Stories from the Adoption Circle

Stories from the Adoption Circle

by | Dec 17, 2025 | Blog, Featured

I decided that I wanted to publish a book of adoption stories after getting a copy of an eBook from a client who had been in foster care growing up.  The book contained stories from a half dozen others as well as his story.  

I have worked in the field as a social worker for over 40 years, most of the time spent working with foster and adoptive families.  I have worked for the Indiana Dept of Child Services in Child Protective Services as a Caseworker and a Supervisor, for The Villages of Indiana (foster care and adoption agency) as Clinical Director in 2 Regions and then had a full time private practice for 15 years.  I am the mother of five children, 2 biological and 3 adopted.  And my adopted children are African American and bi-racial, their father and I are White and Jewish. Our two boys came home to us as babies, and my daughter, who is fourth in birth order,  but fifth in arrival order, was 5 years old.   

I have heard many stories and reflections from birth parents, adoptive parents, adopted children and other family members in “circle” of adoption.  I wanted to gather stories from those who are within the various parts of the circle and decided to do a call out for stories for the book.  And because of my work over these many years, my connections include several well known experts in the field.  And these connections have been helpful to me in my call out for stories and to develop a resource section of the book. I received 40 stories representing the different parts of the “circle”.  I decided that I would make the book an eBook publication because I wanted it to be readily available at minimal to no cost.  I also felt strongly that these stories were not my stories, they belonged to each of the writers and it didn’t feel appropriate to be making money from the stories of others.

After creating the eBook, I received several additional stories and wanted to find a way to continue to publish more.  I also am interested in the stories becoming perhaps a conduit for folks to interact with one another.  My vision is that support groups may form, perhaps within the sub sections, e.g. birth parents developing a group, adoptees, foster parents of adopted children, connected others, such as godparents, CASAs, etc. And so, I am continuing to gather stories to print in Stories from the Adoption Circle: The Blog: the adoptioncircle.org

If you have a story to share, a poem, or an artistic rendering, please send it to me at connecthrulove@gmail.com   Your piece will be anonymous unless you indicate otherwise and of course, only you will know if you use actual names or pseudonyms to identify family members.  And if you have any questions or concerns, do email me. 

 

Elaine Spicer, LCSW 

 Read Stories from the Adoption Circle click on image below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celia Center Arts Festival|National Adoption Month

Celia Center Arts Festival|National Adoption Month

by | Sep 30, 2024 | Art Festivals, Blog, Events, Featured, Uncategorized

Celia Center Arts Festival 2024: Celebrating Resilience and Creativity in Fostered and Adopted Voices

LOS ANGELES, CA, September 30, 2024: The Celia Center is proud to present its fourth Celia Center Arts Festival (CCAF) – an empowering event that brings together the voices and stories of those who have experienced adoption and foster care. Titled “Adopting Resilience, Fostering the Spirit of Creativity: The Voices of the Fostered and Adopted,” this two-day festival will showcase a diverse range of artists across various mediums who channel their personal journeys through creative expression.

The festival will take place on Friday, November 15 and Saturday, November 16, 2024, at the Electric Lodge Cultural Arts Center in Venice, CA. This year’s festival promises to offer an immersive and emotionally resonant experience, allowing attendees to witness the raw and powerful stories of fostered and adopted individuals while celebrating their artistic talents.

A Vision of Healing and Community

Founded in 2012 by Jeanette Yoffe, the Celia Center has always focused on building support networks and safe spaces for individuals touched by adoption and foster care. Yoffe, a psychotherapist and adoptee herself, was inspired to create Celia Center as a way to uplift and connect people from the adoption and foster care constellation. Her personal story, rooted in her adoption journey and the discovery of her biological mother’s artistic legacy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, served as a catalyst for creating a platform where the power of art and storytelling could bring healing.

Through the Celia Center Arts Festival, Yoffe continues her mission of creating a space for adoptees and foster youth to share their stories, build community, and explore themes of resilience, identity, loss, and triumph.

Festival Highlights: A Celebration of Art, Film, and Performance

The festival kicks off on Friday, November 15, at 7:00 PM, with the Opening Reception for the Visual Art Group Exhibition. Curated by artist and adoptee Leigh Chapman, the exhibition features a variety of visual and performing artists, including a special presentation of  Jeff Forney’s “The Innocent People Project.” Forney, a Los Angeles-based photographer and adoptee, was inspired to create this project after discovering his shared adoption experience with actor Ray Liotta. His powerful photography project captures the faces and stories of adoptees across the country, highlighting their unique and often unheard narratives.

Attendees at the reception will have the opportunity to meet the artists and get a sneak peek at the exhibit, which remains open through November 16. The night also includes spoken word and performing arts pieces by Amy Barker D’Alessandro, Veirgela Horowitz, and Jeanette Yoffe. An extra special performance by an adoptee artist will be featured, promising a memorable experience for all.

A Full Weekend of Activities

The Celia Center Arts Festival offers more than just art exhibitions. It provides a robust lineup of events and workshops that cater to a variety of interests and ages.

Film Screenings: 
“Somebody’s Daughter” will screen at 8:00 PM on Saturday, November 16. Q&A with Zara Philips and Richard Thompson. Ages 18+.

A matinee screening of  “Reckoning With the Primal Wound” will take place at 4:00 PM on Saturday, November 16, delving into the emotional and psychological impact of adoption. Ages 16+.

Workshops: 
“The Worth Inside Me Healing Arts Workshop” (4:30 PM on Saturday, November 16), offering a space for healing and self-expression through art for adoptees and foster youth alumni. Led by Leigh Chapman, Artist and Adoptee. Ages 18+.

Children’s Programming: 
Starting at 1:00 PM on Saturday, November 16, families can enjoy activities like a Make Your Own Drum Workshop (ticketed), Face Painting, a Healing Arts Table, and a Book Giveaway.

Healing Circle: 
On Saturday evening (6:00-7:00 PM), there will be a Healing Circle, bringing together participants to reflect, share, and support one another in a safe and nurturing environment. Led by Briana Spencer, Healer and Former Foster Youth.

Fostering Creativity and Connection

For many fostered and adopted individuals, art offers a path to healing, helping them process complex emotions and life experiences. The Celia Center Arts Festival seeks to amplify these voices, giving artists the space to explore their identities and share their perspectives with the world.

Jeanette Yoffe’s personal journey through adoption continues to shape the festival’s mission – her discovery of her first mother, Celia Barbosa, and her involvement in the performing arts sparked a vision to connect the artistic expressions of those with similar backgrounds. The festival is not just a showcase of talent, but a powerful space for healing, community, and deep conversations around adoption and foster care.

Join the Celebration

As the Celia Center prepares to host its 2024 Arts Festival, they invite everyone – from adoptees and foster youth to their families and allies – to come and experience the magic of creative expression. Whether through visual art, spoken word, film, or performance, each piece tells a story of resilience, hope, and transformation.

The festival is a unique opportunity to engage with art that touches on the complexities of adoption and foster care, and to support the incredible talent of artists who have been shaped by these experiences.

Tickets are available now, and the festival’s full schedule can be found on the Celia Center Arts Festival website.

Let’s come together to celebrate the spirit of creativity and the power of storytelling at the 2024 Celia Center Arts Festival – a transformative event you won’t want to miss!

Purchase Tickets on Eventbrite

Addiction and Adoption Constellation Support Group: Tuesday, June 27th, 2023

Addiction and Adoption Constellation Support Group: Tuesday, June 27th, 2023

by | May 22, 2023

FREE monthly open support group for MEMBERS of the Adoption Constellation.

Addiction and Adoption Constellation Support Groups honor all paths to recovery, acknowledging that each person’s journey is unique and reflects their personal experiences and strengths.  All constellation members are welcome to attend. 

Addiction and Adoption Constellation Support Groups meetings are hosted by a professional with expertise in recovery and adoption, both professional and lived.  These facilitated discussions provide an opportunity to give and receive social support that focuses on the hope and healing found in recovery, as well as to connect with others with shared goals of initiating and maintaining healthy choices and a recovery lifestyle.

This is a mutual self-help social support group, not a therapeutic process group. Our group focus is to have a conversation with each other and learn more about recovery from addiction. This group is for anyone who has suffered from addiction to a substance or unhealthy behavior and/or has been affected by the symptoms and/or disease of addiction, which includes family and friends. Our goal is to achieve long-term recovery (defined by SAMHSA as “A process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential”), sharing what we have learned from many paths and diverse recovery-based programs.

TUESDAY
5:30 pm – 7 pm PST
8:30 pm – 10 pm EST

Time and place are also shown in the Events Calendar. Meetings will be held virtually via ZOOM until further notice.

Please register below to receive your ZOOM link for the event.

David B. Bohl, M.A., C.S.A.C., M.A.C. BIO:

David is a Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor, Master Addiction Counselor, Independent Addiction and Recovery Consultant, and Relinquishment and Adoption Consultant at Beacon Confidential LLC, he is co-author of the monograph Relinquishment and Addiction:  What Trauma Has To Do With It, and the award-winning memoir Parallel Universes—The Story of Rebirth, which chronicles the author’s experiences within the intersection of adoption and addiction. He is a member of the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC), and an Advisory Board Member of Wisconsin Adoption and Permanency Support.

David was relinquished, adopted, and currently lives in southeastern Wisconsin and works around the country and world. He enjoys spending time with his wife of 38 years. He relentlessly pursues the Blue Mind (that mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peace, unity, and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life at the moment) that comes from being in and around the water.  

https://davidbbohl.com/

THERESA KNORR, CARC RCP

Theresa is an adopted person, a family member in recovery, and a family member of loss, and she works her own process addiction and mental health (relinquishment trauma) recovery program.  She obtained her OBC in January 2020 and reunited with her biological family members shortly after that.

Theresa has over 30 years of professional experience in counseling, coaching, and case management, primarily in addiction treatment and recovery.  As a former Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) in New York and CADAC in Arizona, Theresa has been a clinician, a clinical supervisor, and a program director.  She is now a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach (CARC) and CCAR-designated Recovery Coach Professional (RCP).

Theresa has been teaching, training & developing a curriculum focused on wellness, self-care, and personal growth for more than 20 years. She has volunteered in the community teaching meditation, tai chi, and esoteric psychology for over 20 years and has co-facilitated the Adoptee Paths to Recovery mutual support group for NAAP with David B. Bohl for over a year. 

Addiction and Adoption Constellation Support Group: Tuesday, June 27th, 2023

Addiction and Adoption Constellation Support Group: Tuesday, June 13th, 2023

by | May 22, 2023

FREE monthly open support group for MEMBERS of the Adoption Constellation.

Addiction and Adoption Constellation Support Groups honor all paths to recovery, acknowledging that each person’s journey is unique and reflects their personal experiences and strengths.  All constellation members are welcome to attend. 

Addiction and Adoption Constellation Support Groups meetings are hosted by a professional with expertise in recovery and adoption, both professional and lived.  These facilitated discussions provide an opportunity to give and receive social support that focuses on the hope and healing found in recovery, as well as to connect with others with shared goals of initiating and maintaining healthy choices and a recovery lifestyle.

This is a mutual self-help social support group, not a therapeutic process group. Our group focus is to have a conversation with each other and learn more about recovery from addiction. This group is for anyone who has suffered from addiction to a substance or unhealthy behavior and/or has been affected by the symptoms and/or disease of addiction, which includes family and friends. Our goal is to achieve long-term recovery (defined by SAMHSA as “A process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential”), sharing what we have learned from many paths and diverse recovery-based programs.

TUESDAY
5:30 pm – 7 pm PST
8:30 pm – 10 pm EST

Time and place are also shown in the Events Calendar. Meetings will be held virtually via ZOOM until further notice.

Please register below to receive your ZOOM link for the event.

David B. Bohl, M.A., C.S.A.C., M.A.C. BIO:

David is a Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor, Master Addiction Counselor, Independent Addiction and Recovery Consultant, and Relinquishment and Adoption Consultant at Beacon Confidential LLC, he is co-author of the monograph Relinquishment and Addiction:  What Trauma Has To Do With It, and the award-winning memoir Parallel Universes—The Story of Rebirth, which chronicles the author’s experiences within the intersection of adoption and addiction. He is a member of the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC), and an Advisory Board Member of Wisconsin Adoption and Permanency Support.

David was relinquished, adopted, and currently lives in southeastern Wisconsin and works around the country and world. He enjoys spending time with his wife of 38 years. He relentlessly pursues the Blue Mind (that mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peace, unity, and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life at the moment) that comes from being in and around the water.  

https://davidbbohl.com/

THERESA KNORR, CARC RCP

Theresa is an adopted person, a family member in recovery, and a family member of loss, and she works her own process addiction and mental health (relinquishment trauma) recovery program.  She obtained her OBC in January 2020 and reunited with her biological family members shortly after that.

Theresa has over 30 years of professional experience in counseling, coaching, and case management, primarily in addiction treatment and recovery.  As a former Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) in New York and CADAC in Arizona, Theresa has been a clinician, a clinical supervisor, and a program director.  She is now a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach (CARC) and CCAR-designated Recovery Coach Professional (RCP).

Theresa has been teaching, training & developing a curriculum focused on wellness, self-care, and personal growth for more than 20 years. She has volunteered in the community teaching meditation, tai chi, and esoteric psychology for over 20 years and has co-facilitated the Adoptee Paths to Recovery mutual support group for NAAP with David B. Bohl for over a year. 

Adult Adoptee Adopt Salon Virtual Support Group: Wednesday, June 21st, 2023

Adult Adoptee Adopt Salon Virtual Support Group: Wednesday, June 21st, 2023

by | Jan 24, 2023

FREE monthly open support group for ADULT ADOPTEE MEMBERS of the Adoption Constellation.

A place for Adult Adoptees to come together to share stories, feelings, and ideas; to receive psycho-education, process grief/loss, build strong bonds and connections.

WEDNESDAY 
5 pm – 7 pm PDT
8 – 10 pm EDT

Time and place are also shown in the Events Calendar. Meetings held virtually via ZOOM until further notice.

Please register below to receive your ZOOM link for the event.

Cathy Leckie Koley BIO:

Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Instructor, Adoptee Speaker/ Writer / Educator. After reuniting with her birth family at age 43, Cathy found herself on an unexpected healing journey related to her own relinquishment. The process included yoga, through which she found significant healing, and a new career path.

As a yoga teacher since 2012, Cathy now teaches others about the adoptee experience, strategies for unearthing and healing adoption wounds, and mind-body practices that help with adoption-related difficulties. She trained in Trauma-Sensitive in 2014 with Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, and David Emerson, author of Overcoming Trauma through Yoga.

Cathy is currently pursuing an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute.