Brothers and Sisters in Adoption by Arleta JamesFrom Library Journal: Therapist James, who has many years of experience as an adoption professional, presents a superb, exhaustive handbook on adoption that fills a void in the literature. She focuses on issues surrounding families, with children who are flourishing, considering adopting children who have experienced complex trauma, including abuse, neglect, or abandonment. She delves deeply into the mental health issues of these children, which can be complicated by the existence of other adopted children. She concentrates on navigating the emotionally trying dynamics of the relationships among children who are thriving and those who are struggling, underscoring the needs of the typically developing children. Throughout the book, James includes stories of the adoptive families she has helped in her sessions. Numerous additional appendixes include a super preadoptive training model for typically developing children, an adoptive family safety contract, and an extensive listing of additional resources. This scholarly review of the adoptive literature combined with solid, pragmatic, and professional advice is a superb guide to a specialized topic. Required reading for all helping professionals working with child protective services or with adoptive families.
From Carey, an IAN waiting mama: I have not read this book yet but it is on my wishlist. Though it doesn't have many reviews on Amazon (6) it gets rave reviews.
If you've read this book, I would love if you gave it a brief (1 paragraph?) review. Please leave a comment so I can contact you. Thanks!
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2 comments:
Not an IAN family but bought this book because we have been considering adopting an older child and disrupting birth order. I thought it would be helpful in figuring our how this might affect our other children and to prepare them. In my opinion, the book has a very DARK perspective on adoption. There are few stories of success and lots of stories about the negative impact an adopted child can have on a family. Yes, it is good to be prepared but this book almost scared us away from considering a wonderful little boy. You can email me at jcarlisl at maine.rr.com if you want.
This book is more like a textbook so sometimes a little harder to get through. It's VERY thick!!:) It has some good info., so I'm trying to pick and choose the sections I would like to read. Like the previous person said, it's pretty negative (at least the parts I've read so far). It's good to be prepared, but also good to mix in the positives of adopting.
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