What is Adoptee-Centric Counseling?

And why is it important?

At Home to Self Counseling, I practice from an adoptee-centric perspective. This means I view adoption through the lens of those most directly affected by it—the adoptee. While I respect and support all members of the adoption constellation, adoptee-centric counseling prioritizes understanding and validating the adoptee's lived experience rather than protecting adoption narratives or assumptions.

86%

of adoptees use mental health services

3x

the rate of the general population

22%

consider their clinician adoption-competent

I believe that practicing through this lens is critical for the support of adoptee mental health. In The Center for Adoption Support and Education’s (C.A.S.E.) 2026 Report, they noted a sizeable discrepancy in the percentage of adoptees seeking mental health services and the percentage of those adoptees who rated their clinicians as adoption-competent.

“Your adoptive family gave you a better life.”
— Up to 68% of adoptees reported insensitive or inaccurate adoption-related remarks from a clinician.
“Why focus on adoption when your childhood was good?”
— Up to 60% of adoptees reported feeling their adoption-related concerns were ignored or dismissed.

A high percentage of adoptees report feeling uncomfortable, unsupported, or unwelcome in therapy due to insensitive or inaccurate adoption-related remarks made by clinicians. Up to 68% report feeling ignored or dismissed.

“Adoption isn’t traumatic. You don’t even remember that.”
— More than 50% of adoptees felt unwelcome, uncomfortable, or unsupported.

At Home to Self Counseling, my goal is to help bridge the gap between what adoptees need from therapy and what traditional mental health services often provide. Through an adoptee-centric lens informed by education and personal experience, I offer a space where adoptees can explore identity, belonging, loss, relationships, and healing without having to educate their therapist about adoption.

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