Events Two themes are combined, “Common feelings associated with being adopted and “Life story birth and adoption story.”

December 9 at 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm

From the National Development & Training Curriculum (NTDC): Two themes are combined, “Common feelings associated with being adopted and “Life story birth and adoption story.”

The first theme helps adoptive parents understand the importance of having ongoing conversations with their children about their birth and adoption story. The theme discusses how empowering children with the missing pieces of their story can help them build trust in family relationships and can lead to stronger connections with birth family members. In this theme, adoptive parents learn how to have on-going conversation with their children about their life story that is done in an open fashion. 

The second theme provides an overview of some of the common thoughts and feelings experienced by children and adolescents who have been adopted such as believing that they were responsible for removal from their birth family, internalizing the message that they should be grateful or that they should feel lucky to have been adopted, feeling guilty regarding mixed loyalty issues and experiencing a sense of loss. The theme provides strategies that parents can use to support their children and to help them address and make sense of the thoughts and feelings they may be experiencing.

This class will be held online and a link to the class will be sent out ahead of time. To register, please contact FamilyForward at intake.dept@familyforwardmo.org or 314.968.2350.