Adoption Therapy Case Consultation
practice excellence with the adoption constellation
I am passionate about ensuring adoptees are provided expert-level counseling. Throughout my career, I have worked with a large number of adult adoptees, children that have been adopted, expectant mothers, birth mothers, biological parents, and adoptive parents. While not all concerns relate back to adoption, it is important for therapists to understand the impact that adoption can have on an individual and a family. Our graduate programs may not have prepared us for working with the adoption constellation, but I am happy to share resources, conceptualization, approaches, and my years of learning with any therapist wanting to better serve their clients.
My Consultation Style
Consultation is a positive, collaborative process, whether it is an on-going relationship or a single case consult. I enjoy sharing resources and considering techniques that may benefit your therapeutic work with a specific client. When considering a specific client, I may ask a lot of questions to help build a multi-dimensional frame for this client, their goals, and your work together.
Adoption Therapy Consultation Group
As we work on leveling up our Adoption Therapy knowledge and skills, I believe some of the best learning comes through case presentation and case consultation.
Everyone will have an opportunity to share a case if they would like. And, yes, we will talk about the various iterations for the Constellation Set-ups as they fit for each case. Groups open in January and August.
My Experience
In addition to my varied experience as an adoption therapist, I am an adoptive parent and a kinship guardian, currently raising teenagers. I have also worked in various adoption agencies. I was a founding member of MLJ Adoptions, where I served for seven years as Vice President of Social Services. MLJ started as both an international and domestic adoption agency but dropped the domestic adoption program after two years to focus solely on international adoption.
I served as the Interim Vice President of PR, Outreach, and Communications for KidsFirst Adoption Services, which focused more heavily on domestic adoption. I served as a Young Professionals Advisory Board member for The Villages, Indiana’s largest not-for-profit child and family services agency, serving over 1,400 children and their families each day, including a very strong foster care and adoption program. I am currently a representative for Goods & Better, a partner of Foster the Family.
I am or have been a member of NACAC, Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS), and the Attachment & Trauma Network, Inc. I adopted an older child as a single woman through an inter-country pilot program. My parenting experience includes adoptive, kinship, guardianship, step, and grandparenting with both single motherhood and co-parenting in a blended family. I work to maintain an open international adoption.
I created the Constellation Set-ups for Brainspotting with Adoption, which I now teach as a part of the Brainspotting with Adoption Specialty Training, approved by Dr. David Grand.
Brainspotting Certification & Consultation
As a Brainspotting Trainer & Consultant, I am able to help Brainspotting therapists work toward their own Brainspotting Certification. Brainspotting Certification will expand your knowledge and enhance your practical use of Brainspotting. Certification is a one-on-one, personalized training designed to sharpen your expertise in Brainspotting. Certification shows your commitment to Brainspotting and personal excellence.
I also provide individual and group consultation for Brainspotting with Adoption, Brainspotting with Couples, and more. As a Consultant, I take a relational approach and collaborate with you on setting the frame to help your clients achieve optimal growth and healing. I work on the US Eastern Time Zone, but I am happy to work with clinicians from all around the world.
