor and Francis Group.
49.
LangbergD. (2020). Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church. Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
50.
LeeR. M. (2003). The transracial adoption paradox: History, research, and counseling implications of cultural socialization. The Counseling Psychologist, 31(6), 711–744. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000003258087
51.
LeeH. (2024, July 12). Invisible Families: How Adoptees Use Genetic Testing [Conference session]. 8th International Conference on Adoption Research Conference (ICAR8), Minneapolis, MN, United States, University of Minnesota.
McGinnisH. A. (2024a, July 12). Mapping the Life Course of Adoption Project (MAP): Health, Well-Being, and Adoptee Connections in Adulthood [Conference session]. 8th International Conference on Adoption Research Conference (ICAR8), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
54.
McGinnisH. A. (2024b). Mapping the life course of adoption project. Retrieved November 13, 2024 from https://www.caare-research.org/
NorcrossJ. C.KrebsP. M.ProchaskaJ. O. (2011). Stages of change. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 67(2), 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20758
RaibleJ. (2012). Ally parenting for social justice in the book parenting as adoptees. Featured in Parenting as Adoptees edited by Adam Chau and Kevin Ost-Vollmers.
64.
RileyD.MeeksJ. (2006). Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens: Case Studies & Treatment Considerations for Therapists & Parents. C.A.S.E. Publications.
65.
Rivas-DrakeD.Umaña-TaylorA. J. (2019). Below the surface: Talking with teens about race, ethnicity, and identity. Princeton University Press.
66.
RobertsD. E. (2022). Torn apart: how the child welfare system destroys Black families–and how abolition can build a safer world. First edition. Basic Books.
67.
RoseR. (2024). Therapeutic Life Story Work. Retrieved November 25, 2024 from https://tlswi.com/
68.
SamuelsG. M. (2024, July 12). Knowledge for us by us: Race, Identity work and placemaking [Conference session]. 8th International Conference on Adoption Research Conference (ICAR8), Minneapolis, MN, United States, University of Minnesota.
69.
SimonK. A.SumonthaJ.BlankenauA.Domyancich-LeeS.FarrR. H.KimA. Y.LeeR. M. (2024). Adoptive parents’ racial colorblindness and adopted Korean adolescents’ experiences of discrimination. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000695
70.
SinghA. S.ApplingB.TrepalH. (2020). Using the multicultural social justice counseling competencies to decolonize counseling practice: The important roles of theory, action, and power. Journal of Counseling and Development, 98(3), 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12321
71.
Small, C. L. (2024a). The adoptee’s journey: From loss and trauma to healing and empowerment. InterVarsity Press.
72.
Small, C. L. (2024b, August 12). Adoption literacy at TEDx. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqCoMRUKVao
73.
SollJ. (2015). Finding myself. In CristianD. R.GonzalezR.Transue-WoolstonA. (Eds.), Flip the script: Adult adoptee anthology (pp. 17–18). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
74.
TangS. S. (2023). Asian American Psychology and Psychotherapy: Intergenerational Trauma, Betrayal, and Liberation. Rowman & Littlefield.
75.
TeyberE. (2011). Interpersonal process in psychotherapy: An integrative model (6th ed.). Brooks/Cole.
76.
TrenkaJ. J.OparahJ. C.ShinS. Y. (2006). Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption. University of Minnesota Press.
77.
Umaña-TaylorA. J. (2016). A post-racial society in which ethnic-racial discrimination still exists and has significant consequences for Youths’ adjustment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(2), 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721415627858
78.
Umaña-TaylorA. J.QuintanaS. M.LeeR. M.CrossW. EJrRivas-DrakeD.SchwartzS. J.SyedM.YipT.SeatonE., & ethnic and racial identity in the 21st century study group (2014). Ethnic and racial identity during adolescence and into young adulthood: An integrated conceptualization. Child Development, 85(1), 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12196
79.
van der KolkB. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Viking.
80.
WattsR. J.WilliamsN. C.JagersR. J. (2003). Sociopolitical development. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31(1-2), 185–194. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023091024140
YalomI. D. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. Basic Books.
84.
ZúñigaX.NagdaB. A.CheslerM.Cytron-WalkerA. (2007). Intergroup dialogue in higher education: Meaningful learning about social justice. Wiley Subscription Services at Jossey-Bass. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10506241
