Adoption Journey Collaborative

Join This Collaborative

The Purpose of This Collaborative

Your Family Isn’t Meant to Navigate the Adoption Journey Alone

Parenting an adopted child brings profound joy — and profound complexity. Even in the most loving, stable families, adoption carries layers of loss, identity questions, attachment wounds, trauma history, and developmental differences that can surface years after placement. None of this is a reflection of your parenting or your love — but it can feel confusing, heavy, and isolating.

Many parents find themselves unsure whether what they’re seeing is “normal,” or why their child reacts so strongly to seemingly small moments. Traditional parenting strategies often fall flat, leaving caregivers wondering what else they’re missing — or if they’re doing something wrong.

This collaborative exists to give parents something essential:
a supportive community that deeply understands the emotional and relational realities of raising adopted children.

It’s a place where you don’t have to soften the story, minimize the struggle, or pretend everything is fine. Here, you can speak honestly about the hard moments and the hopeful ones, learn from others walking a similar path, and gain tools grounded in attachment, trauma-informed care, and developmental understanding.

You’ll make sense of why certain behaviors show up, how attachment drives emotional reactions, and what helps your child experience true safety and connection. Most importantly, you’ll gain clarity, steadiness, and the confidence that comes from knowing your experience is valid — and shared.

At its core, the purpose of this collaborative is simple:

To give adoptive parents a grounded, nonjudgmental community where they can breathe, learn, and build a more connected relationship with their child — with less confusion, less fear, and more steadiness.

Who this Collaborative Supports

This collaborative is built for adoptive parents seeking clarity, connection, and a community that truly understands the unique challenges of adoption.

You might be a good fit if you’re navigating:

  • Identity development questions

  • Emotional or behavioral challenges

  • Trauma-rooted responses or triggers

  • Attachment or trust struggles

  • School, social, or sibling stress

  • The push-pull of adolescence and independence

  • Parenting fatigue, guilt, or uncertainty

  • The desire to support your child without becoming reactive, overfunctioning, or overwhelmed

This group helps parents:

  • Normalize the emotional ups and downs of adoptive parenting

  • Understand trauma-informed patterns and attachment styles

  • Learn how to respond rather than react

  • Build confidence in boundaries and communication

  • Feel less alone in the daily challenges

  • Strengthen connection at home

You don’t have to hold this journey alone — and you shouldn’t have to.

Meet Your Facilitator

Dr. Tony Issenmann brings over two decades of experience working with families whose children have complex developmental, relational, and emotional needs — including adopted and foster families navigating attachment, identity, and trauma-rooted challenges.

Drawing from a systemic, relational, and trauma-informed lens, Tony helps parents build steadiness, clarity, and connection even in the most difficult moments. His work blends clinical expertise, parent coaching, and grounded real-life tools that help families move forward with intention and confidence.

Meeting Details

Format: Virtual
Frequency: Weekly
Duration: 3-month initial commitment (option to continue)
Group Size: 8–10 parents
Parent Group: This collaborative is for parents only
Facilitator: Dr. Tony Issenmann

Ready to Join the Collaborative?

Join This Collaborative

 FAQs

  • Then you are in the right place. We discuss attachment needs, emotional regulation, safety, connection, and strategies that support healing—not shame or blame.

  • Yes, two caregivers can attend at no additional cost. Consistency is encouraged.

  • No. This is a coaching, psychoeducation, and peer support collaborative grounded in trauma-informed and attachment-informed approaches.

  • Parents of children of any age may join—though most participants have children between 6–21.

  • Yes. This collaborative is for parents, not the children themselves. It helps you gain clarity, steadiness, and strategies regardless of your child’s readiness — and can be especially helpful in reducing the isolation many adoptive parents feel when navigating these challenges alone.