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Mystery and The Adopted Child

Renee Henning

MYSTERY AND THE ADOPTED CHILD

All children are a mystery to their parents to some extent. Yet adoptive parents face many more questions than birth parents about a child’s past and heredity. This book of articles written over 24 years discusses people adopted from around the world and their sometimes surprising behavior.

So why did an infant need to bang his head repeatedly to get to sleep? See the article on sleep for the reason. What food-related problem resulted in a four-year-old with a sensational throwing arm? See the food article for the answer. Why did a boy insist on a belt and undergarments so tight that they left welts on his body? See the article on touching. In articles on romance, sports, etc., MYSTERY AND THE ADOPTED CHILD looks at pre-adoption experiences, subsequent events, and how problems got solved.

IN SHORT, ADOPTEES TEND TO BE FASCINATING AND COMPLEX INDIVIDUALS WHO SOMETIMES MYSTIFY THEIR FAMILIES AND OTHERS. THIS BOOK WILL GIVE READERS ANSWERS TO VARIOUS MYSTERIES RELATING TO ADOPTION. THE STORIES IN THE BOOK ARE REAL.

THE AUTHOR

Renée Henning is an adoptive mother and adoptive aunt, including to young adults from Asia, Latin America, and Russia. She is also an attorney and a writer on adoption and other subjects. Her articles have appeared in publications in North America (e.g., Washington Post), Europe (e.g., Oslo Times), Asia (News Lens), Africa (e.g., Modern Ghana), and Oceania (e.g., Freelance).

General Adoption, Domestic Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, International Adoption

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It's Not About You: Understanding Adoptee Search, Reunion, and Open Adoption

Brooke Randolph, MA, NCC, LMHC

The title of this book can be both inflammatory and comforting; different people need to read it different ways.

The reality is that the desire for information has nothing to do with parenting or personality, but an innate desire.

It's Not About You is an adoptee-focused anthology project intended to comfort those who fear the desire for information and connection is any kind of judgement on themselves. Our purpose is also to confront those who try to make it about themselves, missing the opportunity to support and connect with the adoptee who needs this information.

General Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, Openness in Adoption, Search and Reunion

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Life Story Books For Adopted and Fostered Children: A Family Friendly Approach

Joy Rees

Through words, pictures, photographs, certificates and other 'little treasures', a Life Story Book provides a detailed account of the child's early history and a chronology of their life.

Fully updated, this clear and concise book shows a unique family-friendly way to compile a Life Story Book which promotes a sense of permanency for the child, and encourages attachments within new families. Joy Rees' influential model works chronologically backwards rather than forwards, aiming to reinforce the child's sense of belonging and security before addressing the child's past and early trauma. The book contains simple explanations of complex concepts, practical examples, helpful suggestions and includes some simple checklists. This new edition has been expanded to include fostered children and those living in kinship care or with a special guardian.

Perfect for social workers, adoption agencies, adoptive parents, foster carers and kinship carers, Life Story Books for Adopted and Fostered Children is a refreshing, innovative and common-sense guide.

General Adoption, Domestic Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, International Adoption, Openness in Adoption, Professionals, Adoption Issues

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Helping Your Anxious Child 2nd edition

Ronald Rapee PhD, Ann Wignall D. Psych, Susan Spence PhD, Heidi Lyneham PhD, Vanessa Cobham PhD

Most children are afraid of the dark. Some fear monsters under the bed. But at least ten percent of children have excessive fears and worries—phobias, separation anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder—that can hold them back and keep them from fully enjoying childhood. If your child suffers from any of these forms of anxiety, the program in this book offers practical, scientifically proven tools that can help.

Now in its second edition, Helping Your Anxious Child has been expanded and updated to include the latest research and techniques for managing child anxiety. The book offers proven effective skills based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to aid you in helping your child overcome intense fears and worries. You'll also find out how to relieve your child's anxious feelings while parenting with compassion.

Inside, you will learn to:

Help your child practice “detective thinking” to recognize irrational worries
What to do when your child becomes frightened
How to gently and gradually expose your child to challenging situations
Help your child learn important social skills

This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit—an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties. Used alone or in conjunction with therapy, our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives.

Parenting, Grief & Loss, General Adoption, Domestic Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, Openness in Adoption, Children with Special Needs, Attachment, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mental Health Diagnosis Illness, Physical/Medical Disabilities, Sexual Issues, Trauma & Brain Development

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Growing Up Brave

Donna B. Pincus, PhD

When our children are born, we do everything we can to make sure they have love, food, clothing, and shelter. But despite all this, one in five children today suffers from a diagnosed anxiety disorder, and countless others suffer from anxiety that interferes with critical social, academic, and physical development. Dr. Donna Pincus, nationally recognized childhood anxiety expert, is here to help. In Growing Up Brave, Dr. Pincus helps parents identify and understand anxiety in their children, outlines effective and convenient parenting techniques for reducing anxiety, and shows parents how to promote bravery for long-term confidence. From trouble sleeping and separation anxiety to social anxiety or panic attacks, Growing Up Brave provides an essential toolkit for instilling happiness and confidence for childhood and beyond.

Parenting, Grief & Loss, General Adoption, Domestic Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, Openness in Adoption, Children with Special Needs, Attachment, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mental Health Diagnosis Illness, Physical/Medical Disabilities, Sexual Issues, Trauma & Brain Development, Professionals, Effects of Trauma

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Steps in My Shoes

Ron Deming

Steps in My Shoes is a true account of my journey through the foster care system and beyond. Going through four foster homes, two adoptive homes, five behavioral facilities, and battling with reactive attachment disorder (RAD), and sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) certainly taught me a lot. The abysmal college graduation rate of less than 3% for foster youth did not prevent me from bagging a bachelor’s degree and becoming a licensed teacher. If I could go through all that and still found the courage to become a teacher and author, then I believe other foster youth can too. Reading this book will totally educate you on what an average child in the foster care system passes through on a daily basis. This intriguing book is a must have for teachers, social workers, foster/adoptive parents, people considering being foster/adoptive parents, and current/past foster and adopted youth.

General Adoption, Domestic Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, Professionals, Adoption Issues, Need for Connections, Transitions Considerations

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Practice of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, The (2nd Edition)

Susan M. Johnson

Since its original publication in 1996, this volume has been a helpful guide to therapists in the practice of emotionally focused therapy. This second edition addresses the many changes in the field of couples therapy, including updated research results linked to clinical intervention and new information on using EFT to address depression and PTSD. A new section covers the growth of couples therapy as a field and its overall relevance to the mental health field, accompanied by coverage of how recent research into the nature of marital distress is consonant with EFT. Other new features are a section on EFT and feminism, as well as a section on cultural competence for the EFT therapist.

Written by a leading authority on emotionally focused couples and marital therapy, this second edition is an up-to-date reference on all aspects of EFT and its uses for mental health professionals.

Parenting, Grief & Loss, General Adoption, Domestic Adoption, Foster Care Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, Openness in Adoption, Relative Adoption, Professionals, Adoption Issues, Grief & Loss in the Triad, Need for Connections

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One Minute Apology, The

Ken Blanchard and Margret McBride

With his phenomenal bestsellers The One Minute Manager and Raving Fans, Ken Blanchard changed the way we approach management, leadership, and customer service. Now Blanchard, along with coauthor Margret McBride, presents a concept that, when implemented properly, is one of the most powerful actions for improving company and employee morale. This is also a book that can extend well beyond the business realm and can repair relationships that we thought were broken forever.

Using Blanchard's signature breezy style, The One Minute Apology tells the story of a Young Man who wants to help his mentor, a company president, face and deal with some crucial mistakes he has made. For advice, the Young Man turns to a family friend, the One Minute Manager. What begins as a beautiful country weekend turns into an enlightening few days when he discovers what it truly means to apologize effectively when we have done something wrong. Through this engaging parable, Blanchard and McBride teach readers step-by-step how to accept responsibility for their errors and deal with the cause of the damage while maintaining a genuine sense of integrity.

Destined to join Ken Blanchard's other groundbreaking classics, The One Minute Apology offers businesspeople -- and just about anyone -- a cogent and clear-headed way of approaching one of life's most perplexing dilemmas: how to accept that we have made a wrong decision and how to correct it by making a meaningful apology. The techniques described in this simple but profound story will have significant results at work and at home.

Parenting, Grief & Loss, Parenting Teens, General Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, Search and Reunion, Professionals, Adoption Issues

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Heart of a Leader, The

Ken Blanchard

Ken Blanchard is one of America's best-known leadership and business experts. And now he helps you understand and experience the art of influence by revealing the greatest life and leadership lessons he's learned in his rich career as an educator and business leader.

The Heart of a Leader offers Blanchard's insight and wisdom on:

Choosing values
Aiming for excellence
Maintaining integrity
Finding the courage to change
Helping others reach their potential
And much more

Arranged with your busy schedule in mind, this book offers you Blanchard's most important concepts in an accessible format. You can reach for instant motivation and insight on a daily basis or soak it up in one reading.

Powerfully challenging and deeply inspiring, The Heart of a Leader will enable you to develop the courageous heart of a true leader. master key attitudes and actions to impact lives around you. and enjoy the profound wisdom that only Ken Blanchard can deliver.

Parenting, Discipline, Parenting Teens, School Challenges, General Adoption, Growing Up Adopted, Openness in Adoption

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