Welcome Home: A Guide for Adoptive, Foster, and Treatment Foster Parents [Paperback]

Christopher J. Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2005

Welcome Home provides parents of foster and adopted children with practical skills for raising children of all ages.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christopher J Alexander, PhD is a child psychologist who maintains a private practice in New Mexico. Dr. Alexander provides counseling and psychological evaluations for foster and adopted children of all ages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Mountain West Publishing (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975414402
• ISBN-13: 978-0975414408
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,022,500 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher J Alexander, PhD is a child psychologist in private practice in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Dr. Alexander specializes in the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of foster and adopted children and their families. In addition to providing clinical services, Dr. Alexander offers expert witness testimony on attachment, bonding, child/sibling placement, termination of parental rights, abuse and neglect. His website is: www.alexanderphd.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have for Adopted Parents, February 10, 2007

By 

David Lyman "palmdoc" (Las Cruces, NM) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Welcome Home: A Guide for Adoptive, Foster, and Treatment Foster Parents (Paperback)

This is truly a unique book in the adoption category. While most books on the subject offer good advice, much of what they share falls in the area of common sense. This book, on the other hand, takes us into the real world experience of adopted kids and their parents. The chapter on attachment is the best I've come across, and the author tackles those hard-to-deal with topics (sexual behavior in children; children and psychiatric medications; sibling relationships; talking with kids about being adopted; choosing the right therapist for your child) in a sensitive and direct manner. Even though the book is geared to parents, I really believe teachers and counselors who work with adopted children need to read this also.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Resource, January 18, 2008

By 

Patrick A. Stevens "Audio Enthusiast" (Shasta Lake, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Welcome Home: A Guide for Adoptive, Foster, and Treatment Foster Parents (Paperback)

Of the hosts of other books and materials that are out there on this subject, this book is the best of its kind that I have ever come across: And as an adoptive parent who adopted through the foster care system, and now as the president of our local foster parent association, I can tell you that I have read a lot of this type of material. To me, this book excels in its wide-ranging presentation of the many issues one might encounter (the children, the "system", court, social workers, child behaviors, attachment, extended family, therapy, etc...) when fostering or seeking to adopt.

There are other fine works out there on specific issues or aspects of the sytem, and to his credit Dr. Alexander cites many of them. But when looking for a book which touches on the many different aspects of the system in such a comprehensive and insightful way -- and especially for those who do not have previous experience with the system -- this book simply has no peer in my opinion. It was my intention to have our foster parent association purchase this book and provide it to ALL newly trained foster parents as they completed their classes. To my dismay, I learned that this book was no longer going to be available. Even in light of that disappointing news, I felt the book to be such a valuable resource that we purchased every remaining copy we could find. Now we give it out selectively to those whom we feel will benefit from it the most.

I implore Dr. Alexander and his publishers... PLEASE MAKE THIS BOOK AVAILABLE AGAIN! A newly updated edition perhaps? You will have one guaranteed, though admittedly small, market for it within our county and association. But I have quite a few contacts with other associations and agencies -- some nationwide -- and if I learned that this book were possibly going to become available again, I would do my part to make sure that all of those contacts were informed as to the quality and availability of this very fine book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor coverage, April 23, 2011

By 

Psychological Art - See all my reviews

This review is from: Welcome Home: A Guide for Adoptive, Foster, and Treatment Foster Parents (Paperback)

In contrast to the other reviewers, I find that this book suffers from a lack of depth in content and coverage of its topic. Having than 20 years in work with families and children, I was surprised how disappointed I was in this book and am returning it for refund. It rehashes much of what has already been said, yet neglects newer information on this subject. I cannot recommend this book to my colleagues; perhaps if the author published through a more recognized peer reviewed publisher, these problems would have been addressed before this book went to print. I realize that is a difficult route for some authors to take because it requires that they make the serious efforts to produce content that is current and relevant and accurate.