 By Anna Linde
I came to Sweden as a six-week-old baby, adopted from Brazil. Dealing with life, as well as navigating intimacy and distance, is an ongoing process when you come from a background and history of traumatic separations. Coming from an upbringing in a white-dominant society, I’m used to being “othered,” but what has been truly shattering is that Swedish society doesn’t use the term “race.” Being othered and exposed to racism in a country where race isn’t acknowledged is a trauma in itself. Since my teenage years, I had a will and curiosity to dig deeper into the true meaning of roots, family, and culture, where my own sexuality played an important role. After I took my BAs in social work, I studied Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dance and Movement Therapy (DMT), where my interest in psychosomatic expressions accelerated. A natural continuation to this was to do my Master of Science in Sexology and now, I´m also a Certified Sexcoach (WASC) and a Sexological Bodyworker in training. I integrate different levels of consciousness through the practice of movement to extend and connect what your body is trying to express when your words are not enough. How would words ever be enough for us to heal later on?
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 by Max Weinberg, PhD A common activity that educators ask students to partake in is bringing baby pictures of themselves when they are commemorating a transition in life (usually a graduation). Parents/caregivers often have to bear the brunt of the task by digging through old albums to find just the right one. What some fail to realize is the strain it can put on parents/caregivers of adopted/looked after (ALA) children wringing their hands trying to figure out how to handle this.
In addition to potentially bringing up stories that can be complicated or unnerving for ALA children, not every person has baby pictures available to them. Children who have been relinquished, and have spent time in multiple homes, may not have access to baby pictures. Children who are transracially adopted and living in communities where they are considered a super-minority in their schools are many times put in vulnerable and uncomfortable positions. They often get exposed and are forced to consider personal, private questions about their birth story, or their journey as an ALA person, which dates back to a time that they may have the ability to remember. |
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