WELLNESS, WritinG & resources
A comprehensive list of adoptee resources.
adoption-releated organizations
Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA)
Founded in Austin in 1992, AKA connects adoptees, birth parents, adoptive and foster parents, and the professionals who serve them. They also serve the donor conceived and DNA discovery communities.- Support groups: Peer support groups and quarterly large group meetings for every part of the constellation. See Programs & Services and the Quarterly Large Group Meetings page. Check the site calendar for current dates.
- Conference: Annual virtual conference each November, with CEUs for therapists and social workers. The 2025 conference ran November 7–8. Watch the conference tab for 2026 dates.
National Association of Adoptees and Parents (NAAP)
NAAP is a national 501(c)(3) that unifies the adoption community and elevates adoptee voices through education, connection, and healing. I serve on the NAAP board.- Support groups and programming: Free monthly virtual groups, including NAAP Happy Hour (third Fridays, hosted by yours truly), First Families: Birthparents Journeying Together with Amy Seek, and discussion groups led by experts like Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao. All events post on the NAAP Eventbrite page.
- Conference: NAAP hosts an annual conference and co-hosts the Untangling Our Roots Summit (below).
Saving Our Sisters (SOS)
A grassroots family preservation network. SOS helps expectant families considering adoption make fully informed decisions and avoid a permanent solution to a temporary crisis.- Support: Direct help for mothers in crisis, including local mentors, resource navigation, and honest education about adoption separation. Mothers can start with the Mother’s Intake form.
- Get involved: SOS is all volunteer. They welcome donors and “Sisters on the Ground” in every state. See the contact page.
Untangling Our Roots Summit
The only summit of its kind. It unites the adoption, assisted reproduction, and NPE/DNA discovery communities. Hosted by Right to Know, NAAP, and DNAngels, with 50+ speakers, workshops, and entertainment.- Conference: The 2026 Summit was held March 19–22 at the Wyndham Atlanta Buckhead Hotel & Conference Center. Next is planned for Seattle in 2028. Watch untanglingourroots.org for the next summit announcement.
Concerned United Birthparents (CUB)
Founded in 1976, CUB is the only national organization created by and for parents of adoption loss. They welcome the whole constellation and coined the term “birthparent.”- Support groups: Monthly Zoom peer support for birth/first parents (third Saturdays), a monthly Constellation Group open to birth families, adoptees, spouses, and siblings (second Saturdays), a monthly writing group (third Sundays), and in-person groups around the country. Full details on the How We Help page.
- Retreat: The annual CUB Retreat is a two-day fall gathering, usually in October. This year it will occur in Seattle, WA. Registration is open.
Support Texas Adoptee Rights (STAR)
A statewide nonprofit of more than 2,000 Texas adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents. STAR advocates for legislation restoring unrestricted access to original birth certificates for adult adoptees born in Texas.- Get involved: Follow current legislation, contact your legislators, and join Texas Adoptee Rights Day at the Capitol during legislative sessions. Start with STAR’s Crash Course. STAR works alongside the Texas Adoptee Rights Coalition (TXARC).
Domestic Adoption Camp (DAC)
Part of Heritage Camps for Adoptive Families in Colorado. DAC brings adoptees ages 3 through adulthood and their families together to build identity, belonging, and community. Adult adoptees lead and connect in their own programming.- Camp dates: DAC 2026 was held July 16–19 at the YMCA of the Rockies Estes Park Center. Registration for each summer opens in mid-January at heritagecamps.org.
WEBSITES AND DIRECTORIES
- Take The ACE Quiz — And Learn What It Does And Doesn’t Mean: An ACE score is a tally of different types of abuse, neglect, and other hallmarks of a rough childhood. According to the Adverse Childhood Experiences study, the rougher your childhood, the higher your score is likely to be and the higher your risk for later health problems.
- EMDR Institute, Inc.: The EMDR Institute™, founded by Dr Francine Shapiro in 1990, offers quality trainings in the EMDR™ therapy methodology, a treatment approach which has been empirically validated in over 30 randomized studies of trauma victims. An additional 25 studies have demonstrated positive effects for the eye movement component used in EMDR therapy.
- Adoptee-Therapist Directory: This directory includes licensed U.S. mental health professionals who identify as adoptees and work with adoptees / adoptive families in a variety of public and private settings. Only providers who have voluntarily submitted their information have been listed.
- MPE Counseling Collective: This is a site that serves as a directory and educational resource for those who are seeking an NPE, Adoption, Assisted Reproduction, or an MPE (misattributed parentage experience) competent therapist, coach, mentor, or genetic counselor.
- Havening Techniques: This website introduces you to an extraordinary application of recently acquired knowledge in the field of neuroscience. The techniques described herein are based in evolutionary biology and offer you the opportunity to live a healthier, hopefully happier and more productive life.
MEMOIR & CREATIVE WRITING RESOURCES
Books and Links on Writing Memoir
Vanderbilt How to Write a Memoir Class, Carole Webb Moore-Slater
TSven Birkert’s The Art of Time in Memoir: Then, Again
Sue William Silverman’s Fearless Confessions
Vivian Gornick’s The Situation and the Story: The Art of the Personal Narrative
Gregory Berns, The Self Delusion: The New Neuroscience of How We Invent and Reinvent Our Identities
Brenda Miller, Tell It Slant
Mary Karr, The Art of Memoir
Books on Writing to Heal Trauma
The Story You Need to Tell: Writing to Heal from Trauma, Illness, or Loss, by Sandra Marinella (Author), Cristina Baldwin (Foreword)
Adult Adoptees and Writing to Heal: Migrating Toward Wholeness, by Liz DebBetta
Interviews on Writing to Heal Trauma
Interview on Once Upon a Time in Adoptee Land with Liz DeBetta
NAAP Happy Hour 9.22.23 with Liz DeBetta, Ph.D.
Podcasts/Video on Memoir Writing
Adoptee & Memoir Focused Writing Groups
Classes, Coaches & Editors
VIDEOS ON HEALING
How to reset your body from chronic stress Dr Gabor will uncover reason why we get chronic illnesses
Dr. Gabor Maté is a renowned physician, author, and speaker who has extensively researched the connection between stress and chronic illnesses. In his work, he argues that unresolved emotional stress and trauma can have a profound impact on our physical health, leading to the development of chronic diseases such as autoimmune disorders, cancer, and mental health conditions.
“Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle.”
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss
A road map for the journey of writing honestly about grief and loss. Useful to the memoirist just starting out, as well as those already in the throes of coming to terms with complicated emotions and the challenges of shaping a compelling, coherent true story.
The Story You Need to Tell
A practical and inspiring guide to transformational personal storytelling, The Story You Need to Tell is the product of Sandra Marinella’s pioneering work with veterans and cancer patients, her years of teaching writing, and her research into its profound healing properties. Riveting true stories illustrate Marinella’s methods for understanding, telling, and editing personal stories in ways that foster resilience and renewal.
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
A searing memoir of reckoning and healing by acclaimed journalist Stephanie Foo, investigating the little-understood science behind complex PTSD and how it has shaped her life.
No Bad Parts
Discover an empowering new way of understanding your multifaceted mind – and healing the many parts that make you who you are.
The Primal Wound
The Primal Wound is a seminal work which revolutionizes the way we think about adoption. It describes and clarifies the effects of separating babies from their birth mothers as a primal loss which affects the relationships of the adopted person throughout life.
The Adverse Childhood Experiences Recovery Workbook
We’re all a product of our childhood, and if you’re like most people, you have experienced some form of childhood trauma. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are at the root of nearly all mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachement
n this groundbreaking book, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Amir Levine and psychologist Rachel S. F. Heller reveal how an understanding of attachment theory-the most advanced relationship science in existence today-can help us find and sustain love.
The Body Keeps The Score
A pioneering researcher and one of the world’s foremost experts on traumatic stress offers a bold new paradigm for healing.
Adoption Therapy
A much-needed anthology addressing a variety of potential psychological and physiological concerns, Adoption Therapy, Perspectives from Clients and Clinicians on Processing and Healing Post-Adoption Issues is a must-read for adoptees, adoptive parents, first families, and vitally, mental health professionals.
Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanancy
Based on a hugely successful US model, the Seven Core Issues in Adoption is the first conceptual framework of its kind to offer a unifying lens that was inclusive of all individuals touched by the adoption experience.
When the Past is Present: Healing the emotional wounds that Sabotage our Relationships
The popular author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships reveals how past trauma can negatively impact our present-day relationships—and offers guidance on what to do about it
Coming Home to Self: The Adoped Child Grow up
Coming Home to Self is a book about becoming aware. It is written for all members of the adoption triad: adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents as well as those who are in relationship with them, including professionals.
The Myth of Normal
By the acclaimed author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing.
