Therapists’ experience of the therapeutic relationship when working with adults adopted as infants
Six adoption counsellors were interviewed about therapeutic relationships with adults adopted in infancy. Interpretative phenomenological analysis described attention to rejection, efforts to offer a different relational experience, and the consequences of this work for therapists. The analysis addressed establishing, sustaining and ending therapy.
Limitations: These are professionals’ accounts, not adoptees’ own reports or evidence of treatment effectiveness. Six purposively sampled counsellors cannot represent all services. This paper derives from Vote’s doctoral research and should not be treated as an independent sample.
- Research type
- Qualitative study
- Source reviewed
- Abstract
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Age group
- Adults
Study context and review
Age group as recorded: Adults
Adoption context: Mixed adoption pathways
Programme: Vote adoption counselling therapeutic-relationship study
Institutional context: No relationship identified in the material checked
No adoption-sector organisational relationship identified from metadata reviewed. Funding and conflicts were not comprehensively audited; this is not confirmation of institutional independence.
Bibliographic screening. Bibliographic relationships are not a bias or safety rating.
Topics: adult outcomes, mental health, post-adoption support, professional perspectives
Review scope: Source checked: Abstract. This does not imply full-text or independent human verification.
Country as recorded: United Kingdom
- Funding
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Commissioner
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Funder role
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Declared conflicts
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Recruitment
- Not yet checked for this entry
- Adoptee involvement
- Not yet checked for this entry
Entry: study_bc5e0d858b145c8a