Post-Adoption Coaching
Whether you are a member of the adoption triad (an adoptee, birth parent, or adoptive parent) or a person who loves a triad member, the journey of adoption can be challenging to navigate at times. Often times members of the adoption triad, or those that love them, find themselves in a place where they are needing a compassionate and objective ally to be the best they can be on their journey.
There seems to be a multitude of support and services available prior to adoption but very little after an adoption is finalized. Often times triad members seeking post-adoption support are referred to clinical counseling when in fact there are no clinical dysfunctions or emotional disturbances present. While there is a time and place for clinical counseling, often coaching is a better method of support for triad members. Please take the time to explore
Coaching vs. Counseling in further depth.
My specific coaching expertise is aimed at assisting those individuals who have been touched by adoption. I bring both professional and personal expertise to the role of post-adoption coach. Professionally, I bring over 17 years of experience of working in the field of child welfare and family preservation. Personally, I bring the insight of an adult adoptee as well as that of a birth mother who placed her child in a semi-open adoption arrangement in 1990. I am in a healthy and ever evolving reunion with my now adult birth daughter and enjoy a rich and rewarding relationship with her adoptive parents. I subsequently birthed and parented two additional children and can speak to the dynamics of siblings separated by adoption.
Coaching is a professional service providing clients with feedback, insights, and guidance from an outside vantage point. Coaching is an on-going collaborative partnership built on taking action. In this powerful alliance, clients find themselves:
Doing more than they would on their own
Taking themselves more seriously
Creating momentum and consistency
Taking more effective and more focused actions
Becoming more balanced and fulfilled
It is our firm belief that it is NOT enough to simply have a personal experience of adoption, or to have the head knowledge and skills of life coaching to be most effective in working with individuals who wish to achieve post-adoption goals and greater balance in their lives. In our opinion, coaches who have BOTH the personal experience and professional background in child and family well-being are best equipped to succeed in this role.
Attributes of successful coaches include:
Having a strong sense of self, value themselves intrinsically, are confident and show up authentically
Willing to evolve and develop themselves
Listening at the deepest levels, knowing how to filter out their emotions, juedgements and conclusions
Genuinely curious about other people, having a healthy sense of humor and humility
Living from high personal integrity, are walking their talk, telling the truth, and how how to get their own needs met
Being open to (not attached to the outcome), making themselves blank for the client's agenda and solutions to emerge
Being financially stable, thinking and acting like an entrepreneur and business owner
Living a balanced life, having a strong support system for themselves
Having good boundaries, knowing that the client knows what is best for them
Intuitiveness, courageousness, creativeness, and willingness to take the chance of being wrong
It is my sincere desire that those who seek greater personal satisfaction, achievement, and balance in their journey of adoption are able to realize their goals. I look forward to being a part of that journey with you!