November is National Adoption Month, but Megan Stroup, licensed clinical social worker and owner of Indiana Adoption & Family Counseling, deals with adoption every day.
After being told at age 15 that she was adopted, she decided to draw on her experience to create a counseling agency in Noblesville for families going through adoption.
Indiana Adoption & Family Counseling opened in 2021 and in downtown Noblesville at 10 S. 9th St. The agency provides an array of services and works with children ages 3 and older and adults on several aspects of the adoption process.
“There’s this kind of myth that kids are adopted, and everything is great,” Stroup said. “Often, these families need a lot of support. They need specialized counseling. They need people who know what the specific challenges they’re facing are, so being an adoptee, I knew that I really wanted to create a specialized place where these families could come and learn how to do adoption better.”
Stroup said the agency’s services include:
- Consultations to determine whether a family is ready to adopt
- Support for those suffering fertility challenges
- Sessions for those with postpartum and perinatal mood disorders
- Sessions for complex birth mother situations for those who are considering placing or have already placed a child up for adoption
- Theraplay, where a clinician leads play therapy that focuses on attachment and bonding
- Adoption reunion coaching, where those who were adopted want to meet their birth family
Although many of Stroup’s clients are focused on adoption, she gets calls from people seeking other family-oriented services. She also hosts a book club for adoptive and foster parents; created an adoptee art group; and established an adoptive mom retreat. The events are presented at different times throughout the year.
Based on her experience, Stroup said. Hamilton County has a large adoption community. She previously worked for the Department of Child Services and would frequently encounter families from Hamilton County answering the need to serve as foster families for other counties.
“(Hamilton County) is a community that does a good job and wants to do a good job taking care of kids and families,” she said. “It’s a community that wants to grow and learn, so I felt like I could go there and that my work would be meaningful.”
For more, visit inadoptioncounseling.com or call 317-643-2210.
