Contact: Janet Alston Jackson, Self Awareness Trainings, 818-899-8812, info@selfawarenesstrainings.com

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- Adoption Advocate, Janet Alston Jackson is available to comment on why some parents go out of the country to adopt.

“Our foster children in the United States have a stigma attached labeling them damaged so many people run to other countries to adopt,” says Jackson. “People think that if they follow celebrity leads, they can get a child overseas who doesn’t have issues. But that’s not always true. Many newly adoptive parents need mental health support to help them and their children adjust no matter where a child was born. We have a child mental health shortage in this country which is the real need.”

Jackson is the author of “A Cry for Light: A Journey into Love,” which recounts her eleven-year ordeal dragging her adopted son to 22 different mental health experts before finding him help with attachment issues. “He wouldn't have become violent if he was diagnosed correctly and early.”

America suffers from a serious, long-term shortage of child psychiatrists that's taking a toll on young people, their parents and their doctors. A new study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry warns that thirty-five states fall below the average of 8.67 child and adolescent psychiatrists per 100,000 children and adolescents. One hundred and ninety metropolitan counties do not even have one child and adolescent psychiatrist.

“A Cry for Light,” is the winner of the “Christian Inspiration” Award from USA Book News “2006 Best Books.” This powerful memoir follows a Hollywood publicist (Jackson) seeking help for her adopted son whose behavior tears her family apart. Surprisingly Jackson finds herself on an inner journey leading to her Spiritual Self, and finally regains her detached son.

Jackson was a publicist for CBS and ABC Television Networks, and a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children. She was in the ministry for four years, and studied with three Zen masters. Today she is a Behavioral Consultant and co-owner of Self Awareness Trainings with her husband, Walter H. Jackson, author “Sporting the Right Attitude: Lessons Learned in a Troubled Family.” The couple facilitate effective communications and stress management workshops to a variety of audiences including parents, teachers, executives, health care workers, law enforcement, and entertainment professionals. For more information contact them at (818)899-8812 or info@SelfAwarenessTrainings.com

“A Cry for Light” is available on Amazon.com, or JanetaJackson.com.