The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child

"The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child", by Nancy Verrier, is a challenging and courageous work. A book which adoptees call their "bible," it is a must read for anyone connected with adoption: adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, therapists, educators, and attorneys. In its application of information about perinatal psychology, attachment, bonding, and loss, "The Primal Wound" clarifies the effects of separation from the birthmother on adopted children. In addition, it gives adoptees, whose pain has long been unacknowledged or misunderstood, validation for their feelings, as well as explanations for their behavior. As one adoptee said, "Only one thing has caused me more pain and damage than the existence of the primal wound: the world's insistence that it does not exist." The existence of the primal wound and suggestions for healing that wound are intelligently and compassionately set forth in this book, which is fast becoming the quintessential work about the complex and life-long process of adoption. The insight the author brings to the experience of abandonment and loss will contribute not only to the healing of those connected with adoption, but will bring understanding and encouragement to anyone who has ever felt abandoned.