Adoption Presentations
Adoption Therapy: What You Don’t Know You Don’t Know
Those impacted by adoption – whether children or adults, parents or adoptees – face issues and variables uncommon to the general population. Treatment professionals can unitentionally increase the intensity of the situation if unfamiliar with the factors inherent to adoption and the situations that precipitate a need for a child to be adopted. Too often I have heard from adoptive parents we went to a therapist and they made it worse or adoptees saying I cannot find a therapist that gets it.
Research and therapist self-report demonstrate how poorly we are prepared to address the issues related to adoption. We will discuss a vareity of ways that you can increase your knowledge base and ethically work with adoptees and adoptive families.
Filled with research and historical information that often makes attendees gasp, this is a fun presentation for everyone.
Adoption in the Classroom: Continuing Education for Teachers, Administrators, and Parents
The variables and core issues of adoption can greatly impact the dynamics of a classroom and how a child learns. Teachers are invited to learn more about what dynamics and assignments unintentionally disrupt the classroom. Parents are invited to learn about how to share necessary information with teachers and administrators to avoid unnecessary complications.
The Problem with RAD as a diagnosis and Why Attachment Strategies Fail
Attachment difficulty should be expected and unsurprising to adoptive parents. Rather than a single diagnosis, attachment is a spectrum disorder with only the most severe cases qualifying for Reactive Attachment Disorder, but there are many problems with the diagnosis for all parties involved.
Trust has to come before attachment and many “attachment strategies” fail because they are about power rather than trust. Parents and professionals can have some skepticism about diagnoses and consider other factors that may be contributing. Participants will be able to:
- Describe the attachment process and how this is changed by adoption
- Explain the attachment spectrum
- Analyze attachment strategies for effectiveness and therapeutic value
- Name at least two other avenues of exploration that may be contributing to family struggles.
Nutrition, Allergies, Behavior, and Emotional Health
(pitch pdf) aka Happy, Health, and Well-Fed Families
Food is the body’s fuel and one of the most basic ways that we provide nurture to our children. Malnutrition, sensitivities, allergies, and food preferences can impact a child’s behavior, thinking, and emotions. This presentation introduces research surrounding nutrition and equips attendees to shape behavior using food. Food is discussed as an intervention. The most common food allergens, intolerances, and sensitivities are covered, addressing symptoms and behaviors, diagnoses, and research.
Changing food habits is often a difficult change that requires a lot of thought. Parents often fear their children will rebel against healthier choices. Some simple food rules can make mealtimes easier for everyone (you don’t need to make more than one meal for your family!) We can talk about allergy-safe snacks, meal-planning, and eating out. Leave equipped to make changes to improve the physical and emotional health of your entire family!
Relationship-Building Boundaries in Search & Reunion
As the organizing editor of the book It’s Not About You: Understanding Adoptee Search, Reunion, & Open Adoption (for birth and adoptive parents and their therapists), Brooke believes in the transformative power open adoption and reunion can have for adoptees. Even when the process is wonderful, it is never simple.
Boundaries can help all members of the adopton constellation understand what to expect, what to share (and not share), and how to support each other. This workshop will review boundaries that may be helfpul, how to define boundaries, and what to do when boundaries need to be enforced, in a way that promotes positive relationships rather than damages relationships.
Managing the Stress of the Adoption Process & Why it is Essential to Your Children
The adoption process can be one of the most stressful periods of a parent’s life. How you manage the stress now impacts your child’s ability to process the issues inherent to adoption accoridng to research. Brooke will explain the research, share practical tips, provide resources, and teach basic techniques during this session.
You will leave this session more relaxed than when you were before you entered the room and have tools to use throughout the adoption process and adoptive parenting.
Traveling with (Adopted) Kids
Traveling with children can be an adventure in any situation, but traveling with a newly adopted child can be an intimidating challenge. A little planning and smart packing can make a world of difference.
After two international flights, two domestic flights, and three road trips with and without other adults in just a few short months, I was confident I could take my son anywhere. I have since added six more international flights, several domestic flights, and at least five more countries to his list. I will share my success, my mistakes, my over-packing, and how we learned to travel light.
Adoption Professional and Adoptive Parent: Seeing beyond your kid without overlooking your child.
Often it is considered a professional asset to be an adoptive parent, but wearing both hats can present pitfalls. As both parents and professionals, we need to know how to share what we have learned from experience without sacrificing our children’s privacy, and still understand how many other experiences there are that differ from our own. As parents, we cannot let our professions impede on our children even when other children need our help.
Working Therapeutically with Adoption, When to Consult, and When to Refer
Those impacted by adoption – whether children or adults, parents or adoptees – face issues and variables uncommon to the general population, and yet, while adoption is a special factor to consider, it is not the only factor. Treatment professionals can unintentionally increase the intensity of the situation if unfamiliar with the factors inherent to adoption.
Brooke will discuss what you need to know, how to approach working with adoptive families, the emotional issues inherent to adoption, best practices when working with adoption, and identifying when to make a referral and to whom. Brooke wrote “Red Flags that a Therapist Could Do More Harm Than Good” for Adoption Therapy: Perspectives from Clients and Clinicians on Processing and Healing Post-Adoption Issues.
Top Ten Offensive Things Overhead
(at Adoption Conferences/from Adoptive Parents/by Adoption Professionals)
Words convey both facts and feelings, but sometimes we forget the feelings that certain words cause, even when our words are technically correct. In the world of adoption, certain phrases are repeated again and again and can get into our heads.
As adoption advocates, it is our responsibility to examine the words we choose, be aware of their potential impact, and strive to use the most positive language that we can at all times. Sometimes the words that offend others may have never occurred to us. This workshop can take you to the next level in understanding the experience of others and being aware of hurts caused unintentionally.
General Presentations
Using Narrative to Deal with Bullying
Approximately 77 percent of students report being the victim of bullying. Numbers suggest that despite programs and policies to reduce bullying, incidences are only increasing. While we would like to prevent children from experiencing bullying, we have to be prepared to help them process the experience in case it does occur.
Author of The Bully Book: A workbook to help kids cope (2016) explains how to use narrative to process incidences of bullying and move to feeling empowered, capable, and confident. Similar techniques can also be applied with children who are bullying to help them find more productive ways to communicate their wants, needs, and feelings.
Nutrition, Allergies, Behavior, and Emotional Health
(pitch pdf) aka Happy, Health, and Well-Fed Families
Food is the body’s fuel and one of the most basic ways that we provide nurture to our children. Malnutrition, sensitivities, allergies, and food preferences can impact a child’s behavior, thinking, and emotions. This presentation introduces research surrounding nutrition and equips attendees to shape behavior using food. Food is discussed as an intervention. The most common food allergens, intolerances, and sensitivities are covered, addressing symptoms and behaviors, diagnoses, and research.
Changing food habits is often a difficult change that requires a lot of thought. Parents often fear their children will rebel against healthier choices. Some simple food rules can make mealtimes easier for everyone (you don’t need to make more than one meal for your family!) We can talk about allergy-safe snacks, meal-planning, and eating out. Leave equipped to make changes to improve the physical and emotional health of your entire family!
How to Successfully Set and Achieve Your Goals
Setting and achieving goals seems like something we should all be able to do, yet we have all failed to meet goals at some point throughout life. Whether you know what you want to achieve or you just know you are dissatisfied with one area of life, there is a process to setting and working towards goals that can ensure success.
Use a process and provided worksheets to help you determine what goals to focus on, how to achieve them, and what additional support you will need to ensure your success, including one simple rule that is said to ensure that you meet 80 percent of your goals. Speaker will provide guidance, ideas, resources, and research to support attendees.
Emotionally Healthy Living
We all know what it takes to maintain physical health, but do we manage our stress, invest in our relationships, and practice the habits most important to emotional health? When we are not emotionally healthy, our physical health suffers and it becomes more and more difficult to lose weight, sleep well, and manage other essential aspects of our daily lives.
This session will cover the many aspects of an emotionally healthy life and specific techniques to improve emotional health that anyone can employ. Learn the roles eating well, sleeping enough, and exercising play in our physical health.
Traveling with Kids
Traveling with children can be an adventure to say the least. A little planning and smart packing can make a world of difference. I have traveled as a single parent to multiple countries with multiple international flights, domestic flights, and several road trips. I will share my success, my mistakes, and my over-packing, including how we managed food allergies while on the road.
The Brighter Side of Existentialism
With important concepts like meaningless, lack of morality, and despair, you may wonder how I find the derogated hope in existentialism – and why I think it can be helpful to individuals who are interested in self improvement, empowerment, and achievement. You to can learn to stop and smell the flowers while you go create your own existence.
The Psychology of Weight Maintenance
Specific goals and time-limited programs can often be easier than maintaining the change you have achieved. Unfortunately, this can lead to yo-yo weight loss/gain, frustration, or throwing in the towel. This session will investigate the many reasons an individual reaches for certain foods, over-eats, and struggles to make it to the gym — even when they know that it works.
Different therapeutic techniques can be employed to allow you to be your own therapist and keep yourself on track — at least two therapeutic theories will be discussed. Attendees will leave with the tools needed to put a success plan in place. Examples will come from participants, therapeutic clients, myself, and my brief appearance on NBC’s The Biggest Loser.
Corporate Presentations
The Multi-Generational Workplace
With the number of millennials in the workforce passing Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, generational conflicts and misunderstandings abound. Understanding each other and how to communicate can create a more productive and enjoyable working environment for everyone. Each generation has strengths that the rest of us can benefit from.
Personality in the Workplace
Using the DISC, the Myers-Briggs (MBTI), or both, your team can learn more about themselves and each other all while having fun and learning to appreciate it each other more. Personality testing can teach you and your team about how you process information, how you approach the world, and how you communicate. It can also help employees to be happier and more productive AND cut down on excessive (and ineffective) emails. Brooke can lighten up your workday with an interactive presentation and candy as a learning tool.
