de Becker, Emmanuel

Adoption and Family Therapy: Contributions of Systemic Interviews - 2010.


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Referring to systemic epistemology, we are attentive to the generational impact of loyalties, debts, and family secrets that are transmitted consciously or unconsciously. In our consultations at a health care unit, we encounter families where the issue of filiation arises due to adoption. Based on excerpts from three clinical cases, this paper discusses systemic family interviews in which adoptive relations are the main theme. However, can adoption be isolated as an issue? How should we speak of adoption? How can we recognize the status of a relation established through adoption? How should we approach the issues of positions and opinions in adopting families? The authors conclude that there is no recipe for avoiding the drama of the adopted child.