ADOPTION THERAPY

Counseling For Adoptees and Adoptive Parents

ONLINE THERAPIST SERVING NY, CT, FL

Online Adoption Therapy for New York, Connecticut, and Florida

Adoption is an intricate and nuanced process…

Adoptive relationships bring people together. Yet they also come with a set of complexities and ingrained hardship.

As an adoptee, you may wrestle with your identity, craving answers about where you come from and a deeper sense of belonging.

As an adoptive mom, you might struggle with your expectations, how to support your adoptive child with their problems, or whether to tell them about their birth parents.

And as a birth mom, the contradiction between heartache, guilt, confusion, and ease of having someone else raise the child you brought into this world can be a lot to bear.

…but I’m here to peel off the layers and guide you through it all.

Hello, there! I’m Gayle, a licensed clinical social worker dedicated to supporting kindhearted and tenacious people in New York, Connecticut, and Florida via online therapy.

I provide online adoption therapy to help you overcome the unique hurdles in your adoption path.

What if you could reconnect with yourself and your story and feel empowered as an adoptee?

What if you could tend to your adoptive child’s wounds and bolster your relationship?

How would you feel if you could heal the turmoil surrounding your experience as a birth mom?

We’ll partner up to make this happen (and much more). I’m an adoption competent therapist who understands the peaks and valleys associated with the adoption process. I’ll walk alongside you to help you conquer them so you and your loved ones can blossom.
Contact me to get started.

What Is Adoption Therapy?

Adoption therapy or adoption counseling consists of seeing a mental health professional to share, examine, and manage adoption-related issues—wherever you are in the adoption triangle (adoptee, adoptive family, or birth family).

We’ll collaborate on a private online therapy room to dive in, uncover what’s behind your struggles, and identify effective steps to navigate them.

WHAT WE CAN WORK ON

If you are an adoptee:

Heal trauma and emotional scars related to being adopted
Explore, connect, and feel proud about your authentic self
Initiate, restore, or strengthen your bond with your adoptive and/or birth family
Cultivate a sense of kinship, confidence, and self-esteem

If you are an adoptive mom:

Discuss expectations and uncertainty about adoption before making the decision
Manage stressors related to the adoption process (e.g., daunting logistics, people’s reactions)
Gain tools to handle the transition and support your adoptive child with their distinct challenges
Improve communication with your adoptive child and answer their birth family questions

If you are a birth mom:

Evaluate the possibility of someone adopting your child
Heal conflicting fear, grief, shame, and relief related to placing your child for adoption
Regulate emotions and thoughts when searching for or reuniting with your birth child
Establish or maintain a healthy relationship with your birth child

If you are searching for support in any of the above or would like assistance on other adoption concerns, I’m happy to help. We can work on issues directly related to adoption and other difficulties that may seem unrelated but are likely connected.

How Can Adoption Therapy Help?

No matter what role you play in your adoption journey, I know you want what’s best for you and those you love.

That’s why you are here.

As a qualified adoption therapist, I’ll view your adoption situation through a holistic lens, considering all the parties involved, relationships, intricacies, and the explicit and implicit challenges you might face.

Once we assess your circumstances, needs, and objectives, we’ll pinpoint and address the root of your problems, shift limiting perspectives, and get you closer to your vision. This might involve healing from the lingering trauma of being adopted, learning skills to connect with your adopted child, or building trust to start a new chapter with your birth child.

You can change your story. I’ll simply shine a light on the road ahead and provide practical resources to help you get there.

Why Work With an Adoption Competent Therapist vs. a Regular Therapist?

Despite their best efforts, regular therapists may not have the knowledge and skills to be aware of the key matters and nuances of adoption. This may result in misdiagnoses, inappropriate recommendations, or the inability to reach treatment goals, worsening an already difficult situation. Plus, you might feel the burden to educate your therapist on the topic, spending valuable energy and time out of the session on this.

An adoption competent therapist…

Has completed accredited education and training to work with adoption-related issues

Can provide qualified and specialized support to adoptees, birth families, and adoptive families
Understands the history, neglect, brain chemistry changes, and relational dynamics that adoptees may encounter
Has the expertise to see how trauma affects adoptees and assess their needs accordingly
Views the adoptee’s behavioral and emotional challenges as possible implications or coping mechanisms related to their adoption story, instead of overlooking them or immediately attributing them to something else

Adoption Therapy With Gayle Weill | Online Adoption Competent Therapist in New York, Connecticut, and Florida

I offer online adoption therapy for women of diverse cultures, religions, and walks of life across New York, Connecticut, and Florida. I also provide parenting therapy, relationship therapy, anxiety counseling, and other services.

I specialize in counseling for adoptees, adoptive moms, and birth moms. My goal is to support you as you travel through your adoption experience to reinforce your relationship with your loved ones and, most importantly, with yourself.

My approach is integrative; I implement different modalities to create a plan tailored to your specific case. I can use psychodynamic therapy to get to the core of your issues, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to connect the dots between your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, hypnosis to tap into the subconscious mind, and EMDR to reprocess unresolved events.

Why work with me? I’m certified and accredited as an adoption competent therapist with The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E). I’m also trained in child-parent psychotherapy and registered as a Circle of Security-Parenting (COS-P) facilitator. I have a wealth of expertise in the adoption and foster care fields and am passionate about helping families rise above adversity.

Our sessions will take place online in a secure teletherapy platform—no need to commute or enter a stiff clinical environment. Make sure you have access to an electronic device, a reliable internet connection, and comfortable space. And leave the rest to me.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is your fee for therapy?

My fee for a therapy session is $285 for 45-55 minutes.

Do you take insurance?

Navigating insurance is complicated, so please read carefully to avoid any misunderstandings.

Like most private mental health practitioners, I am considered an “out-of-network” provider. This means that some of my clients pay fully out of pocket, while others pay my fee up front and then receive partial reimbursement from their insurance provider.

In order to use your insurance then, you must have out-of-network benefits and reach your yearly deductible before reimbursement begins. After you’ve met your deductible, you’ll only be responsible for your copay/coinsurance, which is determined by your plan.

In my experience, reimbursement is common and many of my clients are reimbursed for 50% to 80% for the cost of their sessions if they have out-of-network mental health coverage.

How can I know if I have Out-Of-Network (OON) benefits or use them?

I am partnered with “Mentaya,” a platform that makes it easy to check if you have Out-Of-Network benefits, and then claim them.

When you reach out, we will discuss your unique challenges for therapy, and I will also check for your Out-Of-Network benefits (so you don’t need to spend time on the phone with the insurance company). Most insurance companies will list your OON benefits immediately, so we can know how much you’ll have covered.

When it comes to claiming them, the process is even easier. With “Mentaya,” you do not need to mail any claims to your insurance company, “Mentaya” does this step automatically for you. You would simply pay for therapy as normal, and then once you’ve met your deductible, “Mentaya” will begin reimbursing you according to your OON benefits.

I’ve never talked to anyone. I’m used to handling things on my own. Aren’t people who go to therapy weak?

Not at all. People who ask for help know when they need it and have the courage to reach out. Everyone needs help now and then. In our work together, I’ll help you explore and identify your strengths and how to implement them to reduce the influence of the problems you are facing.

How often will we meet?

I meet with the majority of my clients on a weekly basis. I ask that all new clients commit to meeting weekly, for at-least the first 6 weeks. This will allow us to start off on a strong foot, so you can start seeing progress right away. I may recommend that we increase or decrease the frequency of sessions to best meet your needs.

Ready to transform?

I see you.
You want answers to get unstuck and make significant changes in your adoption venture.
And I’m here to help.