The Adoption Constellation: New Ways of Thinking About and Practicing Adoption

Clinical psychologist, Michael Grand, brings a compassionate understanding to all members of the adoption constellation. Drawing upon a lifetime of personal experience, research and clinical practice, he challenges conventional ways of thinking about adoption. The limitations of attachment theory as an explanation of adoption outcome are presented. In its place, he suggests a narrative understanding of adoption. Core themes of identity, grief, mattering and trust, permeate these narratives and shape the experience of members of the constellation. As a passionate advocate for openness, Grand explores the psychological costs of denying identifying information to adopted individuals and their birth kin. Parallels are also drawn to an impending crisis as offspring of assisted reproduction seek answers to their identity questions. The book concludes with a consideration of alternative permanency arrangements and a primer for opening closed adoption records. This book will change how we approach adoption in all of its manifestations. Adoptees, birth and adoptive kin, social workers, clergy, teachers, therapists, and legislators alike will find meaning within these pages.

Michael Grand obtained his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is a Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Graduate Program in Child Clinical Psychology at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario. He co-directed the National Adoption Study of Canada, and has published on such diverse topics as search and reunion, family and personal identity, adoption demographics, and paths to open facilitation. He received the David Kirk award for outstanding contributions to research in adoption and has been a board member of the Adoption Councils of Ontario and Canada. As a founding member of the coordinating committee of the Coalition for Open Adoption Records, he works for access for identifying information for all. Dr Grand has a private practice serving the adoption constellation.