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Page 2
Hannah had not been exposed to adults who took the time to teach her about emotions. Additionally, as she learned English, she needed to re-learn the few emotion words she did know in Russian. We got a sheet of paper from a therapist with multiple faces showing not only sad, mad, glad, but lonely, worried, frustrated, annoyed, and more. We mimicked them, discussed them, and play-acted the emotions. We also took turns making our faces into various emotions and having the other person guess the emotion.
In addition to Hannah's rage the stemmed from her attachment disorder, she had never been taught how to properly express anger in an appropriate way. (In her orphanage, any children having a tantrum or expressing anger were medicated.) When she was calm, we had anger practice. I would have her pretend to feel anger, then resolve it by running up and down the stairs, pounding on the bed, kicking a pillow, and deep breathing. Our adopted children sometimes need extra assistance as they learn and develop. Doing your own version of at-home therapy helps you bond with your child, and helps her to grow into a comfortable, confident individual. For more tips on parenting adopted children, check Older Child Adoption Online Magazine Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article "At-Home Therapy" for Adopted Children - Page 2 in Adoptive Parenting is owned by Susan Ward. Permission to republish "At-Home Therapy" for Adopted Children - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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