There has been a steady trend of adopting children from other countries. Families who adopt children internationally are faced with not only the acknowledgement of the adoption but the recognition of the birth culture. Thirty four families were surveyed to assess issues regarding the relevance, frequency, and means of acknowledgement of the adoption and birth culture. Findings are reported with suggestions for adoption professionals included.
The sudden loss of a child, especially by suicide, can be a lifelong sentence of suffering for the bereaved parents. Reaching out for help is often an inconceivable and impossible task for the parent survivors due to the complex grief process that is experienced. What roles helpers can play, who can fill this position of helper, and what criteria such providers of assistance must meet to be effective are addressed. Special considerations in doing grief counseling with survivors of suicide are summarized.
Most people would never willingly seek or want to go through the pain associated with the death of a loved one. Bereaved parents, for example, routinely say that their child's death was the worst thing that ever happened to them. M. Stroebe, Stroebe, and Hansson (1988), in a review of bereavement research, highlighted the negative impact of loss on mental and physical health, social relationships, financial security, and basic beliefs about the world. Most bereavement research has focused on identifying the variables that affect the grief process, such as social support, quality of the premorbid relationship, coping style, and additional life stressors (Gass &
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