The newly published book, Beneath the Mask, Understanding Adopted Teens, is a wonderful resource for parents of teenagers, as well as parents who are still years away from dealing with teen issues. The author, Debbie Riley, is a counselor and Executive Director of the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) Ms Riley uses her years of experience with counseling adopted children to distill the issues that are common to children in the teen years as they deal with being adopted, difficult birth family histories and the typical balance of adolescence of wanting to separate from their parents yet still have security and dependence. In the preface, Riley cites the statistic that adopted teenagers are more likely to be receiving mental health services than their non adopted peers. Two percent of the general population is adopted, yet 5 to 17 percent of adolescents in therapy are adopted. There are many theories about why this is true, but one of them may be that adoptive parents may be likely to seek assistance, due to higher economic status, and having been educated through the home study process. Riley’s theme throughout the book is to seek a therapist who has training and experience in dealing specifically with adoption issues. Two chapters that are of specific interest are the pages that deal with “Adolescent Stuck Spots” and “Parental Stuck Spots.” The teen may not have the tools to deal with why they were placed for adoption, missing or difficult birth history, transracial differences, feeling different because they are adopted, and feeling truly permanent in their adoptive family. The parents are dealing with these issues from the adult perspective, often wondering how much information to share, and when to share it. This book is written for both mental health professionals and parents. The language used is very accessible, even for someone with no knowledge of the terminology used in the therapeutic setting. To illustrate the topics, Riley uses case studies of teens in therapy to explain the concepts discussed. As the parent of children still a few years away from the teen years, I found this book to be a helpful model of what to expect, and gave me some issues to think about how to prepare for the questions that our children will be asking. For parents of teens that may be experiencing difficulties, this book offers hope and concrete therapy strategies to guide a teen and their parent(s) through treatment and healing. Review by Eileen Delaney, adoptive parent, volunteer for national parent organization Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption, on Board of local chapter. | 
