Therapist for adopted child

Domestic or international adoption? CASE is a good place to start. Other well-known names are Lawrence Smith and Ann Heyman (both in Silver Spring). As an adoptive parent, I would tell you to make sure that any therapist you consult is truly experienced in dealing with adoption issues (many just list it as one item of many in their bios). Never, ever be afraid to ask for references for other adoptive parent clients. A good therapist with happy clients probably has a client or two who would be willing to talk to a new patient---especially in the adoption realm where adoptive parents are generally quite supportive of each other. If a therapist bristles at being asked for references, that should be a big red flag that they are neither experienced nor successful with adoption issues.

Another reason to be sure to find a therapist highly experienced in adoption issues is that they may be able to identify issues related to prenatal exposures that other therapists may miss. Our DS was with one therapist for over a year and never once did he comment upon the highly detailed neuro-psych evaluation we had had done except to say, "Oh, is the ADHD medication helping?" When we moved to a therapist who specialized in adoption and she read the report, she immediately called us in and walked us through the findings of the report and explained the constellation of symptoms that typically comprise ARND (alcohol-related neuro-developmental disorders)---all of which our child had.

Therapy is expensive and time-consuming. It pays to do a lot of research in picking the right person.

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