Show notes
Chad & Holly Cooke talk about their professional and personal experience with adoption. Holly has a masters in Marriage and Family Counseling, and Chad has his doctorate in counseling and is a licensed professional counselor in North Carolina. The Cookes adopted their first son from Ethiopia, had two biological sons, and are currently in the process of a domestic adoption. The Cookes share about the impact of adoption on the family. 0:30 - What are some of the differences between pursuing an international adoption vs. a domestic adoption? 1:35 - Chad and Holly share about how their second adoption has been an eight year process 2:48 - How involved have the boys been in this adoption process, and what are some ways that you have been preparing your family for a new brother or sister? 5:00 - What strategies do you have for adopting another child into the home when there are already children in the family? 7:41 - How has your extended family reacted to the adoption(s)? What advice would you give to people on how to prepare their families for the transition? 9:25 - What should people NOT say to someone who is in the process of adoption? 12:32 - Any last insights you’d give to those who are contemplating adoption? 13:45 - When adopting transracially, should you still celebrate/recognize that child’s culture/ethnicity, treat them as if they’ve always been a part of your family culture from birth, or is it a balance between the two? Recommended Resources from Chad & Holly: The Whole-Brain Child by Dr. Dan Siegel & Dr. Tina Payne Bryson The Connected Child by Karen Purvis Adopted for Life by Russell Moore The Empowered Parent Podcast The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing Trauma by Bessel van derk Kolk M.D.