Or send payment to:
Pandora's Box Productions
1546 Great Highway, Suite 44
San Francisco, CA 94122
Who should use Unlocking the Heart of Adoption:
Adoption agencies – preliminary and post adoption and foster care services, staff
training
Educational institutions – social work, psychology, sociology, family
relations, ethnic studies, women’s studies, family law
Professional organizations – social work, child welfare, psychology, family and
individual counseling, family law
Library resources – hospital, pregnancy clinics, infertility clinics
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Sample Discussion Questions
Please take a few minutes to reflect on the people you have seen in the
film. What is your immediate impression of their concerns about the adoption experience?
How did these stories expand or change your knowledge of adoption? If you
have a relative, or friend who is in the adoption triad, do these stories help you to
understand them better?
The people in the film candidly reveal their feelings about loss, identity,
self-esteem, ethnicity and the need to know the truth. How do you see these issues
reflected in their stories?
If you are an adoptee, birthparent, or adoptive parent can you relate to any of
these issues through your personal experiences? Adoption happens to families, not
just to individuals. Do these stories help you understand your birth or adoptive
family members better? Do you think the film will give you a better basis for
communication with your birth and/or adoptive family members? Are there others you
hope will see the film?
If you are thinking of adopting a child, or considering relinquishing your
child for adoption, do the people in the film give you insight into the lifelong process
of adoption?
Adoption Training Curriculum
In-Service Training for Foster and Adoption Agencies
Loss and Identity in the Lifelong Process of Adoption is part
of
The Dynamics of Shared Parenting In-service Training Series
with the Child Welfare Institute.
Understanding Loss and Identity Issues for Foster and Prospective Adoptive Parents
- 3 hour Curriculum includes one hour to screen film.
Lifelong Process of Adoption represents core issues that are
important to address in the foster and adopted child’s life. Recognizing the
complexities of the life situation of adoptees – every adopted person has two
families, one by birth and one by adoption – the Lifelong Process of Adoption
emphasizes acknowledgement of the losses and questions of identity that will surface over
time, rather than denial that these issues exist.
The Curriculum includes an Introduction, 25 page Leader's Guide, Overheads and
Handouts for the participants. Within the Lifelong Process of Adoption framework,
foster and prospective adoptive parents work to understand the issues surrounding loss and
identity for themselves, as well as for foster and adopted children, and
birthparents. This is seen within the context of bridging the gap between foster and
adoption triad members, as they become aware of the commonalty of their experiences.
This allows for healing around these issues.
© 2012 Sheila Ganz