All In The Family: A Systems View of Adoption

Family ties get twisty when another enters the family. Much has been said about the effects and needs of adopted kids and parents, but what about the rest of the family? Seven adopted siblings joined Jana’s family after she turned 16. This big life transition opened her heart and grew her compassion. But Jana also learned a lot about effects of adoption on the whole family system. Her own unaddressed needs and struggles led her to finding better tools and interventions to keep adoptive and foster families connected and healthy. —- Dr. Jana Hunsley is the Executive Director of Project 1025 LLC, an organization devoted to equipping and supporting adoptive and foster families, where she offers consulting, training, coaching, and counseling for families and professionals. She is also co-founder of Camp Together, a nonprofit offering therapeutic family camps for families impacted by trauma. Jana received her doctorate in experimental psychology from the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University where her research focused on understanding and meeting the needs of every member of adoptive and foster families through post-adoption supportive services. Over the years, Jana has worked in various clinical settings as a therapist with children and youth who have experienced trauma, including residential treatment, institutional care, schools, child welfare, and juvenile detention. Jana credits her passion for this work to her siblings who were adopted when she was a teenager. —- Project 1025: Services and Resources to Create Connected Foster and Adoptive Families Connected Family Series: An online, self-paced post-adoption family intervention aimed at seeing and meeting the needs of all members of adoptive families. —- Produced by Zach Van Dyke Transcribed by Ryan Van Dyke