ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the protocol for Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT)-Adoptive Families. Children with early relationship trauma struggle to attune and connect with their caregivers, thus adoptive parents often require attachment- and adoption-specific services to help them form a secure attachment with their adoptee. The foundation philosophy of CPRT is the relationship as the vehicle for change, addressing the core of attachment concerns that many adoptive families experience. Adopted children tend to experience increased fear, sensory-processing issues, difficulty self-regulating, and disorder of memory. The child’s resulting unpredictable and perplexing behaviors make forming relationships difficult for adoptive parents. Adoptive parents are given the role of mitigating the impact of their children’s early relationship experiences; supporting them through recovery, grief, and loss; and facilitating the development of their children’s adoptive identities. The journey to healing can be tumultuous due to their children’s early experiences.
