Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens

Working with adopted adolescents is complex. The key to successful therapy and healthy development is to help the adolescent discover and accept the person within. Parents will discover: •the six most common adoption stuck-spots •the complexities of adoption •the adopted teen’s quest for identity •how therapy may help the adoptive families learn and grow together. Therapists and clinicians will discover: •a broad knowledge base on adoption •a step-by-step assessment process •clinical intervention strategies •a wealth of case histories •treatment resources and therapy tools •writing and art therapy samples.

Debbie Riley, M.S. is the Executive Director of the Center for Adoption Support and Education, Inc. She received her master’s degree from the University of Maryland, Department of Family studies. She has been a practicing marriage and family therapist for twenty-three years, focusing on adolescent mental health, and treating teens in outpatient, inpatient, and community mental health settings. She is the co-founder of Operation Runaway - a unique public/private partnership between one of the country’s largest suburban police departments and a community psychiatric hospital. Since 1993, she has focused exclusively on the field of adoption, creating an innovative post-adoption family support center in the Washington metropolitan area. Services include a continuum of comprehensive adoption mental health services, education and support services for the adoption community. Ms. Riley is an accomplish presenter both locally and nationally on adoption issues and writes for various adoption-related publications. John E. Meeks, M.D., has been a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist for more than forty-five years. He received his medical degree from the University of Tennessee. He has taught at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and the Georgetown University Medical School. He has served as director of several child and adolescent divisions in psychiatric hospitals. He is co-founder and has served as the president and medical director of The Foundation Schools since 1975. The foundation Schools operate three K-12 schools for students with emotional disturbance. He has authored several articles on individual and group psychotherapy, behavioral disorders of childhood, treatment of adolescent suicide, adolescent substance abuse, hospitalization and inpatient treatment and adolescent depression. Dr. Meeks is best known for his classic textbook The Fragile Alliance; another book on depression, High Times, Low Times the Many Faces of Adolescent Depression; and his most recent publication, The Learning Alliance. Dr. Meeks received the prestigious national Schonfeld Award from the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry for his lifetime contributions to child and adolescent psychiatry.