Supporting Birth Parents in Adoption: A Couple Treatment Approach

Adoption yields benefits to most participants in the adoption triad; however, relinquishing a child is often a profound loss in birth parents’ lives. Although existing research suggests treatment considerations, there is a need for a comprehensive, systemic treatment approach to best support birth parents. This article proposes a couple treatment approach that incorporates suggestions from the birth parent literature with emotionally focused couple therapy, an empirically supported therapy model. The approach comprehensively addresses the needs of birth parents by punctuating couple strengths and resources, empowering couples, addressing the emotional experience of relinquishment, and acknowledging the contextual influences and consequences of relinquishment.