This colorful story of how a boy from Guatemala came to be part of a family in the United States is a tool to introduce the topic of adoption to adopted and non-adopted children alike. Justin Walling chose to illustrate the family using birds of various colors, providing a platform for understanding the similarities and differences embedded in multi-cultural families. Although not a simple story, the steady and repetitive theme of what makes a family and what children need is very simple, fundamental and true. Songlike in its delivery, the words are softly rhymed and often repeated. September 21, 2011 Press Release: How do you introduce the topic of adoption to your adopted son and his non-adopted siblings? Kelly Dougherty and Justin Walling had just that question and have answered it in The Story of Che, a children's book based on their own family's story of how a boy from Guatemala came to be part of a family in the United States. With personal clarity of how differently families can form, and deep exploration into the ever-pressing issue of how a child might interpret comments from outside the home, Dougherty and Walling chose to literally illustrate exactly how their family came to be. "We are living in a world where families come in all shapes, numbers, and colors," says Dougherty. "Often those familial colors are monochromatic, but more and more today we are seeing something beyond that, something a little less simple. The Story of Che addresses that." Using birds of various and brilliant colors, Justin Walling's illustrations provide the platform for understanding the similarities and differences involved in multi-cultural or interracial families. Kelly Dougherty's artful writing follows a steady and rhythmic theme centering on what makes a family and what all children need, creating a tale that is simple, fundamental and true. Kirkus Indie says, "There is much to like in this story...Its structure and repetitive stanzas give it a songlike character. The art is charming and the message is heartwarming..." The Story of Che opens with a lady bird building a nest. Surprised to find it empty after her hard work, she begins to search for her baby bird. The vibrant images capture her journey from Charleston to Guatemala and back, drawing the reader into the story as the echo of "I'll be his mama, I'll help him fly" continues with each new bird entering the nest. "Whether a bird is red, green, black or pink, it is a bird all the same - still in need of love; still in need of food; still in need of understanding," says Dougherty. Dougherty is author of Sleeping with Steinbeck, a work of creative non-fiction that chronicles a cross-country journey with her dog. Justin Walling is the owner of Charleston Architectural Glass. Fringe Squirrel Press is the publisher of The Story of Che.

The softer side of the abortion debate ... In contrast to the front line war of words that emanate with most protest views, Doris takes us behind the scenes into real life drama. The stories contained in this book will make you smile, cry, and find a place in your heart for hurting people that are usually blurred out of the media headlines. As a Pastor, I appreciate the caring way she approaches the issues and the caring hands that she reaches out with to touch hurting hearts. Pastor Rudy Bond New Life Worship Center, Tyler, Texas Doris has gathered a treasury of hope and joy surrounding the adoption process, including Scriptural encouragement and honesty about the fears and challenges involved. This book is a testament to the hand of God with even the least of these. Sara Maynard is a Texas attorney, specializing in representing children. She is Board Certified in Juvenile Law. ADOPTION JOYS, THEY EXPECTED A MIRACLE, explains God's plan for unplanned pregnancies through moving testimonies of families who have experienced the joy of adoption. As the mother of two adopted children and one adopted grandson, I found myself rejoicing with the families through their stories. This book will be an effective tool to encourage couples to consider adopting children to complete their family. Birth parents will also understand the joy their baby will bring to the adoptive couple; and, perhaps, cause them to consider releasing their baby for adoption. God patterned adoption by adopting us into His family through His Son Jesus hrist. May this book challenge birth and adoptive parents to allow children to experience God's unconditional love through the gift of adoption. Judith E. Shalllcross, Retired Christian School principal.

Adoptive parents often wonder why their adopted child continues to be manipulative, defiant and aggressive despite all the love and generosity they have been given. Research shows the power that the infant's experiences and lack of nurturing have on later development. In Gotcha Welcoming Your Child Home, author and psychologist Patti M. Zordich, Ph.D., offers a refreshingly positive and clear explanation of the complex issues contributing to these behavior problems. She then provides guidelines for a simple, loving tool called Cocooning, Dr. Zordich's innovative system that helps parents heal these inner wounds, bringing their child to a more peaceful, loving place.

"An eye-opening account of life in China's orphanages. Kay Bratt vividly details the conditions and realities faced by Chinese orphans in an easy-to-read manner that draws the reader in to the heart-wrenching moments she has experienced in her work to bring hope to these children."--Dan Cruver, cofounder and director of Together for Adoption
When her family relocated to rural China in 2003, Kay Bratt was thrust into a new world, one where boys were considered more valuable than girls and poverty and the one-child policy had created an epidemic of abandoned infants. As a volunteer at a local orphanage, Bratt witnessed conditions that were unfathomable to a middle-class mother of two from South Carolina.

Based on Bratt's diary of her four years working at the orphanage, "Silent Tears" offers a searing account of young lives rendered disposable. In the face of an implacable system, Bratt found ways to work within (and around) the rules to make a better future for the children, whom she came to love. Her story balances the sadness and struggles of life in the orphanage with moments of joy, optimism, faith, and victory. It is the story of hundreds of children--and one woman who never planned on becoming a hero but became one anyway.

Author Kristen A. Morton has entwined her experience as a birth mother with her love of writing. In the book "With One Heart," she brings to life each emotional layer of the hearts and minds that are affected by open adoption. This booklet highlights the strong, ever-lasting, relationships that can develop from adoption. It is possible for adoptive mothers and birth mothers to share a happy and healthy relationship with time and trust. Morton brings you eight chapters revealing, brick by brick, how to build a beautiful relationship together.

Synopsis This book is about the fathers of children who were raised in other, adoptive families. Frequently, in writings about the separation of parent and child, the emphasis is on the mother and her son or daughter. The father is an absent, or at best a peripheral figure. The Invisible Men of Adoption brings the father into the open and accords him his proper place within the family of origin. Through this exposure of the 'invisible men', the reader will gain a full appreciation of what it means to be a birth father.The Invisible Men of Adoption also explores and demonstrates the benefits of birth fathers being included in the mending of emotional wounds caused by the initial separation of the three family members. This key role for the birth father in a tripartite setting has not been addressed by anyone else in adoption literature. The Invisible Men of Adoption is the culmination of Gary Coles' writings about the place of birth fathers in adoption.About the AuthorGary Coles is a birth father. His first-born son was raised in New Zealand by adoptive parents. He has spent most of his adult life living and working in Australia. Gary began exploring his adoption experience in 1992. He made his first presentation to an adoption conference in 1998, coincidentally in the city where his adopted son lives. Since then he has written extensively about adoption, particularly bringing the viewpoint of birth fathers into the discussions. He has published three books (in 2004, 2005 and 2010) and more than forty papers and articles (1998-2011), made presentations to the last three Australian Adoption Conferences (2000, 2004, 2008), presented seminars in Australia and New Zealand, and been a keynote speaker on three occasions at Concerned United Birthparents' Retreats in the USA.In his present role as manager of a post-adoption services organisation, Gary oversees the provision of practical and emotional assistance to those who seek or have found the other members of their birth families. He also educates the public and the helping professions about the impact of adoption.

A story about a girl given up for adoption and finding her way home.

Telling an adopted child that he or she is adopted can be difficult for a parent. The challenge lies in making the child feel special, the way we as Christians feel when we are adopted into the family of Christ, in the same way the vineyard grower grafts a new vine to another grape vine so that it becomes one with the vine-not just a part of, but one with its new host. Every child should feel that he or she was chosen just for that family. Jesus said, "From the womb I knew you." I wrote this story as a way to tell these children how God chose their family while they were yet in their birth mom's womb telling them that while in the womb their "real" adopted parents were waiting for them. The story and illustrations are intended to help the child visualize how all this came to be while prayerfully making it easier for the adopted mom to show that she was chosen for the child just as the child was chosen for her. To all those birth moms who selflessly make such a huge sacrifice by deciding to carry their babies and giving them up to adoption I say, 'Thank you' from the bottom of my heart. You have made me a very happy grandma. Bless you. I know my Lord blesses you as do all the adoptive parents whose "Hole in Their Heart" you have fixed. Again God Bless and Thank You. Gina Leeber Grandmother Servant of Christ

Eighteen years after adopting his daughter from China, a father publishes the personal journal he kept during the three week period he maneuvered through the Chinese adoption system. This is a record of how he felt the first time he saw and held his daughter and what he experienced with her and the other families adopting at the same time. Ultimately it is the story of a young man who becomes a father and who, upon reflection, believes he is one of the luckiest people alive because of this gift that has been given to him. This is my story.

"If you have the love in your heart and the courage to adopt a child from a traumatized background, then you must have this book." -- Robert Rich, PhD, anxietyanddepression-help.com
This booklet is a fact-filled resource for adoptive parents who have a child with trauma and attachment disruption experiences. Fraser provides tips and strategies that can be considered before placement as well as days, weeks, and months after your child joins your family. It addresses the day-to-day issues that new parents often get stuck on and provides info on the "Four S's" parenting plan that she shares with families (safety, structure, supervision and support).
Readers will:
Understand how kids with trauma and attachment disruptions first require emotional safety Learn how providing structure will help your child connect with your family Discover the importance of providing engaging supervision Affirm that adoptive parents need support and learn how to help
Therapists' Acclaim for Adopting a Child with Trauma...
"The subtitle of this little book is apt: it is a practical guide. If you are considering adopting, read it first. It may well put you off, but that's better than taking in an already troubled child, only to pass the load on to someone else, causing another experience of rejection and loss for the child."
--Robert Rich, PhD. anxietyanddepression-help.com
"Anyone adopting a child with a history of trauma will find this in work a wealth of practical advice. Its very shortness is a virtue when parenting is already so demanding. Effective parenting, including adoptive parenting, comes out of knowledge and understanding was well as love. Theresa Fraser cuts to the chase with just what you need to know to be prepared to meet the challenges of adopting a traumatized child."
Marian K. Volkman, editor of "Children and Traumatic Incident Reduction"
Learn more at www.theresafraser.com
From Loving Healing Press www.LovingHealing.com

Troy and Rachel are exceptional parents and have both compassion anddedication as they start an unusual journey to adopt Ricky and Ben, twoboys whose father abandoned them and who have experienced abuse andneglect at their hands of their mother. They come to the family fullyequipped in their own survival skills, fears and issues from their pasts.From fighting at school to full blown destructive tantrums, Ben keepseveryone at a distance, especially Rachel who longs to give him a place ofsafety in her home. Ricky is cute and energetic, often clingy and tries hardto make sure his new family will think he is good enough to stay. AsRachel and Troy work together to provide consistency and build trust, their own children are part of the healing and bring in various aspects oftheir own challenges.The journey takes Rachel and Troy into aspects of their own childhoodabuse and turmoil as they deal with various behavioral issues, familychanges and emotionally draining situations with the love and wisdomequal to their dedication. FROM THE INSIDE OUT is based onresearch about abused children and why many adoptions fail. It takes youinto the heart and soul of hurting children and while bridging the gapbetween the pain of the past and hope a forever home can offer.

"Journey for Julie" is unique in that the reader is able to follow along with the author as she travels through China to adopt her daughter. The reader is invited to witness the miracle of adoption and discover how God uses trials and setbacks to bring spiritual growth, even half way around the world. The author hopes to answer the question many adoptive families have. "What happens once you get there?" Experience the thrill of finally arriving in China, the heartbreak of being stranded in Beijing, the ecstasy of Gotcha Day and the adventures of coming home to a new family.

Abandoned by his mother in a St. Petersburg dumpster when he was only three days old, Alex Krutov should not have survived. But God had something else in mind. Raised in the harsh Russian orphanage system, Alex's life was one of hopelessness and despair until the arrival of Christian missionaries from the West when the Soviet Union collapsed. Infinitely More is the inspiring true story of a young man who would not give up, and the God who relentlessly pursued him. Jesus said, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." This is the story of God coming to Alex, and the hope He offers to all of us. Alex Krutov is the co-founder of The Harbor, a ministry to emancipated orphans in Russia. A graduate of Franklin University in Ohio, he divides his time between the United States and Russia.

Clinical psychologist, Michael Grand, brings a compassionate understanding to all members of the adoption constellation. Drawing upon a lifetime of personal experience, research and clinical practice, he challenges conventional ways of thinking about adoption. The limitations of attachment theory as an explanation of adoption outcome are presented. In its place, he suggests a narrative understanding of adoption. Core themes of identity, grief, mattering and trust, permeate these narratives and shape the experience of members of the constellation. As a passionate advocate for openness, Grand explores the psychological costs of denying identifying information to adopted individuals and their birth kin. Parallels are also drawn to an impending crisis as offspring of assisted reproduction seek answers to their identity questions. The book concludes with a consideration of alternative permanency arrangements and a primer for opening closed adoption records. This book will change how we approach adoption in all of its manifestations. Adoptees, birth and adoptive kin, social workers, clergy, teachers, therapists, and legislators alike will find meaning within these pages.

Breakthrough Treatment Offers New Hope for Recovery
Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition with 3 new chapters on adolescents
"Gentling" represents a new paradigm in the therapeutic approach to children who have experienced physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and have acquired Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result. This text redefines PTSD in child abuse survivors by identifying child-specific behavioral signs commonly seen, and offers a means to individualize treatment and measure therapeutic outcomes through understanding each suffering child's unique symptom profile. The practical and easily understood Gentling approaches and techniques can be easily learned by clinicians, parents, foster parents, teachers and all other care givers of these children to effect real and lasting healing. With this book, you will: Learn child-specific signs of PTSD in abused children Learn how to manage the often intense reactivity seen in stress episodes Gain the practical, gentle, and effective treatment tools that really help these children Use the Child Stress Profile (CSP) to guide treatment and measure outcomes Deploy handy 'Quick Teach Sheets' that can be copied and handed to foster parents, teachers, and social workers
Clinicians Acclaim for "Gentling"
"In this world where children are often disenfranchised in trauma care--and all too often treated with the same techniques as adults--Krill makes a compelling case for how to adapt proven post-trauma treatment to the world of a child."
--Michele Rosenthal, HealMyPTSD.com
"Congratulations to Krill when he says that 'being gentle' cannot be over-emphasized in work with the abused."
--Andrew D. Gibson, PhD Author of "Got an Angry Kid? Parenting Spike, A Seriously Difficult Child"
"William Krill's book is greatly needed. PTSD is the most common aftermath of child abuse and often domestic abuse as well. There is a critical scarcity of mental-health professionals who know how to recognize child abuse, let alone treat it."
--Fr. Heyward B. Ewart, III, Ph.D., St. James the Elder Theological Seminary, author of "AM I BAD? Recovering From Abuse"w
Cover photo by W.A. Krill/ Fighting Chance Photography
Learn more at www.Gentling.org
From the New Horizons in Therapy Series at Loving Healing Press www.LovingHealing.com
FAM001010 Family & Relationships: Abuse - Child Abuse
PSY022040 Psychology: Psychopathology - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
FAM004000 Family & Relationships: Adoption & Fostering

"I didn't know if I could be a mother. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to be a mother. Nothing in my upbringing seemed to support motherhood." So begins Corinne Chateau's odyssey to claim the mother in herself and embark upon an unexpected journey that will lead her to a child in the distant Republic of Georgia.The Road to Cali is about not giving up. It is the story of a rescue--of both a child and oneself.

"I am Robert, but once I had another name. As an infant I was held and loved by two women, one who would give me up, and another who raised me and loved me more than life itself. I suppose I should consider myself blessed to have been loved by two mothers when most of us get only one, and some none." Who am I, where did I come from? Why do I feel lost, incomplete, and isolated? These questions haunted my for my entire life growing stronger as time passed by. I finally chose to find my answers and this is my story. It's about my methodology, how it changed me, and who I became at its final destination. Not Remembered Never Forgotten is an examination of the resolution of an adoptee's emotional memories and the search for the authentic self. Not knowing his name at birth, and barred by archaic secrecy laws that seal adoption records forever, the author searched back through fifty years of his past to find the truth that would redefine the essence of who he is.

"Today class, we are going to talk a little about genetics" With these words, Hunter begins a journey to reveal what it means to be adopted. As he sets out to discover all the branches of his family tree, he finds obstacles at every turn. Sometimes they are in the form of thoughtless assumptions, misleading information, misguided policies, as well as his own fear of his parent's reaction and what he may find. Then there is the adoption agency, which is only too happy to help as long as Hunter has the money. With the support of good friends and a few helpful angels along the way, he continues his search for his roots and to look into eyes like his.

The true story of an adopted girl growing up in small town Texas and her eventual search for her birth parents. The author is a Licensed Professional Counselor and provides insight into not only growing up adopted, but also the psychological empact.