Adoption Issues, Eating Disorders Family Systems

Adoption Issues, Eating Disorders

Adoption issues can affect adopted children and their adoptive parents alike. Parenting biological children can be hard, but adopted children need extra special care to deal with issues of rejection, abandonment and adjustment.

Communication is often one of the most difficult of adoption issues, where families are unable to express their emotions. Adoption can also impact on biological children and other family members, causing friction.

Adoptive parents may face adoption issues that relate to secrecy and reunion issues, sensitive parenting skills and talking to their children about adoption. More complicated issues could include special needs adoption, family rejection, genetic sexual attraction and adoption breakdown.

A therapist who has specialized training  in adoption issues will be able to help you navigate the way right from making the decision to adopt to building a successful blended family. He or she will help you decide whether an international adoption or a local adoption is better for your family, and help to prepare any biological kids for the impending adoption. Adoption issues therapy can be immensely helpful in helping a family to learn how to communicate openly with one another, and express emotions in a thoughtful manner.

If your family is experiencing adoption issues, or if you want to help your adopted child to transition smoothly from childhood into adolescence, it is a good idea to consider counselling. A counsellor who is experienced in adoption issues will help everyone understand how adoption affects the adoptive family, the biological family and, most importantly, the children involved. Counselling can help you learn vital parenting skills to help your adopted child deal with low self-esteem and abandonment, two common adoption issues.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist who works with adoption issues  you may want to search the directory to find a professional whose approach will suit you best.

Eating disorders comprise a range of attitudes and behaviors relating to food and body-image. The three main eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, and ED NOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified). These conditions manifest to different degrees in different people and can sometimes be mistakenly judged as poor eating habits, or a lack of willpower.

People with eating disorders don't eat in harmony with their bodies' needs, instead, people with Anorexia Nervosa eat much less than they need, while Bulimia sufferers binge and then induce vomiting. They may also do other things to compensate for overeating, including exercising or fasting. ED NOS combines any combination of the other two conditions.

Apart from the physical symptoms and behaviors above, someone with an eating disorder will generally also have poor self-esteem and obsessively research or talk about food, dieting or exercise. Poor body image will cause them to either wear clothes that cover up every inch of their bodies, or flaunt  in order to attract attention. They will find it hard to accept criticism and compliments.

Therapy for eating disorders depend on the patient. While some people respond well to short term outpatient treatment, others respond better to long-term inpatient treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy and family therapy are long term treatments that have been proven to be effective, while group therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapies and feminist therapies work for people who will respond well to short term therapy.

Family therapy is often advised for children and adolescents who are experiencing eating disorders. Research has also shown dialectical behavioral therapy to be effective.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist who addresses eating disorders, you may want to search the directory to find a professional whose approach will suit you best.

Family Systems, Mindfulness approaches

Family Systems therapy is a type of counselling specific to helping interpersonal relationships within a family system. Family Systems counselling is facilitated by marriage and family therapists who work with the various family combinations, including siblings, couples, parent and child, or step families.

The principle of family systems counselling is to help each individual to first learn to understand his or her own emotions, and how to manage interpersonal relationships effectively, as that influences all future relationships. Once family members understand themselves and the emotional system within the family, it is easier to be flexible in relationships with family  members, marriages, community, school and other relationships.

If you are looking for a therapist who offers Family Systems Therapies, please browse our list of practitioners below..

Mindfulness approaches help clients to be focused in the here and now. Generally rooted in Eastern meditative techniques,  Mindfulness approaches offer a non-judgmental alternative therapy for dealing with stress and other psychological issues.

By observing worrisome thoughts and learning to accept situations for what they are, people can learn to cope with issues better and make more productive choices.

Mindfulness approaches include a range of models, including dialectical behaviour therapy,  mindfulness-based stress reduction, and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. These approaches can be used in a wide range of settings to reduce the symptoms of a broad spectrum of psychological issues.  These therapies can be practiced effectively in individual or group therapy.

If you are looking for a therapist who offers Mindfulness approaches, please browse our list of practitioners below..

Note: You may narrow your search by selecting more than one filter below.

Heather Bach

M.A., CCC
    • Blog on profile
    • Online booking
For over 20 years, Heather Bach of Bach Counselling Group brings clinical expertise to working with those who wish to make a positive change in relationships, intimacy, depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, ADHD... Read more

Adrienne Wiebe

M.A., RCC
    • Online booking
I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor with a masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Trinity Western University. It is my pleasure and passion to walk alongside my clients on their journeys towards healing... Read more