Understanding Adoption: Clinical Work with Adults, Children, and Parents

268 Pages·2006·14.524 MB·English

by  Kathleen Hushion

Understanding Adoption

Understanding Adoption
Clinical Work with Adults,
Children, and Parents
Edited by Kathleen Hushion,
Susan B. Sherman, and Diana Siskind
JASON ARONSON
Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Oxford
Published in the United States of America
by Jason Aronson
An imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowmanlittlefield.com
PO Box 317
Oxford
OX29RU, UK
Copyright © 2006 by Jason Aronson
Chapter 2, "Unconscious Communication and the Transmission of Loss," reprinted from
the Journal of Infant, Child, & Adolescent Psychotherapy 3, no. 1, pp. 1-27, with
permission of The Analytic Press, a division of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Understanding adoption : clinical work with adults, children, and parents I edited by
Kathleen Hushion, Susan Sherman, and Diana Siskind.
p.cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7657-0425-2 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-7657-0425-0 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7657-0426-9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-7657-0426-9 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Adoption. 2. Adoption-Psychological aspects. I. Hushion, Kathleen, 1950-II.
Sherman, Susan, 1946-Ill. Siskind, Diana.
HV875.U48 2006
362.734-dc22 2006014195
Printed in the United States of America
(,V;\TM
'<::::I The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
For our children:
Summer
Rachel and Bill
... and in memory of Paul

Contents
PART I: CLINICAL ISSUES
1 The World of Adoption: An Introduction 3
Diana Siskind
2 Unconscious Communication and the Transmission of Loss 11
Christopher Bonovitz
3 International Adoption: Projection and Externalization in
the Treatment of a Four-Year-Old Girl and Her Parents 35
Kathleen Hushion
4 Working with Parents of Internationally Adopted Infants
and Toddlers 47
Carole Lapidus
5 Gay and Lesbian Parents in the World of Adoption 61
Sandra Silvennan
6 Losing Each Other in the Wake of Loss: Failed Dialogues
in Adoptive Families 77
Susan C. Warshaw
7 The Adoption of Foster Children Who Suffered Early Trauma
and Object Loss: Implications for Practice 91
Vivian B. Shapiro and Janet R. Shapiro
8 Secrecy in the Psychotherapy of a Severely Traumatized
Adopted Child 115
Jerrold R. Brandel!
vii
viii Contents
9 Adoption Fantasy in the Treatment of Two Adolescent Girls 137
Jane Hanenberg
10 Identity and Identification: Being Different and the Quest
to Belong in an Adopted Young Adult 149
Susan B. Sherman
11 The Plight of the Adoptee in Adult Life: A Case of
Kinship Adoption 163
Cathy Siebold
12 Loss, Belonging, Identity, and the Dynamics of an Adoptee's
Identification with Her Birth Mother 181
Jeffrey Seinfeld
PART II: SPECIAL ISSUES
13 Child Custody Disputes in Adoption Cases: Safeguarding the
Relationship with the Psychological Parent 199
Paul Hymowitz
14 Consultation during the Adoption Process: Working with
Families Adopting Older Russian Children 213
Laurie Sloane
15 Birth Parents and Adoptive Parents: Who Are the "Real" Parents? 225
Alice van der Pas
Epilogue 245
Diana Siskind
Index 249
About the Editors and Contributors 257
Part I
CLINICAL ISSUES