Celia Center Blog

Learn from all the Voices of the Constellation Series First-Birth Parents, Adoptees, Former Foster Youth, Foster Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Kinship …

The Parallel Universe of… Who am I? by David B. Bohl

The Parallel Universe of… Who am I? by David B. Bohl

by | Dec 29, 2022 | , ,

The feelings of shame haven’t disappeared, but I was able to mask them so much better with alcohol—it was a cure for all my woes!  What I didn’t know was that this “healing” elixir was also poisoning me—me and the very connections I was making. Eventually, everything fell apart. And I had to find a new way to live as a sober but still fragmented person. I recovered from alcohol but it wasn’t until I recovered those other fragments of myself that I became truly whole.

Roadmap to Reunion: 8 PACTS | National Adoption Conference

Roadmap to Reunion: 8 PACTS | National Adoption Conference

by | Jun 17, 2022 | , ,

This article provides a framework for setting boundaries in an adoptee and birthmother or birthfather reunion. So, both parties decide together how the relationship will be and have set goals and expectations entering into the reunion with empathy, understanding and compassion, have an open mind, and respect they will have different narratives entering the reunion.

Why Post Adoption Support Matters? By Jeanette Yoffe

Why Post Adoption Support Matters? By Jeanette Yoffe

by | Jun 12, 2022 | , ,

Post-adoption services help address sensitive aspects such as trauma (young children, adults, and even parents can suffer from it), loss, separation, sense of familiarity or belonging, etc. Such services can also help children and their families address their specific needs and help family members strengthen their bond and deepen their attachment to sustain the relationship.

Because I Know You’ll Understand by Adoptee and Art Therapist Nicole Rademacher

Because I Know You’ll Understand by Adoptee and Art Therapist Nicole Rademacher

by | Mar 12, 2022 | ,

An adoptee and art therapist, Nicole Rademacher, shares her thoughts about being part of an art and adoption event titled “Adoptee Voices” in Los Angeles, which was a gathering of young adoptees and adult adoptee mentors, pre-pandemic sponsored by Celia Center in collaboration with Vista Del Mar Agency… “This is for my fellow adoptees, for my community, for my tribe. Because you get me. You do…you really do.”

A Daughter’s Bill of Rights by Adoptee, Janice Stevenor Dale

A Daughter’s Bill of Rights by Adoptee, Janice Stevenor Dale

by | Jan 6, 2022 | ,

This is a declaration of the daughter’s bill of rights. It is a list that few people discuss and many people take for granted; if you live within a normal, blood- related family you will rarely encounter these barriers. But, if you are adopted, your rights, continuing into adulthood, remain compromised. It is quite easy for a male dominated court to determine that a human child who cannot speak nor write, nor hire an attorney to represent their own rights…

What Every Adoptive Parent Should Know About Search & Reunion by Michael Grand Ph.D. and Monica Byrne

What Every Adoptive Parent Should Know About Search & Reunion by Michael Grand Ph.D. and Monica Byrne

by | Dec 5, 2021 | ,

For more than 30 years, the two of us have helped to facilitate a myriad of reunions and reconnections between adoptees and their birth families. We have learned many things that adoptive parents must consider when their adult child begins the journey to discover the first chapter of life that took the adoptee from one family and led to the formation of a second family. We offer these lessons…

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