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This paper will explore issues of adoption through the lens of a therapist working with a young adolescent. Specifically, it looks to investigate the therapeutic effect of reenactment in the treatment setting with an adopted child. The main interest is the positive effect reenactment can have on the child's experience of attachment, which has frequently been suggested to be impaired in the adoptee (Brinich 1995, Deering and Scahill 1989, Reitz and Watson 1992, Silverman 1985). After a brief review of the literature on the treatment of adopted children, a case study will be presented on an adopted adolescent girl of ethnic minority and low socioeconomic status. Cases studying the low socioeconomic, ethnic minority have been under-represented in adoption literature thus far. It is this writer's contention that the description of such a case will contribute to greater understanding in the field at large.
That specific complications can, and often do, arise in the treatment of adopted children and their families, is widely accepted in the literature (Brinich 1980, Eiduson and Livermore 1953, Hodges 1984, Kernberg 1985, Weider 1978). The complication most frequently reported is that of the child wanting to see the therapist as his or her “real parent” returned to reclaim them, and/or their wish to be adopted by the therapist, bringing the family romance fantasy vividly back to life (Brinich 1980, Eiduson and Livermore 1953, Hodges 1984,