Abstract
The Family Journal publishes special issues that address topics held to be of great importance by the members of the editorial board. This special issue on adoption and foster care explores the experiences of children and adults who have been affected by adoption or foster care. The authors discuss counseling implications and interventions.
We are pleased to introduce a special issue of The Family Journal addressing counseling issues associated with adoption and foster care. We thank Dr. Tammy Shaffer for her contributions to the special issue, an idea discussed in an editorial board meeting 2 years ago. Dr. Shaffer solicited manuscripts and received many contributions from experts in the field. Several manuscripts included deeply moving personal accounts of experiences in adoption and foster care. We are in the process of reviewing the personal accounts and securing authorizations to release personal information. I am communicating with some of the authors about conducting content analyses of the manuscripts when identities cannot be concealed or authorizations cannot be secured. The personal stories were labors of love, which hopefully we will be able to share in an upcoming issue.
There were three general themes in this special issue: adjustment to adoption/foster care, including concerns with attachment, loss and grief, and abuse; counseling interventions for children and adults, families, and groups; and multicultural considerations in transracial and foreign-born adoptees. Given the lived experiences of families and youths involved in adoption and foster care, several articles explore identity development, psychological well-being, and existential dimensions. While the articles in this issue address specifically adoption and foster care, the ideas and perspectives raised by the authors could be helpful in understanding the fundamental bonds in family systems.
The interview with Dr. Robert L. Smith has been in process for a while. Dr. Smith is the Executive Director of the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors and Professor and Chair of the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Texas A & M University–Corpus Christi. He presents an integrative perspective on couple, marriage, and family counseling. In addition, as an adoptive parent, the interview with Dr. Smith introduces our special issue.