Amy Barker, LMHC, owner & founder of Adoption Savvy, is an Adoption & Trauma Therapist who offers counseling, consulting, coaching, clinical supervision, and public speaking services. Amy holds a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, is licensed in Washington state as a Mental Health Counselor, is certified in Attachment & Trauma-Focused Therapy (ATFT), and serves as Newsletter Editor on the national Board of Concerned United Birthparents, Inc. Her private practice focuses on individuals impacted by adoption and foster care, those with DNA surprises and/or misattributed parentage (NPE/MPE), and others experiencing reproductive and genetic identity issues such as donor-conceived persons (DCPs), Late Discovery Adoptees (LDAs), and those involved in trafficking and/or surrogacy. She regularly facilitates groups and retreats for Adult Adoptees and Birth Mothers.
Amy is an Adoptee from a closed adoption during the Baby Scoop Era in long-term reunion, and she is also a Birth Mother in ongoing relationship with her grown son of an open adoption. Having lived both sides of the fractured and confusing reality of relinquishment and adoption, and also as a clinician specializing in this field, Amy is in a unique position to speak to how intergenerational trauma is passed on through the lineage of families and how to break the repeating cycle for future generations. She is a writer, performer, and overall creative who seeks to use all available forms of artistry to communicate the complex, nuanced, and complicated lifelong journey of adoption.