What is an adoption coach?

There are so many words that I used when I was first starting this work - Doula, Ally, Guide, Consultant. But I finally settled on the word Coach. Why?

Because a Coach meets you where you are and works with you to get you where you want to be. A coach sees your potential, your unique gifts, and your challenges, and brings methods, tools, and techniques to enhance your situation. A coach listens deeply and looks for patterns and key ideas that can help you move forward, even if you’ve been in a mindset or a habit for a very long time.

An Adoption Coach can do a lot of different things. There are coaches who are solely focused on the outcomes. They tell you they will get you matched with a child in a certain amount of time, or that they will create a profile for you guaranteed to get attention. These are great resources and are definitely part of the work of adopting, but this is not the work that I do.

My coaching style is to focus on your personal emotional and practical journey with adoption. We work on pulling out the emotions, expectations, and thoughts that are either supporting you or getting in the way of your vision and your goal of adopting. We have hard conversations about race, disability, extended family, and society. We take my tool box and we apply techniques that get you unstuck and bring you confidence and clarity. We also look at your profile and prepare your home study, among other practical tasks!

Most of all, I am a source of compassionate support to you. I answer your questions based on my own experience and I am here for you on those difficult days of waiting, and on those beautiful, thrilling days of parenthood! I’m here for all of it.

It’s my highest honor and privilege to coach. Thank you for your trust in me.