Educational Webinars

Understanding Grief and Loss in Adoption

This webinar explores grief and loss in adoption and delves into the impact of grief and loss on adoptive children, examining how these complex emotions manifest in distinctive ways for adoptees. This webinar explores the stages of grief and highlights the specific behaviors and needs at each developmental stage: pre-school through young adult. Additionally, this webinar discusses practical strategies for adoptive parents to support their child’s emotional development and stabilization within the family. By understanding grief and loss, we can foster resilience and healing, ensuring a supportive adjustment and stronger bonds within adoptive families.

Samantha Sutherland, MSW, presented the webinar: Understanding Grief and Loss in Adoption. Samantha is a social worker for Holt International and has over 15 years of experience working with children and families. Samantha has previous experience working with Child Protective Services, private foster agencies and community counseling. Samantha is passionate about helping families and children find stability and happiness.

Navigating Birth Family Relationships

This webinar is an insightful exploration of the joys and complexities of navigating birth-family relationships. In this event, you’ll hear from three adoptees who share their personal journeys of reunion with members of their birth family. Each story offers a unique perspective on the challenges and triumphs of these connections, inviting deeper understanding and reflection into the adoptee experience. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear their perspectives on adoption and identity in the context of birth family relationships.

Creating Healthy Digital Habits in Your Home

Creating Healthy Digital Habits in Your Home is a webinar dedicated to helping adoptive parents examine and pursue digital health regarding their kids and screens. Technology is not going away and it’s imperative that parents become involved in creating new cultural norms of digital health. Digital health is critical in order to reduce loneliness, depression, anxiety and suicide in a socially isolated society. If technology is a struggle in your home (and maybe even drives you crazy), you want some guidance on creating boundaries, or if you are just curious on how other navigate these issues, this webinar is for you!

Our presenters are Holt Social Worker, Kaitlin Torrenzano, LSW and Senior Director of Clinical Services, Celeste Snodgrass, LCSW.

Overcoming Blocked Care

Is your parenting journey turning out differently than you imagined? You had so much love to give, but now you feel ashamed and bewildered by your lack of compassion. You may be experiencing blocked care—a self-protective mechanism in your nervous system that makes it difficult to connect with your child and maintain compassion. The good news is you can heal from blocked care, and compassion can be rekindled in your heart. Learn practical steps and simple practices to begin your journey of reclaiming compassion for your child and yourself.

Lisa C. Qualls serves the adoption community from her unique perspective as a birth mom, former foster youth, foster mom, and adoptive mom. Lisa is a TBRI Practitioner, co-founder of Adoption Wise, and parent coach. She is also the author of  The Connected Parent: Real-Life Strategies for Building Trust and Attachment (with Dr. Karyn Purvis), and co-author of Reclaim Compassion: The Adoptive Parent’s Guide to Overcoming Blocked Care with Neuroscience and Faith. Lisa lives in Idaho with her husband Russ. They have twelve children by birth and adoption and two beautiful granddaughters.

Parenting Triggers

Disrespect. Lying. Not listening. Tone of voice. Nasty words. Blatant defiance. When you experience any of these from your child it can push you to explode. This webinar covers how to manage the typical parenting triggers that most of us experience on a daily basis.  Practical and easy to follow tips guided by the principles of Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI®) and other connected strategies will be presented by Pam Shepard, LCSW. Pam is Holt’s Supervisor of Clinical Services, the mom of two teenagers, a therapist and a TBRI practitioner and mentor.

Helping Your Child Develop Social Skills

Parents, teachers, mental health professional and kids themselves report how difficult it was to live through the pandemic and the ripple effects that followed. Add this on top of the multiple layers of complicated history that children who are adopted were already dealing with, and it only compounded the struggles. One area of concern seen is the delayed social development of children. This webinar focuses on practical aspects and tools for parents to  help your child grow in their social skills (focusing on elementary age children 5-12 years old).

Our presenters are Holt Social Worker, Samantha Sutherland, MSW and retired Holt Social Worker Gary Sampson, LCSW.

Supporting Sibling Relationships in Adoption: Nurturing All Your Children

Many caregivers ask the question, “what about my other children?,” when it comes to how adoption affects their families. In this class, we will deepen our understanding of the needs of children already in the home through discussing research evidence specifically on this family role. Plus, we will learn new, effective communication and connection strategies that not only meet the needs of resident children but also meet the needs of the whole family. Caregivers will be equipped with proven strategies that have led to decreased stress and increased satisfaction and connection in adoptive families.

Dr. Jana Hunsley is a psychologist who offers consulting, training, coaching, and counseling for families and professionals involved in foster care and adoption. Jana is also the co-founder of Camp Together, a nonprofit offering therapeutic family camps for families impacted by trauma. Jana received her doctorate in experimental psychology from the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University where her research focused on understanding and meeting the needs of every member of adoptive and foster families through post-adoption supportive services. Over the years, Jana has worked in various clinical settings as a therapist with children and youth who have experienced trauma, including residential treatment, institutional care, schools, child welfare, and juvenile detention. Jana credits her passion for this work to her siblings who were adopted when she was a teenager.

Adoption Documents!

Adoption involves mountains of paperwork, and it can be hard to know which documents are most important for the lifetime of the adoptee.  In this webinar, two Holt social workers with decades of experience will walk you through the documentation all international adoptees should have access to for navigating adulthood.

Susie Doig is a licensed, master’s degree-level social worker with 29 years of experience in international child welfare, including family strengthening, domestic adoption and international adoption. Susie provides leadership and strategic direction for Holt’s U.S.-based programming, growing Holt’s services to children and families domestically, and oversees Holt’s post-adoption services program. Susie has served as a peer reviewer for the Council on Accreditation and strives to build collaborative relationships with other child welfare professionals so together they can help transform the lives of children and families around the world. Susie and her husband are parents to two children, a son and a daughter both adopted from Thailand.

Sunday Silver is Holt’s Records & Information Administrator for the Post-Adoption Services Team. She currently manages Holt’s standard post-adoption services and offers coaching and education to adoptive families. Holding a Master of Arts degree in marriage and family therapy, Sunday has dedicated her career to supporting all members of the adoption triad. She joined Holt in 1992 and takes great pride in providing compassionate, supportive services to those who seek assistance.

Adjusting to Life After Placement

This workshop for professionals and families will address how families adjust to life after adopting an older child. The presenter shares knowledge gained through interviews with forty families who have adopted older children. Topics covered include significant adjustments in the entire household; different communication styles; the impact of trauma on communication and establishing rules, consequences and rewards; and sharing adoptive families’ needs with their external support.

Presenter Dr. Kris Kittle, PhD, has adopted two children—an infant and a teenager. She teaches leadership communication at a local university. She coauthored the book, Wisdom from Adoptive Families: Joys and Challenges of Older Child Adoption. She blogs at AdoptionSurvival.com.

The History of Adoptions from China: What Adoptees and Adoptive Parents Need to Know

Join us for an insightful webinar exploring the history of adoptions from China. We delve into the social, political, and cultural factors that have shaped adoption policies, the role of international adoption, and the impact on families and children. This session offers a comprehensive overview of the evolution of adoption in China, and its significance in a global context. Don’t miss the chance to explore this important and historic aspect of international adoption, with a focus on China.

Jian Chin, Vice President, China Regional Programs, has played a crucial role in expanding services to children and families throughout China, building and maintaining critical collaborative relationships with Chinese officials, and creating and training a highly dependable in-country staff. Through these efforts, Jian helped grow Holt’s China program, serving thousands through child welfare and adoption programs. Jian holds a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies and cultural anthropology from Oregon State University, focusing on cultural differences between China and the U.S. In 2005, she received an Angels in Adoption award from the U.S. Congress.

 Susie Doig, Senior Executive, US Programs, is a licensed, master’s degree-level social worker with 29 years of experience in international child welfare, including family strengthening, domestic adoption and international adoption. Susie began her career at Holt in the China program and currently provides leadership and strategic direction for Holt’s U.S.-based programming, growing Holt’s services to children and families domestically, and oversees Holt’s post-adoption services program. Susie has served as a peer reviewer for the Council on Accreditation and strives to build collaborative relationships with other child welfare professionals so together they can help transform the lives of children and families around the world. Susie and her husband are parents to two children, a son and a daughter both adopted from Thailand.

Navigating Language Development

Institutionalization affects every child’s language and literacy development. Signs of delay can be obvious or obscure; show immediately or years later.  This presentation will review the latest literature regarding the language abilities of post-institutionalized children adopted at older ages. It will discuss language development of older children post-adoption, explain the difference between conversational and cognitive language competencies,  as well as provide recommendations on best evidence based practices working with these children. *If you are unable to attend live, the recording will be sent to you following the event to watch within a 30 day window.

Tatyana Elleseff, MA, CCC-SLP is a bilingual SLP who specializes in working with at-risk children with and without concomitant psychiatric impairments who present with complex language and literacy needs. She specializes in language and literacy development of internationally adopted children. She is a clinical instructor at the RWJ Medical School Dept. of Psychiatry and a clinical supervisor at Rutgers Day School. Through her private practice, Smart Speech Therapy LLC, Tatyana  provides comprehensive services to address complex language, pragmatic, and literacy challenges. Beyond direct therapy, Tatyana offers consulting services for parents and professionals, helping to interpret assessment results and develop strategies for addressing complex cases.