Adoption and the Family System: Strategies for Treatment

Adoption is a profound experience that touches upon universal themes of abandonment, identity, sexuality, parenthood, and the sense of belonging. The authors utilize family systems theory to construct a practical treatment approach for working with families on the myriad issues and interrelationships that surround adoption. The model described here is broadly inclusive of all families linked by "the adoption triangle''--birth parents, adoptive families, and adoptees--and it offers practical guidance for implementing differential treatment and effective clinical procedures on their behalf.