Fraser Mental Health
3333 University Ave SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-331-9413
www.fraser.org
Elana Meesun Schuster, MSW, LICSW is the program lead for Permanency & Adoptive Family Support at Fraser Minneapolis. Elana has experience providing therapy, day treatment, and support groups with children, first parents and adoptive parents.
She has completed advanced training via UMN Permanency & Adoption Competency Certificate program and with the Trauma-Informed Child Parent Psychotherapy (TI-CPP) model.
Elana’s extensive personal, professional, and community-based experience anchors her conviction to advocate for both family stability and on-going connections for children in foster and adoptive families.
“I believe adoption is a lifelong process, intertwined with both joys and challenges. My passion is in early intervention and a developmental approach in addressing these challenges and bringing out new joys.
I believe in family-centered, strength based practice that acknowledges that best practice often includes engaging multiple parts of the adoption constellation surrounding a child. The entire family system is the client, not just the child.
In working with adopted persons, as well as first/birth, kinship, and adoptive families, I believe it is crucial to provide support that addresses multiple layers (attachment, trauma, race and identity, grief and loss, etc.) and is tailored to the unique developmental, historical, and mental health needs of each part of the adoption constellation.”
Additional Information
Service Location: Office Based & In-Home
Languages Spoken: English and elementary Korean
Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate Graduate (University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare): Yes, 2013 Co-hort
Practice Focus:
Young Child (0-5)
Elementary Age (6-12)
Teen (13-18)
Family
Birth/First Parent/Family
Areas of Practice Strength:
Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Childhood Depression
Attachment
Grief and Loss Related to Adoption
Search & Reunion Support
Adoption Identity (i.e. sense of self-worth; self-esteem…etc.)
Early Traumatic Experiences
Transracial/Transcultural
Open Adoption
Treatment Modalities:
Trauma-informed Child Parent Psychotherapy (TI-CPP)
Attachment Bio-Behavioral Catch-Up (ABC)
Play Therapy
updated Spring 2021
