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The recent incident of a Tennessee mother sending her seven-year old adopted son back to his native country, Russia, has raised many questions about adoption--especially the complexities of creating parent-child bonds regardless of it being a domestic or abroad adoption. Clinical Mental Health Counselor Dr. Carl Sheperis, a core faculty member at Walden University, is available to discuss the psychological aspects of adoption.
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"A small number of adopted children come from troubled backgrounds that can have long-term effects on the child's ability to relate to even the most loving parents. This can be trying for the parents," states Dr. Sheperis.
"If a child has Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), a complex psychological disorder resulting from a child not forming the necessary parental bonds during key development stages, he or she will struggle with forming relationships, oftentimes resulting in frustration, anger and even violent behavior," further explains Dr. Sheperis. "In cases of adoptive parents trying to form relationships with a child with RAD, it places a tremendous amount of pressure on an adoptive family to overcome deeply ingrained issues that began years before."
Dr. Carl Sheperis, a clinical mental health counselor who has done extensive research on RAD, can offer a valuable perspective on the following:
"Unfortunately, there is not a lot of attention given to RAD as the cases of children who have this disorder are very isolated," Dr. Sheperis explained. "However, adoptive parents need to be educated about the symptoms and treatments of RAD--whether they are adopting a child from the United States or another country--because there are very real consequences they can experience once the child is in their home."
About Dr. Carl Sheperis
Carl Sheperis, Ph.D., NCC, LPC, ACS
Walden University
School of Counseling and Social Service
Director, Doctoral Programs
Dr. Carl Sheperis specializes in pediatric mental health counseling and approaches to conflict resolution.
Based on his expertise in advocacy among counseling students, the American Counseling Association awarded Dr. Sheperis the National Award for Counselor Education Advocacy at their annual conference in 2010. Dr. Sheperis is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Mississippi and currently serves as the director of doctoral programs in the School of Counseling and Social Service at Walden University, where he manages the day-to-day operations for the Counselor Education and Supervision and the Human Services doctoral programs.
/PRNewswire -- April 12/
-- The psychological basis of Reactive Attachment Disorder -- The symptoms associated with RAD -- Successful approaches to treatment
SOURCE Walden University
