Adoptees face a unique set of challenges growing up today. Despite outward appearances, many adoptees experience internal confusion about their identity and sense of belonging. If left untreated, these issues can develop into anger and frustration, which may lead to anxiety, depression and may negatively impact an adoptee’s sense of self and strain relationships with family members.
International adoptees may experience difficult behavioral issues seemingly “out of the blue”; questions of racial and cultural identity and feelings of unique ‘otherness’ are very common; and multiracial adoptive families may need to develop a new framework for these particular challenges. Improved family systems and a stronger sense of self for adoptees can be accomplished through individualized, creative therapeutic treatment plans. In almost all cases, treatment plans will be family-systems based and include family therapy sessions with parents and/or siblings.
Jennifer Conn was adopted from South Korea by a Caucasian family in 1975 when she was two years old. She grew up on the Main Line just outside of Philadelphia, with her parents Peter and Terry Conn and three older, non-adopted siblings: two brothers, Steven and David, and her sister Alison. She has worked with children in the foster care system, counseling kids living with foster parents as well as new adoptees, and has presented workshops at international adoptee conferences.
Recently Jennifer returned to her birthplace in Seoul, Korea with her husband, Juan and their teenage son, Alex. Her personal experience as an Asian-American adoptee in a multiracial family helps Jennifer understand and relate uniquely to other adoptees of diverse backgrounds.
For research and articles about adoptees and adoptive families check out the Bloom Therapy Blog.