Adoption Competent Therapy : Kate Murphy Therapy
I can offer you a safe space to process the experience of being adopted. I will never say, "Well, but you had a great family, right?"
therapy for adopted people, therapy for adoptees, adoption trauma, adult adoptee support, self-discovery, adoption, search and reunion, adoptee, birthparent, Atlanta, Fulton County, Kate Murphy
18899
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Adoption Competent Therapy

What was Adoption like for You? 

 

The adoption experience is unique for each person who was adopted whether at birth or later. Understanding the impact of adoption is challenging and often overlooked.

You may have grown up hearing:

  • You were a gift to us.
  • You were chosen.
  • Have you found your “real” family?
  • It was God’s will.
  • Your mother “gave you up” out of love.

 

While these comments are well meaning, they’re not helpful. The common narrative in society is that adoption is positive. It’s the best outcome for an unplanned pregnancy and to help a childless couple build a family. This narrative leaves out the person who was adopted’s voice. I was adopted at birth and I find this problematic. Everyone’s voice counts.

 

People who were adopted may feel: 

 

  • a sense of loss; grief
  • a lack of focus
  • a general sense of dissatisfaction
  • like an outsider
  • not real
  • not good enough
  • unlovable
  • genealogical bewilderment

 

The reason for these feelings is due to the fact that relinquishment – at birth or later – is traumatic. It is an attachment wound that has a long-term impact on an adopted person’s life.

 

Search and Reunion

 

You may be struggling with if you should search for first/birth family members. Both desire and fear are normal. Fear of the unknown, fear of hurting parents, and fear of rejection. Remember, nobody starts a book at chapter 2. It’s perfectly reasonable to be curious about the 1st chapter of your life.

 

If you’re in reunion you may be dealing with some unexpected feelings and behavior.

Such as:

  • anger
  • grief
  • rejection
  • moodiness
  • attraction
  • disappointment
  • social anxiety

 

I can help you navigate the difficult landscape of adoptee land. Holding space for you when things are painful and hard to understand. People who were adopted are prone to worry about the needs of others above our own. Therapy is a place that is just for you.

 

Call or email me to set up a 30-minute consultation or to schedule a first full appointment. Additionally, I’m happy to discuss therapy, support groups in the area, search angels, or refer to other adoption competent therapists if you’re not in my area.

 

Blog topics on adoption.

 

*I work with individuals aged 18 and up.

Search & Reunion

Books about Adoption:

 

Adoption Unfiltered, by Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, Lori Holden

 

The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child, by Nancy Newton Verrier

 

You Don’t Look Adopted, by Anne Heffron

 

All You Can Ever Know, by Nicole Chung

 

Finding Family: My Search for Roots and Secrets in My DNA, by Richard Hill

 

Adoptionland: From Orphans to Activists, by Janine Myung Ja and Vance Twins

 

The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade, by Ann Fessler

 

American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption, by Gabrielle Glaser

 

Podcasts by Adult Adoptees: 

 

Adoptees On, podcast by Haley Radke

 

Born in June Raised in April, podcast by April Dinwoodie

 

Once Upon A Time in Adopteeland, podcast by Jennifer Dyan Ghoston

 

Who am I Really?, podcast by Damon Davis

 

Pulled by the Root, podcast by Heidi Marble

 

Other

 

Anne Heffron by Anne Heffron – writer & adoptee

 

Dear Adoption,  adoptee voices & resources

 

Adoptee Voices Writing Group, created by Sara Easterly

 

Adoptees Rights Law, legal info including a state-by-state guide regarding original birth certificates

 

Concerned United Birth Parents, support for all family members separated by adoption

Specialties:

Individual Session Fee:

$200 an hour

Will provide info for Out of Network filing.

“They say that life is a mystery. And I just wanna know my history.”

Darryl McDaniels (Adoptee otherwise known as DMC)

“They say that life is a mystery. And I just wanna know my history.”

Darryl McDaniels (Adoptee otherwise known as DMC)