F25-706 Adoption Competency in Clinical Practice: Building Foundational Skills to Support Adopted People

Instructor

Agenda & Learning Objectives

AGENDA:

1:05 pm – 1:15 pm Log on   

1:15 pm – 2:45 pm   

•  Introduction, housekeeping  

• What clients say: searching for adoption competent professionals, and how they’ve been treated by professionals and the world around them  

• Why are these issues frequently missed?  

• Helpful and hurtful terminology  

• Common reasons for family separation  

• Historical Context: family separation in the U.S.  

• Adoption as developmental trauma and how it may manifest in adulthood  

• Ambiguous loss  

• Overlapping issue areas for clients  

• Lifespan impacts for client  

• Clinical themes in individuals and extended family  

 2:45 pm – 3:00 pm Break  

 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm   

• Overview: Intersectionality in international/transracial adoption  

• Shattered identity: Splitting of the original self to survive  

• Impacts of Secrecy on individuals and family systems  

• Practice impacts- assessing for family separation impacts during intake and ongoing, and impacts on practice systems  

• Documentation concerns- special needs for clients  

• Navigating registries, DNA, and “Late Discovery Adoptees”  

• Concept of “Coming out of the fog”  

• Overview: Search, reunion, and relationships with adoptive and biological (“first”) families  

• Ethical challenges when personal issues arise (transference and countertransference)  

• Impact of therapist’s power and privilege on this unique therapeutic relationship  

 4:30 pm Questions and adjournment   

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Upon the completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify implications of separation from original family on human development as an adverse childhood experience.  

• Identify three key elements of adoption competence.  

• Demonstrate increased confidence in ability to assess and support clients who may be experiencing adoption or foster care-related distress.  

• Summarize the meaning of the phrase “coming out of the fog.”   

• Understand how a provider’s own power and privilege may impact the therapeutic relationship.  

Bibliography & References

BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES

Cruz, D., Lichten, M., Berg, K., & George, P. (2022). Developmental trauma: Conceptual framework, associated risks and comorbidities, and evaluation and treatment. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.800687  

Abrams, Z. (2021). Improved Treatment for Developmental Trauma. Apa.org. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2021/07/ce-corner-developmental-trauma is adoption trauma? 2022 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0145213421003781  

Brodzinsky, D., Gunnar, M., & Palacios, J. (2021). Adoption and trauma: Risks, recovery, and the lived experience of adoption. Child Abuse & Neglect, 105309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2021.105309  

Brodzinsky, D., Schechter, M. D., & Robin Marantz Henig. (1993). Being adopted: the lifelong search for self. Doubleday.  

Branco, S., Kim, J., Newton, G., Cooper-Lewter, S., & O’Loughlin, P. (2022). Out of the Fog and into Consciousness: A Model of Adoptee Awareness. https://intercountryadopteevoices.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/adoptee-consciousness-model.pdf  

Fisher, J. (2017). Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors. Routledge.  

Holtz, M. N. (2022, July 23). The Unrecognized Developmental Trauma of Early Relinquishment in Adoption. VISIBLE Magazine. https://visiblemagazine.com/the-unrecognized-developmental-trauma-of-early-relinquishment-in-adoption/  

Hartinger-Saunders, R. M., Jones, A. S., & Rittner, B. (2016). Improving Access to Trauma-Informed Adoption Services: Applying a Developmental Trauma Framework. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 12(1), 119–130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-016-0104-1  

McCarthy, C. (2019, September 14). How racism harms children - Harvard Health Blog. Harvard Health Blog. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-racism-harms-children-2019091417788  

Hollingsworth, L. D. (1998). Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 15(4), 303–319. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1025163912090  

Dandridge, K. (2017). ScholarWorks The Effects of Transracial Adoption on Adjustment and Identity Development. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=5154&context=dissertations  

Racial Identity and Transcultural Adoption | OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. (n.d.). Ojin.nursingworld.org. https://ojin.nursingworld.org/table-of-contents/volume-27-2022/number-1-january-2022/racial-identity-and-transcultural-adoption-/  

Valby, K. (2015). The Realities of Raising a Kid of a Different Race. TIME.com; TIME. https://time.com/the-realities-of-raising-a-kid-of-a-different-race/  

Branco, S. F. (2021). Relational–Cultural Theory: A Supportive Framework for Transracial Adoptive Families. The Family Journal, 106648072110289. https://doi.org/10.1177/10664807211028986  

Presseau, C., DeBlaere, C., & Luu, L. P. (2019). Discrimination and mental health in adult transracial adoptees: Can parents foster preparedness? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 89(2), 192–200. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000385    

Joyce, K. (2013). The child catchers : rescue, trafficking, and the new gospel of adoption. PublicAffairs.  

Lifton, Betty Jean. (2009). Lost & found : the adoption experience. University Of Michigan Press.  

Lifton, Betty Jean. (1995). Journey of the adopted self : a quest for wholeness. Basicbooks.  

Groza, V., & Rosenberg, K. F. (2001). Clinical and practice issues in adoption : bridging the gap between adoptees placed as infants and as older children. Bergin & Garvey.  

Sidhu, R. (2018). A Post-Colonial Autoethnography of Transnational Adoption. British Journal of Social Work, 48(8), 2176–2194. https://doi-org.libdata.lib.ua.edu/10.1093/bjsw/bcy011  

Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency. (August, 2023). The North American Council on Adoptable Children. https://nacac.org/resource/seven-core-issues-in-adoption-and-permanency/  

Suggested Related Reading  

Asgarian, R. (2023). We Were Once a Family. Farrar, Straus & Giroux.  

Chung, N. (2020). All you can ever know. One, An Imprint Of Pushkin Press.  

Dalia, K. (2022). Decolonizing Wellness. Dreamscape Media, LLC.  

DiAngelo, R. J. (2018). White fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism. Beacon Press.  

Heffron, A. (2016). You Don’t Look Adopted.  

Rita James Simon, & Roorda, R. M. (2000). In their own voices: transracial adoptees tell their stories. Columbia University Press.  

Nadal, K. L. (2018). Microaggressions and traumatic stress : theory, research, and clinical treatment. American Psychological Association.  

Nydam, R. J. (1999). Adoptees Come of Age. Westminster John Knox Press.  

Susan Harris O'connor, Diane René Christian, & Mei-Mei Akwai Ellerman. (2016). Black anthology : adult adoptees claim their space : a diverse exploration of the black adoptee journey. Createspace.  

Randolph, B. (2016). It’s Not about You: Understanding Adoptee Search, Reunion, and Open Adoption.  

Betsy Keefer Smalley, & Schooler, J. E. (2000). Telling the truth to your adopted or foster child : making sense of the past. Bergin & Garvey.  

Transue-Woolston, A. H. L., & Diane René Christian. (2013). Perpetual child : adult adoptee anthology : dismantling the stereotype.  

Jane Jeong Trenka, Julia Chinyere Oparah, & Sun Yung Shin. (2020). Outsiders within : writing on transracial adoption. University Of Minnesota Press.  

Tucker, A. (2023). “You Should Be Grateful.” Beacon Press.  

Van Der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.  

Course Completion & CE Information

Category I Maryland BSWE Requirement

The Office of Continuing Professional Education at the University of Maryland School of Social Work is authorized by the Board of Social Work Examiners in Maryland to sponsor social work continuing education programs. This workshop qualifies for 3 Category I Continuing Education Units. The Office of Continuing Professional Education is also authorized by the Maryland Board of Psychologists and the Maryland Board of Professional Counselors to sponsor Category A continuing professional education. 

ASWB Information 

University of Maryland School of Social Work Office of Continuing Professional Education, #1611, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 2/11/2024-2/11/2027.  

To receive ACE credit, full attendance is required; no partial credits will be given for partial attendance. 

Certificate Access

To access the evaluation and certificate, click on the orange certificate button in your CPE account. Once you complete the evaluation, access to the certificate will be available.  

Live Interactive Webinars (Cat I) and Live Webinars (Cat II) - Allow up to 30 minutes post-training for attendance to be verified, then you will be able to access the evaluation and certificate. 

In Person Trainings - Please allow five (5) business days post-training for attendance to be verified, then you will be able to access the evaluation and certificate. 

Please refer to the tab "Live Interactive Webinar Policies & FAQs" for UMSSW Office of CPE policies regarding all live interactive webinar related matters. Contact our office at cpe@ssw.umaryland.edu for more information.  

Evaluation

Participants will have access to the evaluation after attendance has been verified. Evaluations will be available for one (1) week after the workshop has ended.  

After one (1) week, participants will no longer have access to the evaluation and will have to contact CPE about reactivation.

Target Audience

Social Workers, LCPCs, and Psychologists

We welcome anyone interested in the topic!

Live Interactive Webinar Platforms

LIVE INTERACTIVE WEBINAR PLATFORMS

The Office of Continuing Professional Education hosts Live Interactive Webinars through Zoom. This platform offers a high quality and user-friendly webinar platform for our registrants.

System Requirements:

• Operating Systems: Windows XP or higher; MacOS 9 or higher; Android 4.0 or higher.
• Internet Browser: Google Chrome; Firefox 10.0 or higher.

Our system is not compatible with the Safari web browser.

• Broadband Internet Connection: Cable, High-speed DSL and any other medium that is internet accessible.

**Please have your device charging at all times to ensure that your device does not lose power during the webinar.

Course Interaction Requirements:

To participate in Live Interactive Webinars, you MUST have a device that allows you to view the presentation on screen and hear the instructor at all times. We do not allow participants to call-in from their phones or mobile devices and solely listen to the presentation. Participation in Live Interactive Webinars is mandatory.

Our webinar policies can be found on our website by clicking here.

Webinar Policies & FAQs

Click The Link to View The Webinar Policies & FAQs

https://umbsswcpe.ce21.com/Page/live-interactive-webinar-procedures-policies-4129

Code of Conduct

The Office of Continuing Professional Education at the University of Maryland School of Social Work adheres to the NASW Code of Ethics. This policy is to ensure that the training environment for social work professionals remains respectful, productive, and conducive to learning. Disruptive behavior that interferes with the learning process, disrupts the training experience for others, or undermines the integrity of the program will not be tolerated.

Expectations for Participant Engagement:

In alignment with the NASW Code of Ethics and the University of Maryland Baltimore Code of Conduct, participants are expected to demonstrate professionalism, which includes respecting confidentiality, maintaining a collaborative and respectful tone, and contributing positively to the group dynamic. Disclosures made during the training (e.g., case studies or personal reflections) must be handled with care and in accordance with ethical and legal guidelines.

All participants in the training program are expected to:

• Engage actively in the learning process and show respect for the opinions and contributions of others.
• Demonstrate professionalism in both attitude and behavior, maintaining respect for instructors, peers, and the training environment.
• Maintain open communication by expressing concerns or disagreements constructively and respectfully.
• Follow the guidelines and expectations provided by instructors and facilitators.
• Support a collaborative learning environment where all participants feel valued and safe to contribute.

Instructors and CPE staff reserve the right to dismiss participants who do not adhere to ethical/professional principles and standards. If removed, CEs will be adjusted to reflect the time attended, unless otherwise specified. 

ADA Accommodations

If you are requesting ADA accommodations, please contact our office via email at least two weeks prior to the workshop date. Requests after that date may not be fulfilled.  

Our email address is cpe@ssw.umaryland.edu.  

Late Fees and Refunds

The base price is $70, which includes CE credit.  

Late Fee: On 10/01/25, a non-refundable late fee of $20 is added to the base price. Late fees cannot be refunded or applied to account credit.  

Cancellations: **ALL cancellations will be subjected to a $35.00 administration fee.**  To be eligible for a refund or CPE account credit, cancellations must be made at least 24 hours before the workshop. 

For more information, please read the general policies on our website.