Bonus Episode: Adoptee Trauma

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses suicide, self-harm, and addiction.

When you mention adoption, for most individuals it brings to mind a solution. A solution for infants and children who are in need of homes and loving families. Yet what rarely comes to mind is the psychological and physical impact of adoption on adoptees.

Adoption, specifically the separation of an infant or child from their biological mother creates what is called the primal wound.

As defined by Nancy Verrier, author of The Primal Wound:

“…the primal wound, a wound which is physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual, a wound which causes pain so profound as to have been described as cellular by those adoptees who allowed themselves to go that deeply into their pain”

Therapists and clinicians who specialize in working with adoptees have found the same issues among adoptees. Regardless of if they are adopted at birth or later in childhood. These issues often manifest around, loss, separation, rejection, guilt, trust, intimacy, loyalty, and power and control.

Our special guest, Isaac, is Angela’s birth son that she placed for adoption at birth. Angela is also an adoptee as a result of her mother’s death when she was an infant.

Come join us as we take a deep dive into the trauma of adoption on adoptees as Isaac and Angela share their stories.