STAGES OF EMOTION - AN ADULT ADOPTEES POSTREUNION PERSPECTIVE

Increasing numbers of adoptees are searching for and finding their bio logical parents. This article is an attempt to alert counselors to the particular emotional state of adoptees postreunion. The theory presen ted is drawn from the author's personal experience and integrated with her perspective as a professional counselor. From these two vantage p oints, the author has concluded that there are four postreunion emotio nal stages: paralysis, eruption, loss and grief, and empowerment. Thre e factors have a direct bearing on the four stages: definition of reun ion success, when reunion occurs, and the ''female factor.''