Adoption and Addiction with Paul Sunderland

About this episode

This episode features Paul Sunderland discussing the connections between adoption, trauma, and addiction.

Paul Sunderland is a renowned addiction specialist and psychotherapist. With over 35 years of experience, Paul's groundbreaking work has illuminated the deep and often-overlooked links between adoption, trauma, and addiction. His powerful presentations, shared widely by the adoption community, have resonated with thousands around the world. In this episode, we explore the lifelong impact of early maternal separation, how adoption shapes identity and mental health, and why adopted people may face a heightened vulnerability to addiction. Whether you're an adopted person, a parent of loss, an adoptive parent, or a professional working in the therapeutic or community services space, Paul's wisdom offers invaluable understanding and hope. This episode will resonate with adopted adults, parents who lost children to adoption, siblings, adoptive parents, practitioners, and anyone seeking a deeper, more honest understanding of the lifelong impacts of adoption. 🎧 If this conversation resonates, subscribe for more honest discussions about adoption, identity and the lived experience of adopted adults, mothers and fathers who lost children to adoption and therapists, researchers and policy…

People in this episode

Host: Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow

Guest: Paul Sunderland

Topics covered

• adoption
• addiction
• mental health
• identity
• trauma
• early maternal separation

Keywords

• adoption
• addiction
• mental health
• identity
• trauma
• maternal separation
• psychotherapy
• vulnerability

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Jigsaw Queensland

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