Customer Reviews

Beneath the Mask: Understanding Adopted Teens

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a wonderful reference for all adoptive parents and professionals who work with adopted teens. It is written in a very accessible manner, not filled with professional jargon that can put off parents. There are so many case examples that you almost feel like you are talking with Riley and Meeks.It's that practical help you can really appreciate. I'd really recommend it for all adoptive parents to help prepare them for the teen years. For mental health professionals who have not had too much experience with adopted people this book will really be an eye opener, helping them to see the real issues of adopted teens and how they can be so very different from those of non-adopted kids.

I think this book is terrific! The authors' describe six "stuck spots" or stages that all adolescents go through and the particular affects on the adopted teen. I found the case studies particularly illuminating (heartwarming and heart wrenching, too). This is a great source for both parents and therapists; and it is easy to read. If your teen is struggling, then this provides ingredients to a deeper understanding of adoption issues. Even if your adopted teen is sailing through adolescence, it is important to understand the kind of thoughts they may be reluctant to share with you. This is a must read for all adoptive parents, particularly for those whose children may have experienced early trauma.

I found the book refreshing, because it treated the parent as an intelligent collaborator. While being readable it covers the subject with the complexity it deserves. I highly recommend this book!

this book is helpful and draws the correct conclusions and spells out the issues..as adoptive parent I think that reading what another adoptive parent has written is very credible...they have been there....no one could understand the issues of adoptive parent of a teen or pre teen unless they have done it...it is so intense...the child will try to re enact lost stages of childhood and preschool years...and grow into a full fledged teen at the same time...you will live with preshooler and adult child all in the same day...but the hurt and anger comes from abandonment and mistreatment...and on this note the author got it 100% right....the book could have been shorter and more to the point...but underl;ying message is accurate.

i dont think you will find a better book on adoption....ive read two dozen book in preparation for an adoption of a pre-teen. ive passed this book along to two friends that work within the system. a must read. i was also left with a better understanding of my own process. GREAT job!

This book is excellent for anyone raising an adopted child or working with one. The author addresses issues that are present for most adopted children in one form or another. I am an adoptive parent and a therapist who has worked with adopted children. I have recommended this book to parents of adopted adolescents.

A great book. Explained a lot of behavior that I did not recognize and/or understand that my son has exhibted. He was adopted at 3 months old. He is now 16 years old, still clingy to me and always wants to know where I am and when I was coming home. He has always preferred to stay in a dark room, door closed, and alone. My son is now enrolled with a therapist that specializes in adoption. After the first meeting, my son began to show major signs of depression. I am scared and concerned, but the therapist and our neuropsychologist both suggested that the demon(s) are finally coming out, and my son now needs to see a psychiatrist for potential treatment with anti-depressants. Read the book, it alerts you with experiences and events that may well be happening to your child. The book is a great reference "manual" for me.

For parents adopting older children this book keys in on the major issues facing children who are wrestling with the adoption experience. (Children adopted at any age may experience some of these issues, but the likelihood of adoption related behavioral, academic and social problems during the teen years increases when a child is adopted at an older age). The book explains six major hurdles for adolescents who were adopted. It also focuses on issues parents may experience in coping with their children's adoption related issues. Though written primarily for mental health professionals who provide psychotherapy to children by adoption, parents will also find this a useful, readable text. The only negative critique of Beneath the Mask is that it makes it seem like all the major problems experienced by adopted kids during their teen years are because of the adoption. For many this may be the case, but there are many other factors that trouble teenagers, regardless of whether they were adopted or not. That being said, the issues identified for both the teen and the parents are important. This book can open doors for parent-teen discussion around adoption related issues and help parents make informed decisions about when to seek professional help. I would not recommend this book to preadoptive parents of children age two and under.

As a Licensed Psychologist and parent to Anna, our child adopted from China, I am thankful that I came across this book. The area of adoption themed therapy is a speciality--too often adopted children are pathologized and labeled with all sorts of disorders when the professionals and parents don't know how to address the fact that adoption may be a factor influencing identity development and behavior. This book made me think of issues I hadn't before--for example, that our Anna will need to separate not only from her father and me, but from her "imagined" birth parents--two people whom she has never met nor will likely meet in her life but yet have an incredible influence on her developing sense of self.

I heard the author of this book, Debbie Riley, speak at an adoption conference and she was amazingly great, so I bought her book. When I first started reading it, I was disappointed because it was full of jargon and written for therapists and not nearly as clear and useful as her presentation the day I saw her. But I kept reading anyway and eventually most of the jargon died away and the information was presented in an interesting and useful way for parents of adopted teens who are struggling. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who wants to understand what his or her kid is going through as a teenage adoptee. I would still like to see a book written specifically for parents, free from jargon, but the insights were well worth the time and money to me.