Adoption and Fostering Counselling in Calgary
Adoptive and foster families navigate experiences that most general counselling services aren’t equipped to fully understand — the complexity of attachment after early loss, the impact of developmental trauma, the particular grief that runs through adoption, and the unique challenges of building trust with a child whose early experiences have taught them that adults cannot be relied upon.
At Solasta, adoption and fostering is not a specialty we’ve added to a long list. It is an area of deep personal and professional investment for our founding team — and it shows in the quality and specificity of the support we offer.
Why Solasta for Adoption and Fostering Support
Personal Experience — Not Just Clinical Training
Scott McKirdy and Dr. Gillian McKirdy, Solasta’s co-founders, are adoptive parents. They understand adoptive family life from the inside — the joy, the complexity, the exhaustion, the particular kind of love that builds over time rather than arriving instantly, and the moments where nothing in the standard parenting handbook applies.
This lived experience informs everything about how Solasta approaches adoption and fostering support. You will not need to explain the basics. You will not encounter blank looks when you describe blocked care, or shame when you admit that connection has been harder than you expected, or disbelief when you describe your child’s behaviour. Our clinicians have been where you are, or have spent years supporting families who have.
Published Research on Adoptive Family Experiences
Gillian and Scott’s commitment to adoption support extends beyond their personal lives into their professional research. Their published work includes:
- From Proving Perfection to Seeking Support: The Lived Experiences of Adoptive Parents in Alberta — Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 2019
- The Lived Experiences of Adoptive Parents Experiencing Blocked Care — Dr. Gillian McKirdy’s doctoral dissertation, California Southern University, 2022
This research directly informs their clinical work and the support Solasta provides to adoptive families.
Over 20 Years of Professional and Personal Experience
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Specialist Therapeutic Approaches
Solasta offers therapeutic approaches specifically designed for adoptive and foster families — approaches that go beyond standard talk therapy to address the attachment and relational dimensions of adoption:
Theraplay
A structured, play-based therapy that builds connection, attunement, and trust between children and caregivers through guided interaction. It is particularly effective for children who have experienced early loss, neglect, or disrupted attachment, and works with the whole parent-child relationship rather than the child in isolation.
A Team Trained in Adoption and Developmental Trauma
All of our clinicians have received additional training in adoption-informed counselling and developmental trauma — not just our founding team. This means that regardless of which Solasta therapist you work with, you are working with someone who understands the specific landscape of adoptive and foster family life, the impact of early loss and disrupted attachment, and the approaches most likely to help.
Beyond this team-wide foundation, Solasta offers specialist therapeutic modalities specifically designed for adoptive and foster families:
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
Developed by Dr. Dan Hughes specifically for children who have experienced developmental trauma and disrupted attachment. DDP uses PACE — Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, and Empathy — to help children feel safe enough to process early experiences and begin to trust. Dr. Gillian McKirdy has received direct training from Dr. Dan Hughes himself.
Attachment-Focused Family Therapy
Working with the family system as a whole to strengthen the attachment relationship between children and caregivers, repair ruptures, and build the felt safety that allows healing to happen.
Who We Support
Adoption copunselling Calgary provides a supportive space for families to navigate the emotional and practical complexities of adoption and foster care.
Adoptive Parents — Before and After Placement
The journey of adoptive parenting brings its own particular emotional landscape — hope, grief, uncertainty, and a love that is real but sometimes complicated by the realities of early trauma and attachment disruption.
Pre-adoption support
Preparing emotionally and practically for the arrival of a child whose early experiences may be unknown or difficult. Understanding trauma, attachment, and what to expect.
Post-adoption adjustment
The transition after placement is often harder than anticipated. The child may not attach as expected. The parent may not feel the instant bond they imagined. Relationships with partners, other children, and extended family may be strained. Therapy provides space to process all of this without judgment.
Foster Parents and Caregivers
Foster parenting brings specific challenges — the temporary nature of placements, the complexity of working within the child welfare system, the grief of saying goodbye, and often the particular behaviour profiles of children in the care system. Our therapists understand this world and can support foster caregivers in sustaining themselves and providing the best possible care.
Blended and Complex Family Systems
Adoption and fostering often exist within complex family structures — sibling groups, blended families, families with biological and adopted children, families navigating contact with birth families. These dynamics add layers of complexity that general family therapy may not be equipped to navigate. Our therapists understand these specific dynamics and can help families find their way through them.
Blocked care
One of the most difficult and least discussed experiences in adoptive parenting. When a child’s behaviour consistently triggers defensive responses in a parent — withdrawal, frustration, detachment — the natural caregiving system can become blocked. This is not a failure of love. It is a predictable response to an extraordinarily difficult situation.
Parenting a child with developmental trauma
Children who experienced early neglect, abuse, or loss carry that history in their bodies and their nervous systems. Their behaviour is often driven by survival responses that make complete sense in light of their history but are very difficult to live with. Therapy helps parents understand what they are seeing, respond in ways that build safety rather than escalate, and sustain themselves through an exhausting and often isolating experience.
Adoptive Children and Teens
Children who were adopted often carry questions about identity, belonging, and the circumstances of their adoption — questions that intensify at different developmental stages and that can be difficult to raise with the very parents they love and don’t want to hurt.
Therapy provides a space where these questions can be explored safely. Our therapists work with adopted children across a wide age range, using approaches tailored to developmental stage — including play therapy for younger children.
What to Expect in Adoption and Fostering Therapy
When you engage in adoption counselling Calgary at Solasta, you can expect a compassionate, tailored approach to meet your family’s specific needs.
A Safe, Supportive Environment
Care Informed on Trauma
Individualized Therapy for Each Family Member
Ongoing Support and Guidance
What We Help With
Adoption and fostering counselling at Solasta addresses a wide range of experiences including:
- Attachment difficulties and disrupted bonding
- Developmental trauma and its behavioural manifestations
- Blocked care and caregiver burnout
- Identity and belonging questions for adopted children and teens
- Grief — for children, for parents, and for the losses that run through adoption
- Sibling dynamics in adoptive and blended families
- Supporting children through transitions — placement, disruption, or reunion
- Navigating contact with birth families
- School and social difficulties connected to early trauma
- Parenting strategies specifically adapted for trauma-informed care
- Support for the adoptive couple relationship, which is often significantly strained
Take the First Step
Whether you are a parent in the thick of it, a child navigating questions you don’t know how to ask, or an adult looking back — we understand this territory, and we are glad to help
Calgary Counselling and Psychology Services
Our Calgary psychologists have a wide range of experience and expertise in understanding the unique needs of our clients and helping you reach your therapy goals.
CAP
All of our psychologists are registered with the College of Alberta Psychologist.
PAA
Many of our psychologists are members of the Psychology Association of Alberta.
CCPA
Many of our psychologists are members of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association.
Our Calgary Office Space
Our thoughtfully designed counselling spaces are crafted to create a warm, welcoming environment where you can feel completely at ease.
Get Started With Solasta in Three Easy Steps
Find Your Therapist
Book Online
Choose a date and time that fits your schedule and receive instant confirmation of your appointment.
In-person or Online
Visit our welcoming Calgary office or meet with your therapist online from the comfort of your home.
FAQs
Do you work with foster families as well as adoptive families?
Yes — we work with foster parents, kinship caregivers, and adoptive families across all stages of their journey. The specific challenges of fostering — including temporary placements, working within the child welfare system, and the grief of placement endings — are well understood by our team.
My child doesn't want to come to therapy. What can we do?
This is very common with children who have experienced early trauma and have learned to be cautious about new adults. We can often begin with parent sessions — helping you develop strategies and approaches that shift the dynamic at home — and introduce direct work with your child gradually and in a way that feels safe to them. Theraplay in particular is designed to be engaging and enjoyable for children.
What is blocked care and how do I know if I'm experiencing it?
Blocked care is when the normal caregiving impulse — the desire to soothe, connect, and nurture — becomes inhibited by the child’s own defensive and dysregulated behaviour. Parents experiencing blocked care often describe feeling numb toward their child, resentful, or detached — and then feeling profound shame about those feelings. It is a recognised clinical phenomenon, not a character flaw, and it responds well to treatment. If this resonates, please reach out.
Do you offer support for pre-adoptive families?
Yes. We can provide support during the waiting period, help couples prepare emotionally and practically for placement, and assist families in understanding the impact of early trauma on child development before their child arrives.
Is adoption and fostering counselling covered by insurance?
Sessions with a Registered Psychologist are covered by most extended health benefit plans. Solasta offers direct billing to 30+ insurers. Visit our fees page to confirm pricing and coverage.
Is this available online?
Yes — adoption and fostering counselling is available online across Alberta. Some therapeutic modalities, including Theraplay, work best in person, but much of the support we offer — including parenting consultation, individual therapy, and couples support — translates well to a virtual format.