There are frequent cases of
families who, after exhausting bureaucratic processes and countless trips abroad,
finally reach the end of the process of adopting
their new family member, but find themselves facing new obstacles
for which no one has prepared them. These obstacles are much less visible than all
the problems they have had to overcome in order to achieve a happy ending
to their adoption story, but they can at the root of major problems for both
the newcomer and the whole family.
Faced with this type of situation,
the Blue Healthcare team of psychologists and psychiatrists has created the first unit in Madrid that fully covers
all the needs of adopted children and their families;
a pioneering unit that, as Dr
Marina Díaz Marsá, medical director of the clinic and psychiatrist, explains, “grew from seeing patients in everyday clinical practice,
already in adolescence or adulthood,
who are adopted and have personality disorders,
eating disorders or significant difficulties with interpersonal relationships. Seeing
that these patients are already suffering from an illness, we thought that a unit was needed
to do more preventive work to try to get ahead
of these disorders before adolescence”.
The reasoning behind the new unit for emotional disorders associated with the adoption process
is the fact that adopted children, when moving from their biological family
to a new family, may develop attachment problems
with their parents. “From a psychological and neurobiological point of view there may be
damage that makes them afraid of being abandoned again. That is why there are
relationship and attachment problems with the parents”, says
Dr Díaz Marsá.
This fear can lead to
behavioural disorders, hyperactivity disorders or difficulties in
school or family life; these problems mean it’s necessary to have
tools to know how to act if children arrive in the
family with these disorders, and, if the family is already experiencing
these difficulties, it’s necessary to offer both the child
and the family psychotherapeutic treatment so they can manage daily life.
“This clinical unit grew from seeing patients in everyday clinical practice,
already in adolescence or adulthood,
who are adopted and have personality disorders,
eating disorders or significant difficulties with interpersonal relationships.
Seeing that these patients are already suffering from an illness,
we thought that a unit was needed to do more preventive work
to try to get ahead of these disorders before
adolescence”, explains Dr Díaz Marsá.
The unit for emotional disorders
associated with the adoption process has a dual
approach. First, it offers specific programmes for parents who are going to
adopt so they can understand, if necessary, what can happen to these
children and to have tools for their education. And secondly,
it treats children who already have these difficulties
when they come to the adoptive family.
As well as Dr Marina Díaz Marsá,
this pioneering unit includes leading specialists such as Dr Mar Faya, Dr José Luis Carrasco, and a team of
psychologists.
