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Flexible format
- Advanced training workshops, online courses, and case consultations
- Postgraduate training certificate
- Available for continuing education or graduate credit
The Therapy with Adoptive and Foster Families program provides a series of advanced, evidence-based workshops and courses for mental health therapists and child welfare professionals. These workshops and courses focus on the specialized theories and practices for treating children in, or adopted from, the child welfare system who have histories of abuse, trauma, and neglect; for strengthening their family systems; and for enhancing parents’ and children’s resiliencies. Mental health professionals are able to extrapolate new skills to work with other non-traditional families, such as blended, kinship, and guardianship families.
This important training is now even easier to access! A flexible format offers each course as a stand-alone workshop or online course for both mental health and child welfare professionals, and distance options are available. The program has been expanded to also include a focus on foster children and families. For mental health therapists, a full postgraduate certificate can be earned by completing all courses and program components.
To save you time and money, we offer the convenience of distance learning. Not only do we have online courses, but we also video stream the face-to-face workshops and case consultations. See the Technical Requirements for more information.
A postgraduate, evidence-based program
The objectives for this program are to:
- Increase accessible and affordable mental health support for adopted/foster children and their families, with mental health professionals competent in utilizing evidence-based treatment strategies for the emotional, behavioral, and mental health issues of children with histories of child abuse, trauma, and neglect
- Increase the mental health competency of child welfare workers so they are better able to support the children and families in their caseloads
- Reduce the risk of adoptive, foster, kinship, and guardianship family dissolution
See the Program Courses/Workshops link on the left for more information.
Mental health therapists
As part of the program, mental health therapists have an exciting opportunity
to participate in case consultation immediately following several of the workshops.
Consultation is a unique clinical skill-building opportunity for therapists to
integrate learning with the course instructor. While CEU hours are given, the
consultation is not recognized by licensing boards as supervision hours.
The series provides mental health professionals with the therapeutic skills necessary to:
- Identify and enhance adoptive and foster care families’ strengths and resiliencies to support their children
- Treat the mental health issues of children with histories of child abuse, trauma, and neglect
- Guide adoptive and foster families in developing alternate approaches, expectations, and interactive strategies for helping their children develop and thrive
- Provide accessible mental health services to adoptive and foster families throughout Oregon
Oregon directory: Mental health professionals who earn the certificate are part of a core group of clinicians who are available to serve adoptive and foster families throughout Oregon. In December 2008, adoptive families were receiving adoption assistance on behalf of 10,737 Oregon children. In addition, there are 9,500-9,800 children in foster care on any given day. A directory of mental health professionals who have completed this training is available from Oregon’s Department of Human Services, the Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center (ORPARC), Oregon licensed private adoption agencies, and this website. See the Directory of Therapists for more information.
Child welfare professionals
The significant role of the child welfare professional in supporting the success of
the child and the family is well recognized.
This training series provides child welfare professionals with the advanced training necessary to:
- Recognize and encourage adoptive and foster care families’ strengths and resiliencies to support their children
- Recognize the emotional, behavioral, and mental health issues of children with histories of child abuse, trauma, and neglect
- Support adoptive and foster families in developing alternate approaches, realistic expectations, and strategies for helping their children develop and thrive
- Improve skills to prepare and select families for parenting children recovering from abuse, trauma, and neglect