Handbook on the Clinical Treatment of Adopted Adolescents and Young Adults

This collection bridges the voices of international scholars and adopted persons to share knowledge about clinical practice with adopted people in adolescence and early adulthood. Coming at a time when countries are beginning to focus on adoption reform, this handbook is the first to address not only the external, systemic contributions to their developmental complexities but also the underlying, internal meanings of being adopted as children become adolescents and mature into adulthood. It explains how adopted clients differ from those not adopted and emphasizes the need for clinical research on adopted people in this older age group. Exploring how clinicians can understand their client's clinical needs, it offers specific protocols and frameworks for assessment and necessary modifications in language and treatment. With a foreword by Miriam Steele, chapters examine the legal and sociopolitical cultures, policies, and practices in which adoption is embedded, calling for broad systemic change. Embracing theoretical, conceptual, and global perspectives, this handbook is written for clinicians in all disciplines, at all tiers of practice, administration, and training, identifying the key roles they can potentially play in expanding and better focusing our understanding of the psychology of being adopted.

Doris Bertocci, LCSW, is in private practice in New York after a long career in college mental health treating young adults at Columbia University. She had previously worked with birth mothers and adoption agencies and, in recent years, has been active in adoption reform. She continues to work in the interface of mental health, adoption, family law, and child custody litigation. Christopher F. Deeg, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years' experience treating adopted persons of all ages and those related to them. He is trained in cognitive behavioral treatment, interpersonal therapy, psychoanalysis, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. He has several publications on the psychology and treatment of adopted persons. Linda Mayers, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City and has worked for most of her career with adoptive families and adopted people of all ages. She is an adjunct associate professor at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York. An ongoing interest is in the developmental complexities of adopted individuals throughout the life span.

Foreward Miriam Steele, PhD Part I: Introduction- The Impact of the Adoption, Legal, and Mental Health Systems on the Development of Adopted Adolescents and Young Adults Doris Bertocci, Christopher Deeg, and Linda Mayers, Editors 1. The Larger Context of the Systemic Contributions from Adoption, Family Law, and Mental Health: How They Relate to Clinical Practice Doris Bertocci and Linda Mayers 2.Where are We Now? Trends and Observations After Five Decades of Adoption Study in the Netherlands Rene Hoksbergen 3. Challenging Adoption Narratives: Adult Adoptees Write Remembrances - Four Australian Case Studies Catherine Lynch, Sue Green, and Alison Ingram Part II Developmental Complexities and Necessary Modifications for the Assessment 4. Life Begins Before Adoption: The Primary Subsets of Adopted Persons as a Guide to Considerations for Assessment and Treatment Doris Bertocci 5. The Adoptive Family Narrative and Its Effects on the Adopted Person's Development Steven Nickman 6. On the Inner World of the Adopted Person: A Psychoanalytic Conception of the Psychology of Adoption Christopher F. Deeg 7. Shedding Light on Birth Fathers in Adoption: A Personal, Professional, and Academic Perspective. Gary Clapton 8. The Ecology of Growing Up Adopted in India and Ireland: Measures of Mental Health with Implications for Clinical Practice Meera Oke, Sahana Mitra, and Valerie O'Brien III Considerations in Medical Care 9. Adoption Medicine: Special Considerations in Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine and Young Adult Medical Care Elaine Schulte and Laurie Miller IV The Spectrum of Search and Reunion 10. Revisiting the Meaning of the Search Doris Bertocci V Complexities of Psychotherapeutic Treatment 11. Observations on Clinical Problems and the Need for Shifts in Perspectives Doris Bertocci and Linda Mayers 12. Notes on the Psychoanalytic Treatment of the Adopted Person Christopher F. Deeg 13. From Fragmented to Firm Foundations in Identity Formation: A Neurosequential Approach to the Treatment of Adopted Adolescents and Young Adults with Early Developmental Trauma Alan John Burnell and Jay Vaughan 14. Similarities and Differences in Attachment Representations between Late-Placed Adopted and Non-Adopted Adolescents: A Study from Italy Cecelia Pace, Stefania Muzi, Fabiola Bizzi, and Donatella Cavanna, 15. Countertransference Challenges in Working with Adopted Adolescents: Notes of An Analyst in Private Practice Anna Balas VI Epilogue The Editors