In this interview, Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker explains Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), how ACE scores can inform healing, and why adoption should be recognized as its own adverse childhood experience. She also explores the role of resilience, positive childhood experiences, and the importance of adoption-informed care in supporting adoptees' mental health and well-being.

Attachment Theory offers a framework for understanding how early relationships shape our expectations of love, safety, and connection throughout life. In this article, Kacy Ames, LCSW, explores attachment styles in both childhood and adult relationships, with a thoughtful focus on what these patterns can—and cannot—tell us about the experiences of adoptees.

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) helps couples understand conflict through the lens of attachment, reframing relationship struggles as patterns of interaction rather than individual flaws. In this article, Kacy Ames, LCSW, explores how EFT can be especially meaningful for adoptees by offering a compassionate framework for understanding intimacy, emotional needs, and healing in relationships.