[DET62]

I know this is not a very active board, but in case anyone checks here, I wanted to leave an important post.

I adopted my daughter almost 4 years ago, when she was 13. She's from Russia. She's a sweet, good girl, but we've had some behavior challenges.

I am very blessed to have access to a therapist who specializes in Russian adopted children. After only a few sessions, I can already tell this lady is amazing. My daughter's behavior has already dramatically improved. In fact, we rarely have any issues now.

Older children who have been traumatized - and probably 98% of them have - tend to bury all their feelings of fear and sadness, and they surface years later and lead to bad behavior, and self-destructive thoughts and behavior. These kids desperately need to connect their feelings and grieve, feel fear, sadness, abandonment, etc. in order to HEAL. If they don't process those old hurts, they don't heal.

My son has had much fewer behavior issues but I will take him for therapy sometime in the next year or two, also. He was with an abusive birthmom and they were homeless for 8 years.

If you have an older child, I URGE you to find help for that child. If you're in Atlanta, PM me for the name of this therapist we use. She's awesome.

If you're not in Atlanta, be sure and find a therapist who specializes in adopted children.

Dee

[ProspectiveSingleMom]

Thanks for the advice, and I'm glad you have found a therapist who is able to help your daughter. I think too many people give up on therapy when the problem is just that the therapist is a bad match.