Adoptive Parent Mental Health Challenges and Therapeutic Support For Navigating the Adoption Journey

Thrive • Dec 06, 2022

By Thrive Wellness Reno Therapist Falon Schnieder, MFT

Usually full of many unknowns, the often volatile process and major life transition of adopting a child can evoke uncertainty, fear, and other distressing emotions, causing adoptive parents’ mental health to suffer. Through specialized therapeutic support, adoptive parents can obtain comfort, guidance, and coping skills to feel less isolated on their journey and nurture their mental well-being.

CHALLENGES THAT COMMONLY ARISE DURING ADOPTION

Parents who go through a child welfare system to adopt face a multitude of hurdles. Typically, they have to undergo the extensive process of becoming licensed foster and adoptive parents, which requires training and a thorough home study. During a home study that assesses the suitability of the family for the child, the interviewer may ask questions about the parents’ childhoods, relationships with one another, and parenting styles.

Once parents obtain their licensure, the foster child is placed in their home. For the parents to adopt the child, the adoptive family often must wait for either the biological parents to relinquish their parental rights or for the court to terminate the rights. Typically, this waiting period takes at least six months, which is the minimum time required, but could also last a year or more. Throughout this time families can become increasingly attached to the foster child, but acutely unsettled about the possibly temporary relationship with the child.

During this time, the biological parents usually have the opportunity to attend scheduled visits with the foster child. These visits can be emotionally damaging to the adoptive family, despite whether the biological parents are present or absent at the visit.

While a family is fostering a child, the biological parental rights may be neither relinquished nor terminated. If this is the case, the child may return to their biological family which can cause the foster family intense, complicated grief.

While adopting through a private agency is somewhat more straightforward than through a child welfare system, families who use a private adoption agency must plan for significant expenses.

PREVALENT MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS ADOPTIVE PARENTS EXPERIENCE

In addition to the above distressing circumstances that can occur throughout the adoption process, adoptive parents may face other mental health struggles as they adapt and cope with the change of bringing a new child into their family.

Some common mental health struggles of adoptive parents include:

Difficulty bonding with their adopted child: Many adoptive parents describe the attachment they feel with their adopted child as “different” than if it were to have been a biological child. Some express feelings of guilt, depression , and anxiety about not connecting with their child in ways they had hoped.
Secondary trauma : Many adopted children have experienced trauma . When adoptive parents are aware of the child’s history, they can suffer vicarious or secondary trauma, which describes indirect trauma that can occur when exposed to disturbing stories or visuals.

Sense of loss over the idea of having a biological child: For families unable to conceive a child on their own, symptoms of grief and depression may manifest.

AVAILABLE MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS

For adoptive parents, family counseling can provide an opportunity to understand emotions and strengthen resilience as they navigate adoption. They may even seek a clinician with adoption competency training who can provide specialized treatment that addresses all facets of adoption. Additionally, many state human services agencies offer clinical post-adoption support to families.

PROMOTING ADOPTIVE PARENTS’ WELL-BEING AT THRIVE WELLNESS

Through our It Takes a Village (ITAV) perinatal day program , adoptive parents of infants can join a healing community of perinatal specialists and other individuals navigating the early stages of parenthood. Program participants attend psychoeducational groups on perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD) diagnoses (which also exist within the adoptive parent population), bonding and attachment, nutrition , culture and identity , emotional regulation , and other topics. Additionally, our experienced clinicians provide individual and family outpatient therapy to adoptive parents. Reach out to learn more about our therapeutic services for adoptive parents.

About the Author

Thrive Wellness Reno Therapist Falon Schnieder, MFT

Falon Schnieder, MFT, attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where she earned both a bachelor’s of science in human development and family studies as well as a master’s degree in counseling and educational psychology with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy (MFT). She began her career as a therapist serving children and adolescents with significant mental and behavioral health needs in an outpatient setting. Since then, Falon has worked extensively within a child welfare system where she worked with children entering into foster care, biological parents, and foster and adoptive parents.

As a rostered child-parent psychotherapy (CPP), she provides didactic therapeutic services to infants, children, and parents, and specializes in infant and early childhood mental health, trauma, and attachment. Falon is also a board-approved secondary supervisor providing training in child-parent psychotherapy for aspiring marriage and family therapists (MFTs) and clinical professional counselors (CPCs).

As a therapist at Thrive Wellness Reno, Falon serves children from infancy to age 17, families, and parents struggling with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs). She is passionate about infant and early childhood mental health as well as providing support to caregivers during what can be the most rewarding, yet challenging endeavor — parenting. Falon enjoys helping families learn new ways to connect with each other, overcome challenges, and experience triumphs on their journey. She believes that providing mental health care services to the community is an important element of well-being for all and is an advocate for destigmatizing mental health.

The post Adoptive Parent Mental Health Challenges and Therapeutic Support For Navigating the Adoption Journey first appeared on Thrive Wellness.

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Clean House, Healthy Mind: Spring Cleaning Benefits for Mental Health

By Sage Tippie • 23 Apr, 2024

Spring Cleaning Benefits for Mental Health Spring is a time of new beginnings, change, and transitions, including in our homes. With the warmer weather kicking motivation into high gear, Spring can be a prime time to do a deep clean. Not only is a clean space aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, but it can also help to improve your mental health. Learn about how tidying up your space can also tidy up your thoughts below along with tips for cleaning when you’re struggling with your mental health. 4 Reasons Why Cleaning is Beneficial to Mental health 1.Decreased Stress Not only does an uncluttered space provide a sense of calm, but the physical act of cleaning can release feel-good endorphins, reducing feelings of stress and anxiety. As you cross tasks off your checklist, your body also releases Dopamine. Also known as the “happy hormone”, Dopamine provides a sense of accomplishment and pride that can promote motivation in other areas of our lives. 2. Improved Focus Studies have shown that an uncluttered space can also lead to an uncluttered mind. Your focus can be drawn away from important tasks by a chaotic, messy space. Research has also shown a connection between procrastination and clutter, as an unwillingness to tackle larger chores like cleaning can translate over into various areas of our lives. By keeping your space tidy, it can inspire you to stay on top of other major tasks like work and school assignments. 3. Regulated Emotions According to this 2015 study , cleaning can function as a practice in mindfulness, providing an increased sense of calm and inspiration. Slowing down while cleaning gives you room to relax and free your mind of burdens, stressors, and irritants that can affect your mental health. Cleaning can even be considered a practice of self-care as the action helps you to connect with yourself and the outcome allows you to better enjoy your own space. 4. Sense of Order and Control When experiencing mental health struggles, people may feel a lack of control over their lives and emotions. Cleaning even small areas of the home can provide an increased sense of order and control as you cross tasks off your to-do list. Through realizing your own power by simply completing minor tasks like cleaning, it can reaffirm your ability to do more. 10 Tips for Cleaning When Struggling with Mental Health Mental health struggles and disorders commonly create barriers to one’s ability to clean and properly practice personal hygiene. Although these behaviors are normal side effects of mental health disorders, we want to work to aid our clients in cleaning to the best of their ability even in difficult times. Below, Thrive Wellness occupational therapist Meadow Deason shares some helpful tips she gives to clients when they struggle with cleaning due to mental health conditions: 1.Ask For Help Having support to clean can make a huge difference. Do the cleaning with the person helping you and have them hold you accountable. 2. Don't Wait for Motivation Motivation might not come before action, but it can build as you begin to see the results of your efforts. 3. Start Small Start with one area or one task and go from there. For example, concentrate on your bedroom first and then move on to the living room and bathroom. 4. Do Something Daily Even if you do only one small cleaning task a day, doing that one task creates momentum and prevents small tasks from building up and becoming overwhelming. 5. Use Sensory Modulation Change your environment by playing music, adjusting the lighting, or using aromatherapy. This can help to put you in a new headspace for cleaning. 6. Start with "High Impact" Tasks Start with more intensive or all-over cleaning tasks such as picking up clutter or doing the dishes. The visual "noise" of some tasks makes a large impact on the entire space, building motivation to continue cleaning. 7. Make a To-Do List Write a detailed to-do list of tasks and cross them off as you go. Physically marking down what you’ve accomplished can promote increased motivation. 8. Reward Yourself Set up a reward system where you reward yourself with a favorite activity or item when you complete a task as an incentive to clean. 9. Use the Rocket Method Don't think about it, just choose a task, countdown from five or ten and then start. This can help you to avoid potential anxiety and dread that can prevent you from cleaning. 10. Gamify Tasks Make up a game for your tasks or time yourself to promote increased engagement in cleaning. Your ability to complete tasks can be affected by a multitude of different factors and conditions including OCD , anxiety, depression , ADHD , and more. If you are struggling with motivation due to your mental health, help is here at Thrive Wellness.

child getting bandaid from doctor while mother smiles

The Importance of Whole Family Primary Care: A Q&A with Dr. Stephanie Wright

26 Mar, 2024

By serving the whole family, physicians are able to have a better understanding of family dynamics, family health care goals, and history of disease in the family.