Preparing for Adoption
we’ll help you along the way…Dr. Ronald Federici: Special Workshop on Aggression
More information about this workshop, held in late in June in Boulder, CO with Heather Forbes LCSW, can be found here.
Dr. Ronald Federici on Romanian Adoptees
Use these links to read the article “Post-Institutional Syndrome in Romanian Adoptees” by Rene Hoksbergen, Jan ter Laak, Kathinka Rijk, Cor van Dijkum, and Felicia Stoutjesdijk, citing work done by Dr. Ronald Federici:
Dr. Ronald Federici: Russian and Ukrainian Private Adoption Project
Dr. Ronald Federici is one of the world’s experts in the diagnosis and treatment of adopted children.
He is pleased to announce the formation of the Russian and Ukrainian Private Adoption Project.
Dr. Federici has seven adopted children of his own, and will be supervising all adoptions personally.
Dr. Arthur Becker-Weidman: Therapeutic Parenting
Therapeutic parenting based on Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy relies of helping parents understand what is causing the child’s behaviors. Looking deeper in order to understand what is motivating the child. All behavior is adaptive and functional; however sometimes the behaviors that were adaptive in one environment are ill-suited for the new home. If your first parents were neglectful, unreliable, and inconsistent so that you were often hungry and left alone for long periods of time, hoarding food, gorging, and going to “anyone” for help is adaptive. When that child is placed in a foster or adoptive home with caring, responsive, sensitive parents, that same behavior is no longer adaptive. By understanding what is driving the behavior and appreciating the child’s fear, anxieties, shame, and anger, the new parent will be better able to respond to the emotions driving the behavior rather than the surface behavior or symptoms. Unless the underlying emotions are addressed with sensitivity and within a safe, unconditionally loving, and supportive home, the behavior or symptoms are not likely to stop…they may change into other problems, but if the underlying cause remains, then the problems will surface again and again.
Let’s discuss the principles required. These principles are more fully elaborated elsewhere (Becker-Weidman & Shell, 2005; Becker-Weidman, 2007)
SENSITIVITY. Because children with trauma and attachment disorders are often unable to describe their internal states, emotions, or thoughts, it becomes the job of the parent to do this with and for the child so that the child learns to do this. Of course, this is precisely what one does with a newborn, toddler, and child. We often help children manage their internal states by doing that with them. When a baby cries, we pick up the baby, comfort the child, and by so doing, regulate the child’s level of arousal. Over time the infant becomes increasingly proficient at doing this independently. The parent of a foster or adopted child must be sensitive to the internal states of their child so that the parent can respond to the underlying emotions driving behavior.
RESPONSIVENESS. Once the underlying emotion is identified, the parent must respond to this need or emotion, with sensitivity. By meeting the child’s need (to feel safe, loved, cared about, for food, drink, joy, etc) the child will internalize new and healthier models of relationships and parents.
FOLLOWING THE CHILD’S LEAD. By this I mean that the parent will need to respond to the child and follow the child’s lead in the sense of providing what the child is needing (comfort, affection, support, structure, etc) and at the child’s pace. It is very important to move at the child’s pace to create the necessary sense of safety and security that these children need.
THE SHARING OF CONGRUENT INTERSUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCES. Intersubjectivity refers to shared emotion (also called attunement), share attention, and share intention. You can understand this if you think of playing a board game with your child. When you are playing some game together and enjoying the experience, you are sharing emotions (joy and a sense of competence), sharing attention (focusing on the game), and sharing intention (playing by the rules, both trying to win, having fun, etc.). Or another example, when talking about the death of the child’s loved grandparent, you both may share the same emotions (grief), both are recalling memories of the grandparent (shared intention and attention). It is the sharing of congruent intersubjective experiences, experiences in which all three elements are the shared, that helps the child heal and learn about intimacy and relationships.
CREATING A SENSE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY. Safety comes first. Unless the child is physically, emotionally, and psychologically safe, healing cannot occur. So, it is the job of the parent to create safety and security for the child. This then allows for the exploration of underlying feelings, thoughts, and memories. Without an alliance there can be no secure base. Without a secure base there can be no exploration. Without exploration there can be no integration. Without integration there can be no healing.
Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D.
Center For Family Development
5820 Main Street, suite 406
Williamsville, NY 14221
Arthur Becker-Weidman
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy
http://centerforfamilydevelopment.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/about-the-founder/
http://www.goodtherapy.org/arthur-becker-weidman-therapist.php
Dr. Arthur Becker-Weidman
Dr. Arthur Becker-Weidman has received extensive training in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, an evidence-based, empirically supported, and effective treatment for children with trauma and attachment disorders. With more than twenty years experience as a family therapist, consultant, and researcher, Dr. Becker-Weidman has directed mental health, addiction treatment, family service, and other behavioral health organizations. He is the founder and director of the Center for Family Development in Williamsville, New York.
Dr. Ronald Federici: Advocate for Adopted Children
Dr. Ronald Federici has been an active lobbyist on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC for children’s rights and International adoption reform. Consultant to the Department of State, Office of Children’s Services by evaluating children from families serving in the foreign service.
Angel in Adoption Award through US Congressional Appointment Humanitarian, Award-Romanian Department of Child Welfare
Meet an Expert: Dr. Ronald Federici
Ronald Steven Federici is often described as “the country’s expert in the neuropsychological evaluation and treatment of children having multi-sensory neurodevelopmental impairments.”
He is best described as a “developmental neuropsychologist,” specializing in the treatment of “institutional autism” (which he also calls “post-traumatic autism,” or “post-institutional autistic syndrome”).
Dr. Federici is licensed by the Virginia Board, and is the holder of a Psy. D. degree.
Dr. Ronald Federici is the author of “Help for the Hopeless Child: A Guide for Families, With Special Discussion for Assessing and Treating the Post-Institutionalized Child” and is the founder of Neuropsychological and Family Practice Associates, in McLean, Virginia.
He has worked with adopted children from Russia, Romania, Ukraine and Belarus. He is also the father to seven adopted children of his own.
Federici is also an outspoken opponent of dangerous practices, such as those resulting in the death of Candace Newmaker. In addition, he has also sought to provide as much assistance as possible to children living in orphanages and other institutions with deplorable conditions.
More information about Dr. Federici and his work can be found at:
http://ronaldfederici.wordpress.com (Ronald Federici blog)
http://ronfederici.wordpress.com (Ron Federici blog)
http://childrenintherapy.wordpress.com (Children in Therapy)
http://advocatesforchildrenintherapy.wordpress.com (Advocates for Children in Therapy)
http://angelinajolieadoptions.wordpress.com (Angelina Jolie’s adoptions; Dr. Federici is Angelina Jolie’s adoption consultant)
Resources for Children from Deprived Countries
Many children raised in the deprived conditions of orphanages and state institutions in economically-poor countries exhibit emotional and psychological disturbances (aggressive or passive behaviour; withdrawal from other children); difficulty forming attachments (Attachment Disorder); overactivity and distractibility (ADHD); delayed development; learning disabilities; and medical problems (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Hepatitis B and C, cleft palate). Instrumental in bringing to public attention the effects of institutional care on adopted children are four women: Thais Tepper, Lois Hannon, Lily Romine and Carol Jansson.
The parents of severely delayed children from Romania, they founded in 1993 the Parent Network for the Post-Institutionalized Child, based in Pennsylvania. PNPIC works to debunk the myth that with love, medical care and good nutrition the adopted child will become “typical” in six months … in fact, most children from a deprived background will have some issues that will not go away on their own, making professional intervention inevitable. Dr. Victor Groza studied over 400 Romanian adopted children and concluded that 20% “overcame their pasts and are thriving”; 60% “have made vast strides, but continue to lag behind their peers” and 20% “have shown little improvement and are almost unmanageable”.
It’s a sobering picture borne out by a study done by Dr. Dana Johnson with Dr. Laurie Miller and by a Canadian study by Dr. Elinor Ames. Dr. Ames studied 46 children adopted in the early 1990s from Romanian orphanages — two-thirds are now doing very well, while one-third still have behaviour and attachment problems, and developmental delays, years after the adoption. Dr. Ames found that the longer the stay in an orphanage, the more severe the problems. She advised parents planning to adopt from an orphanage to weigh their resources — time, money, energy and outside support — against the special needs of an orphanage child, who might need expert care for a long time.
Neuropsychologist Dr. Ronald Federici specializes in evaluating post-institutionalized children from economically-deprived countries. He blames noxious chemicals for interfering with brain growth. Pre- and post-natal exposure to alcohol, nicotine, heavy metals and pesticides damages the child’s central nervous system. The result: mental retardation, attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities, developmental delays or behaviour disorders.
