Preparing Children for Adoption

In this interactive webinar, clinicians will define and develop their role as the adoption therapist in relation to working with foster and adoptive families. Clinicians will describe the impact of secrecy on a child and learn techniques for talking with children about their difficult and traumatic histories in a developmentally appropriate way. Clinicians will identify the importance of developing the child’s personal narrative to help them make sense of their past and process the multiple losses they have experienced. Clinicians will also learn techniques to prepare children and families for transitions and necessary good byes; this may include leaving a foster home or group home, a good bye/closure visit with a birth family, or moving to a select home. Experiential activities will be integrated into the workshop to expand the clinician’s toolkit in working with families as they transition through adoption. [Elective for Adoption Certificate Program]

Fee: $60.00
Continuing Ed. Hours (CEH): 3.00 Clinical

Click Here to Enroll

Instructor: Rebecca Gallese, LCSW Date: Friday, May 19, 2023 Time: 9:30 am - 12:30 pm ET Location: Zoom (Interactive Webinar)

Webinar Objectives

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:
• Define the role of the adoption professional in relation to work with adoptive families
• Describe the impact of secrecy on child and family relationships
• List techniques for talking with children about their history and transitions in a developmentally appropriate way
• Identify the importance of developing the child’s personal narrative or Life Story to help make sense of their past
• Describe techniques to effectively prepare children and support families through transitions and adoption

Webinar Outline

9:30 am Welcome/Introduction
• Workshop objectives
• Opening icebreaker

9:40 am Building the professional relationship and explaining adoption work

9:55 am Telling the truth to adopted children and the impact secrecy has on family relationships, reasons for not telling and techniques to help professionals and parents tell the truth

10:15 am Techniques for talking with children about their history, removal, placement and adoption in a developmentally appropriate way

11:00 am Icebreaker, Building the child’s story to help them make sense of their past, tools to help children talk about their past, questions the child needs answered, video and discussion

11:15 am Techniques to prepare and support children and families through transitions, goodbyes and changes, the essential benefits of saying goodbye and the emotional and transitional tasks necessary to validate and support the child’s grieving process, case examples and video

12:10 pm Ways to minimize vicarious trauma and the impact this has on the professional

12:15 pm Conclusion/Q&A

Target Audience

Social Workers and Allied Health Professionals

Content Level

Beginner - Advanced

Webinar Completion Requirements

About the Instructor

Rebecca Gallese, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with over twenty years� experience working in the field of foster care and adoption. With a MSW from Rutgers School of Social Work her experience includes: providing in home family therapy to foster, adoptive and kinship families, outpatient treatment to foster and adoptive families, supervising in home adoption therapists, providing Tuning in to Teens parenting groups for kinship and adoptive parents, instructing foster, kinship and adoptive parent trainings, curriculum development and has been an instructor for the CE program at Rutgers since 2007.