Individual work with adults and teens is specifically tailored to the needs of the client with an assessment, goal-setting, and regular review as part of the process. Many, but not all, of the adults and adolescents I see, have adoption, foster care, or some kind of parent or child loss as part of their story. For the adults involved, (first or birth, foster or adoptive, or adult adoptee) many barriers have been at work and often people are struggling with anxiety, depression, or complicated grief and loss issues. I am happy to see any members of the adoption constellation at any stage in their journey. Adults often spend time in therapy making sense of their own histories, their current challenges related to unresolved traumas of their own, and developing a new way of being in relationship with others. Others are making decisions related to searching and connecting with family they have been separated from. Developing confidence in parenting (if parenting), building trust and intimacy with others, as well as forging a stronger sense of self, are frequent goals.
I also see adolescents who are in significant distress. Challenges with peers, with school and learning, with their sense of belonging and identity, with self-harming or self-injurious behaviors, substance abuse, and difficulties communicating with parents are common. Parents are often the catalysts for therapy and need support understanding and communicating with their teen, as well as assistance in giving their teen the space to participate in their own process. As an attachment therapist, I see the connection between parents and children as paramount.
