Adoption & Foster Care Therapy in Portland, Oregon

At With Connection, we provide foster care and adoption-competent therapy for children, parents, and families in Portland, Oregon. Our therapists support families navigating attachment challenges, trauma-related behaviors, early placement transitions, grief and loss, and identity development.

Our approach is trauma-informed and attachment-focused, helping children feel safe and understood while supporting parents in responding with confidence and connection.

Our adoption and foster care Therapists

We specialize in therapy for foster and adoptive families, blending clinical expertise with lived experience. Child and family therapist Helene Hanson is an adoptee and adoptive parent. Parent therapist Katie Statman-Weil is an adoptive parent through foster care. This perspective allows us to offer therapy that is both clinically grounded and deeply attuned to the realities of adoption and foster care.

Adoption Support for Children in Portland, ORegon

Adopted children often have feelings or questions they don’t fully understand or have words for. This can show up as big emotions, worries, or challenges in relationships. Our child therapist Helene offers a space for children to process the complexities of their experience.

Adoption Support for Parents in Oregon

Parenting can feel overwhelming. When adoption or foster care is part of your family's story, everyday challenges may feel even more complex. Katie, our family parent and family therapist understands adoption, attachment, trauma, and the unique strengths and needs of adoptive families.

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How Adoption Therapy Can Help

Adoption therapy provides specialized support for children and parents as they navigate the unique experiences that can come with adoption. Therapy can help your family:

  • Understand the "why" behind your child's behavior. Learn how trauma, loss, attachment, sensory differences, and nervous system responses may be influencing what you're seeing at home.

  • Respond to challenging behaviors with confidence. Develop practical, relationship-based strategies that help your child regulate big emotions, reduce meltdowns, and feel safe.

  • Strengthen your connection. Build a secure parent-child relationship that fosters trust, emotional safety, and resilience.

  • Support your child's adoption story. Receive guidance on talking about adoption in ways that are honest, developmentally appropriate, and supportive of your child's identity.

  • Help your child process their experiences. Through play therapy and other developmentally appropriate approaches, children can safely explore feelings related to adoption, grief, loss, identity, and belonging.

  • Heal attachment wounds. Support your child in developing a greater sense of safety, security, and connection within your family.

  • Navigate school challenges. Collaborate with teachers and schools to advocate for your child's emotional, behavioral, and educational needs so they receive appropriate support.

  • Prepare for each new stage of development. As children grow, their understanding of adoption changes. Therapy helps families navigate the new questions, emotions, and conversations that naturally emerge from preschool through adolescence.

  • Feel supported as a parent. Parenting an adopted child can feel isolating at times. Therapy provides a place for you to ask questions, process your own emotions, and gain the tools and confidence you need.