Bravo network's The Real Housewives, a long running reality tv series, spans multiple cities in the United States and across the globe. Counselor educators may utilize adult adoptee related issues present in the series for couples and family counseling students. This teaching brief describes the Real Housewives of Orange County's Katie Ginella, a transracial, international adoptee, whose storyline includes identity challenges, intergenerational trauma, and birth family reunion. Implications for couple and family counselor educators are described.
BadenA. L.KitchenA.MazzaJ. R.HarringtonE. S.WhiteE. E. (2017). Addressing adoption in counseling: A study of adult adoptees’ counseling satisfaction. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 98(3), 209–216. https://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.2017.98.26
2.
BehleA. E.PinquartM. (2016). Psychiatric disorders and treatment in adoptees: A meta-analytic comparison with non-adoptees. Adoption Quarterly, 19(4), 284–306. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2016.1201708
Bravo. (n.d.b). Katie Ginella’s heartbreaking story about why she was given up for adoption (RHOC, S18 E4) [YouTube Channel]. YouTube. Retrieved November 28, 2024 from https://youtu.be/m0gGWVxXXJQ?si=MpyFnwsSU3tBUpzb.
ChangD. F.FeldmanK.EasleyH. (2017). “I’m learning not to tell you”: Korean transracial adoptees’ appraisals of parental racial socialization strategies and perceived effects. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 8(4), 308–322. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000091
8.
CloonanV.BrancoS. F. (2024). Racial and ethnic identity of transnational adoptees: A model reflecting the lived experience of adult Colombian adoptees. The Family Journal, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807241292057
9.
DarnellF. J.JohansenA. B.TavakoliS.BrugnoneN. (2017). Adoption and identity experiences among adult transnational adoptees: A qualitative study. Adoption Quarterly, 20(2), 155–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2016.1217574
10.
Docan-MorganS. J. (2014). “They were strangers who loved me”: Discussions, narratives, and rituals during Korean adoptees’ initial reunions with birth families. Journal of Family Communication, 14(4), 352–373. https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2014.946033.
11.
Docan-MorganS. (2016). Cultural differences and perceived belonging during Korean adoptees’ reunions with birth families. Adoption Quarterly, 19(2), 99–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2015.1088109
12.
GambrelL. E.SudeM. E.BurgeA.BandemerS. (2021). Teaching systemic concepts through reality television. Journal of Family Therapy, 43, 819–827. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6427.12311
13.
GaryJ. M.GradyJ. P. (2015). Integrating television media into group counseling course work. The Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, 7(2), 1–20. https://research.library.kutztown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1079&context=jcps
KoskinenM. G.BöökM. L. (2019). Searching for the self: Adult international adoptees’ narratives of their search for and reunion with their birth families. Adoption Quarterly, 22(3), 219–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926755.2019.1627449
16.
KreiderR. M.RaleighE. (2016). Residential racial diversity: Are transracial adoptive families more like multiracial or white families?Social Science Quarterly, 97(5), 1189–1207. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12242
17.
McSherryD.SamuelsG. E. M.BrodzinskyD. (2022). An introduction to the adoption and trauma special issue. Child Abuse & Neglect, 130(Part 2), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105691
MeyerM.WigginsE.ElliotG. M. (2023). Adult adoptees’ adoption-related experiences of counseling, loss, and grief: A transcendental phenomenological study. The Professional Counselor, 13(2), 129–144. https://doi.org/10.15241/mm.13.2.129
20.
MillerB. C.FanX.GrotevantH. D.ChristensenM.CoylD.van DulmenM. (2000). Adopted adolescents’ overrepresentation in mental health counseling: Adoptees’ problems or parents’ lower threshold for referral?Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 39(12), 1504–1511. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200012000-00011.
MontgomeryJ. E.JordanN. A. (2018). Racial-ethnic socialization and transracial adoptee outcomes: A systemic research synthesis. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 35, 439–453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-018-0541-9
23.
OsbourneF.HarrisonM.FisherJ.BatemanB. (2021). Using medical reality television as a technology-enhanced learning strategy to provide authentic patient care experiences during clinical placements: A case study research investigation. BMC Medical Education, 21(15), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02432-7
24.
Park-TaylorJ.WingH. M. (2020). Microfictions and microaggressions: Counselors’ work with transracial adoptees in schools. Professional School Counseling, 23(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X20927416
25.
PierceG.WolfC. J. (2012). Using movies to teach identity development to graduate counseling students. Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision, 4(1), 50–56. https://doi.org/10.7729/41.0009
26.
RosziaS. K.MaxonA. D. (2019). Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
27.
ShannonJ. (2020). Using Moonlight to explore intersectionality in counselor education. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 15(4), 535–545. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2020.1740633
