DATE: To Be Determined. Please email jmantellmsw@gmail.com if you are interested in this workshop. We will select the date based on what works for interested pre-adoptive and adoptive parents and professionals. TIME: 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. LOCATION: IAC Center, 2 Tree Farm Road, Suite A200, Pennington, NJ 08534 This workshop is for families who have or are planning to […]
Archive | Open Adoption
Healthy Holiday Tip Sheet
By Joni Mantell on December 18, 2015 in Adoption, Adoption, adoptive families, Family Building Options, Holiday, Infertility, NEW Articles, Open Adoption, Siblings, TEENS, Transracial
Third Thursday of the Month Group in 2014 SEASONS GREETINGS, Tis the season for heightened emotions. Whether you’re in the process of building your family or already parenting, I hope this Healthy Holidays Tip Sheet arrives in the nick of time. Pictured here are members of what was the Third Thursday of the Month Pre-adoption group at […]
Living as a Trans-racial Family Formed by Adoption Workshop
Workshop Series Living as a Trans-racial Family Formed by Adoption Workshop Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Date: Sunday, January 17, 2016 Location: IAC Center, 2 Tree Farm Pennington NJ 08534 This workshop is designed for all families who have or are planning to adopt a child of another race. Some adoption agencies will accept this […]
Adoption or Donor – Making the decision
By Joni Mantell on September 1, 2015 in Adoption, Family Building Options, Infertility, Open Adoption, Pre-adopt
Written By: Judith Kottick, LCSW Montclair, New Jersey/ judykottick@comcast.net/ (973) 746-7370 For many couples and individuals yearning for a child, it is unwelcome news to hear that the time has come to transition from the dream of parenting a child of your genes to an alternative family building method. While accepting the concept of non-genetic parenting […]
Birth Parent Fantasies and Fears
By Joni Mantell on August 21, 2015 in Adoption, adoptive families, Featured in Adoptive Families, Open Adoption, TEENS
Is your child entertaining a wild birth parent fantasy? Don’t worry — it’s totally normal. Around ages six to seven, children are capable of more complex thinking and begin to grasp what adoption means. This gives rise to new, sometimes alarming fantasies and fears. While many children daydream about another set of parents — who […]
Baby Care for Adoptive Parents – NY, NY
By Joni Mantell on August 21, 2015 in Adoption, Family Building Options, Open Adoption, Pre-adopt, Upcoming Events
Saturday, November 21, 2015 from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM (EDT) 333 West 57th Street New York, NY This workshop is for you if you are waiting to adopt and would like to learn about baby care. Workshop Facilitator is Nicole Mayer RMA, RN, BSN, an IAC Center Educator, with extensive experience in infertility, OB/GYN, and newborn […]
Therapeutic Writing: Putting Your Feelings on Paper
By Joni Mantell on August 21, 2015 in Adoption, Family Building Options, Featured in Adoptive Families, Infertility, NEW Articles, Open Adoption, Pre-adopt, Psychotherapy
Infertility, parenting after adoption, growing up in an adoptive family, relinquishing a child—all give rise to complex emotions. Learn about the innovative Therapeutic Writing model that’s helping many lay bare and make sense of their innermost thoughts.
Open Adoption: A Reference Guide for Families
By Joni Mantell on August 21, 2015 in Adoption, Family Building Options, Featured in Adoptive Families, NEW Articles, Open Adoption
By Joni Mantell; as seen in Adoptive Families Magazine Open adoption is a scary phrase. “When I first heard it, I wondered, would I feel like a ‘stand in’ or a ‘rent-a-mom’?” says Christine, from New Jersey. This is the most common initial reaction prospective parents have—that open adoption is “co-parenting.” Others may come to domestic […]
How to Talk to a Child About Adoption from Infancy to Age 12
How to Talk to a Child About Adoption from Infancy to Age 12 Time: 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Date: Sunday, June 14, 2015 Location: Learning Center at Babies”R”Us, 24-30 Union Square East, Manhattan, NY, NY This workshop is for adoptive parents, pre-adoptive parents and professionals. Some adoption agencies will accept this workshop as credit toward the home […]
Therapeutic Writing for Adoptive Parents and Parents-to-Be
By Joni Mantell on May 14, 2015 in Adoption, Family Building Options, Infertility, Open Adoption, Pre-adopt
Parenthood — whether we’re anticipating and planning, or already in the thick of it —can sometimes be hard to wrap our heads and hearts around. Putting words to complex and amorphous thoughts and feelings can be challenging. In this group, we’ll explore our internal experiences around adoptive parenthood through short writing exercises — such as […]
Juno: Open Adoption, Closed Communication
By Bob Bamman, LCSW The film “Juno”, which opened this week in New York City, has garnered several independent film festival awards and is indeed a moving, very funny, and – for those of us in the adoption field – at times a very disturbing portrayal of a young teen birthmother and her process of planning the […]