236 E. Foothill Blvd., Suite C | Arcadia, CA 91006
(626) 755-4059 | sabigail@protonmail.com

S. Abigail McCarrel, LCSW, DCSW

Post-Adoption Family Therapy

Caucasian family plays with colorful buckets throwing water on each other as the result of good work in Post-Adoption Family Therapy.

Post-Adoption Family Therapy may be the answer.

You’ve been an adoptive parent for some time now. All the support you had in the beginning stages of adoption have faded away. Now more than ever, though, it feels really hard.

You remember everything the adoption worker said. You read all the books, but your family is still torn apart by this adoption. In your isolation, you may find yourself thinking things like:

  • Who is this stranger in my home?
  • We did not know this when we adopted her.
  • We don’t recognize our family anymore.
  • Our marriage is taking a hit.
  • Hurting the cat is a red line.
  • Can we give him back?

You are Not Alone with Post-Adoption Family Therapy!

One of two very young African American girls in pink and yellow tops with flowers and the word "Smile" on them, places her tiny hand in the large palm of Caucasian adoptive father during Post-Adoption Family Therapy.At this time in your family, all the adoption support has ended. All the social workers have gone home and you are expected to fend for yourself.  As it turns out, though, adoption is a lifelong issue. You do not have to go it alone.

As a Clinical Social Worker, I worked in child welfare for over 20 years with abused and neglected children in the foster care and adoption system. This rich experience helped me create a way of doing therapy that focuses on the family as a unit.

As a result, I only do Family Therapy. And, scapegoating is not part of the deal. Everyone helps with “the problem” and the family is part of the solution in my therapy model. Most uniquely, I offer an option for In-Home Post-Adoption Family Therapy sessions. That’s right, I could possibly come to you!

Bonding and Attachment

On a Post-Adoption Family Therapy field trip to the city, an African American adoptive mother holds young African American adopted daughter in a pink tutu while fondly kissing her on the cheek.Going it alone is not the answer. Even though the adoption is finalized, it does not feel over. Your child is older now, facing new challenges that will continue to trigger trauma from the past. Acting out behaviors may only get worse as time goes by.

If your child still does not feel included in your family identity, they may continue to test you with increasingly risky behaviors. In the end, your child may try to prove once and for all how truly “bad” they are and that you never really wanted them to begin with.

In Post-Adoption Family Therapy, we will strengthen and reaffirm the right and authority you have to parent your adopted child. I will collaborate with you to assess family structure, rules, communication, hierarchies, alliances, traditions, and rituals.

I will teach your trust-based parenting tools that focus on bonding and attachment in the family. Consequently, we will create a family culture in which you “claim” your adopted child as your own, once and for all.

It is never too late to bond with your child!

Parents as Healers!

During practice exercise for Post-Adoption Family Therapy and attachment, tall, lean, African American father dressed in dark jacket, jeans and boots, holds the hand of an African American, adopted toddler daughter, wearing pink coat with fur on hood as they walk on a wooded path towards a shimmering lake on an autumn day at sunset.I offer you the opportunity to change the ending to this story. Through our intensive Post-Adoption Family Therapy sessions, parents become the healers. Together, we will face the challenges of “connecting” while “letting go.”

As adopted children grow and venture out into the world of peers, eventually launching into adulthood, they need to be secure in knowing they belong and are always welcome home.

 Contact Abby

I provide an In-Home Family Therapy (Home-Based Family Counseling) option to Pasadena, Glendale and Arcadia, California, as well as the surrounding areas of the San Gabriel Valley.

Take this one step closer to more deeply saying “Welcome Home” to your adopted child. Click the Contact Abby box to send me an email. We can schedule the best time to talk.

I meet with parents in my Arcadia office for the first session. I want to make sure there is a good fit before I am introduced to your children.

Or, to get started more quickly, I invite you to call me to schedule a Free 20-minute phone consultation at (626) 755-4059!

I have a subspecialty in Post-Adoption Family Therapy for those families on that life-long journey and I am a certified provider for Family Therapy with Gifted Children through SENG (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted).

You can get to know a little better by reading my blog, Connected Family Fun, LA. I encourage families to connect more deeply through fun, family activities.

LGBTQIA+ affirming therapy is a core value of my practice.

Take this one step closer to more deeply connecting to your adopted child.

Let’s connect!

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