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Why Adoptees Search: An Existential Treatment Perspective
Author(s) -
Krueger Mary J. Jago,
Hanna Fred J.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of counseling and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.805
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1556-6676
pISSN - 0748-9633
DOI - 10.1002/j.1556-6676.1997.tb02333.x
Subject(s) - existentialism , perspective (graphical) , dilemma , context (archaeology) , psychology , isolation (microbiology) , anxiety , psychoanalysis , social psychology , psychotherapist , epistemology , sociology , psychiatry , history , computer science , philosophy , archaeology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , artificial intelligence
This article frames the adult adoptee's search for his or her biological roots in an existential treatment perspective. This context offers depth of understanding of the adoptee's dilemma while allowing the counselor an expanded foundation from which to understand an adopted client's desire for personal historical information. An existential view of adoption allows the counselor to view the adoptee's struggle as a variation on the nearly universal human concerns of death, isolation, meaninglessness, being, anxiety, and freedom. Treatment approaches are suggested and discussed.