Support for Adult Adoptees
Adoption can be part of your story in ways that are sometimes difficult to put into words. It can also been difficult to explain your feelings to others and leave you feeling alone and misunderstood.
You may have grown up knowing you were adopted, or perhaps only found out later in life. You may feel deeply connected to your adoptive family while also carrying questions about where you come from, who you are, and where you belong. All of this is normal and can also feel the furthest from normality as you search for your sense of self.
Sometimes adoption becomes more present at particular points in life — becoming a parent yourself, finding birth family, experiencing loss, or simply reaching a stage where you want to understand more of your story.
I offer a warm, relational and trauma-informed space for adult adoptees to explore whatever is present for you, without judgement or assumptions about what adoption should mean. Your story is unique and it holds language that is difficult to translate.
Together, we can gently explore identity, belonging, attachment, family relationships, grief and loss, birth family experiences, the complexities of being both grateful and hurt, and the parts of your story that may have been difficult to make sense of.
My approach is curious and compassionate. I draw on my social work experience, relational therapy, trauma-informed practice and my own personal work.
As an adoptee myself, I understand that adoption can carry many different feelings — sometimes several at once. You don’t need to arrive with a clear understanding of what you need. We can begin wherever you are.
Adoptee Groups
I also offer groups for adult adoptees.
Groups can provide something quite different from individual counselling: the experience of sitting alongside others who understand some of the complexities of adoption from the inside.
There can be something powerful about being able to speak openly, listen to different experiences, and discover that feelings you may have thought were uniquely yours are shared by others.
Groups may explore themes such as identity and belonging, birth family, attachment, grief and loss, relationships, searching and reunion, and the ongoing experience of being an adopted person.