Adoption Evaluation

Who is it for?

Individuals or couples who are adopting need to have a psychological a valuation to assess their emotional stability, and readiness to adopt and parent a child. Every adoption agency has its own specific procedures surrounding the evaluation. However, having worked with a number of agencies, I am aware of the basic protocol.

What does it test?

Although each agency has different requirements, every evaluation requires the assessment of psychological factors such as personality, emotional awareness, the ability to manage one's emotions, parenting style, and overall interpersonal skills.

What is the process?

The evaluation includes a clinical interview with each prospective parent, and the administration of psychological test specific to the agency's request.

How is it used?

My goal in conducting adoption evaluations is not only to evaluate each prospective parent's candidacy for adoption, but also to provide guidance to prospective parents about how to develop a close and loving relationship with their adopted child. The end result is almost always the successful adoption of children to capable of loving parents.

Many adopted children face emotional and behavioral challenges, difficulty attaching to the adopted parents, and PTSD symptoms when trauma has occurred. Adoptive parents need to be prepared for this, and this kind of information is important to recognize prior to bringing the child home. I enjoy working with prospective adoptive parents in preparing them well for their new family.