Thriving Adoptees - Let's Thrive

Here is a link to the podcast episode I mention about the Primal Wound at the end of the episode.

https://thriving-adoptees.simplecast.com/episodes/primally-wounded-or-fundamentally-unwoundable-with-nick-mabey

Mark Hoult-Allen is Chair of We Are Family, Jay Nicol is a Trustee.

Here’s a bit about them from their website:

We Are Family is a peer to peer support community by adopters, for adopters. We’re there for parents throughout their adoption journey. Online and in person, our parents’ groups, events, resources, podcasts and talks offer mutual support, information and inspiration to adopters and those considering adoption.

We were founded in 2013 by adopters who had experienced first-hand the lack of peer support available. Becoming a family through adoption can bring its own unique set of challenges, as your child joins your family with an identity and a history of their own. Sharing problems, insights, frustrations and laughs with other people who have similar experiences can be invaluable.

Find out more at:

https://wearefamilyadoption.org.uk

https://twitter.com/wafadoption

https://www.facebook.com/wearefamilyadoption

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Sharen Ford is a nationally-recognized child welfare consultant and the retired Manager for Permanency Services for the Colorado Department of Human Services in the Division of Child Welfare Services. She retired with 30 years of comprehensive work history with the department. She oversaw six programmatic areas including the Foster Care and Adoption Program and supervised a team of professional staff. Dr. Ford is the former President of the National Association of State Adoption Programs (NASAP) and the Association of Administrators for the Interstate Compact on Adoption Medical Assistance (AAICAMA). She currently serves as the Director for Foster Care and Adoption at Focus on the Family and is as committed as ever to raising awareness regarding the need for every child to have a quality family.

Focus on the Family is a global Christian ministry dedicated to helping families thrive.

Here's a little background on them from their website.

 "We provide help and resources for couples to build healthy marriages that reflect God’s design, and for parents to raise their children according to morals and values grounded in biblical principles.

We’re here to come alongside families with relevance and grace at each stage of their journey. We support families as they seek to teach their children about God and His beautiful design for the family, protect themselves from the harmful influences of culture and equip themselves to make a greater difference in the lives of those around them.

No matter who you are, what you’re going through or what challenges your family may be facing, we’re here to help. With practical resources – like our 1-800 Family Help line, counseling and websites – we’re committed to providing trustworthy, biblical guidance and support."

More at https://www.focusonthefamily.com/

 https://www.facebook.com/focusonthefamily

https://www.youtube.com/user/FocusOnTheFamilyUSA

https://twitter.com/FocusFamily

https://www.instagram.com/focusonthefamily/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Nina is Director of Post Adoption Support at The Cradle, connect with her at:

https://www.facebook.com/nina.friedman.cradle

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-friedman-4a3b82/

Here's a little about The Cradle from their website:

At The Cradle you will find a legacy of excellence, decades of experience, and a reputation for quality education that helps to inform adoption decisions. 

Renowned as one of the foremost adoption agencies in the country, since opening in 1923 The Cradle has helped place more than 16,000 children into permanent, loving homes.  We provide lifelong support for all who are touched by adoption -- birthparents, adopted persons, and adoptive parents.

The Cradle is the only adoption agency in the country with an on-site nursery. It's a safe, neutral place for infants to stay while their parents take the time they need to decide if adoption will be the plan for this child. The nursery also enables The Cradle to place infants whose special medical needs may mean that it takes a bit longer to find them a home that is prepared to help them thrive.  We are committed to finding a loving home for every child entrusted to our care.

In recent years, The Cradle has expanded our scope to include Adoption Learning Partners (ALP), online training for prospective adoptive parents and adoption professionals. Through the power of the internet, ALP has made The Cradle's thorough training convenient and accessible to professionals and families all across the globe. The Cradle connects Cradle friends and families through Facebook and Twitter.

https://www.cradle.org/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Connect with Brian here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-lynch-a7352320a/

Brian is CEO of The Children’s Community Programs of Connecticut

 This is a multiservice agency founded in 1999 whose mission is to provide diverse and creative support services to children and families throughout Connecticut.  

Find out more and connect at 

https://www.ccp-ct.org/

https://www.facebook.com/CCPConnecticut/

https://twitter.com/ccpconnecticut

https://www.instagram.com/ccpconnecticut/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Allison Davis Maxon, M.S., LMFT is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of child welfare and children’s mental health specializing in Attachment, Developmental Trauma and Permanency/Adoption. She is the Executive Director of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency and was the foster care consultant for the Paramount Pictures movie Instant Family. Allison was honored in 2017 with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute ‘Angels in Adoption’ award and is the co-author of Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency: A Guide to Promoting Understanding and Healing in Adoption, Foster Care, Kinship Families and Third Party Reproduction, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2019.

https://allisondavismaxon.com/

https://www.facebook.com/allisondavismaxon/

https://twitter.com/AllisonMaxon

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Anna Valdez is the Program Director at Chosen and came on board in January of 2022. She is bilingual, and holds a BA in English with a Teacher Certification and an MA in English with a concentration in Literature and Culture and is completing her MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

After teaching high school for 2 years, Anna Valdez lived in Monterrey, Mexico for 5 years as a Program Coordinator for the international organization, Back2Back Ministries. Along with being a Program Coordinator, Anna was the primary caregiver for 17 teenage girls in a span of 5 years with whom she successfully applied the Trust-Based Relational Intervention strategies. She is a Trust-Based Relational Intervention Practitioner from Texas Christian University, a Trauma Free World affiliate trainer, and a Making Sense of Your Worth facilitator. She’s had the opportunity to train on trauma-informed care to organizations internationally and around the United States.

Her background includes building educational programs for families, other caregivers, and professional staff in trauma-informed care and strategies, developing audience-specific curriculum, and coordinating trauma-informed efforts for organizations as they move through the continuum of trauma-informed care. She has served vulnerable children and their caregivers for over 10 years and she is passionate about helping anyone who works with children gain skills to understand them and love them well.

Anna lives in Austin, Texas and you can find her visiting coffee shops, biking, and hiking on her free time.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-valdez-ma-b3989b139/

Chosen’s mission is to help children heal from trauma by strengthening their families. 

Once a child is safely placed in a home, Chosen comes in with ourModel of Care, delivered by licensed care managers who do whatever it takes to equip families with tools to overcome trauma and thrive together.

https://www.facebook.com/chosen.care

https://www.instagram.com/chosen_care/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvAJKSmWGWYZqRWhNdMlFOA

https://www.pinterest.com/chosencare/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Here's a link to  the episode I mention in the podcast https://thriving-adoptees.simplecast.com/episodes/with-joy-carter-Ni_rUkb3

Lori Holden writes at LavenderLuz.com and hosts the podcast Adoption: The Long View. She’s the author of the acclaimed book, The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole, written with her daughter’s birth mom and featured on required reading lists with adoption agencies across the United States. She has keynoted and presented at adoption conferences around the US, and her work has appeared in magazines such as Parenting and Adoptive Families. In 2018, she was honored as an Angel in Adoption® by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), nominated by Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado. She and her husband live in Denver, Colorado with their two young adult children.

Connect with her at:

https://www.facebook.com/LavenderLuzWriter/

https://twitter.com/LavLuz

https://www.instagram.com/lavluz/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Abby Jacobson is a professional Adoption Consultant bringing over 20 years of experience from her previous career as a psychotherapist & substance abuse counselor. Additionally, she has received training as a National Adoption Competency Mental Health Provider.

With her knowledge of family systems & networking, it is her aim to provide support to individuals who have experienced the process of adoption, both adults & youth alike. Coming from a family with 4 generations of adoptions, this is an issue she is very familiar with and which originally led her into the field of counseling.

Her greatest accomplishments have been to raise two healthy mature sons and reuniting with her brother after a separation of 15 years due to his being adopted out of the family. As a result of Abby’s familiarity with being a foster child, an adoptee and a clinician she brings opportunities for offering support, mentoring and coaching.

Outside of her work life she enjoys hiking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, gardening, cooking and spending time with her sons, brother, friends and her 2 cats, who are also adopted.

Find out more about her at:

https://www.adoptionconsultant.net/

https://www.instagram.com/adoptconsult/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/abby-jacobson-a3a6021b8/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Marnie and Gail work with The Forget Me Not Family Society. Here's more about them from their website. It was formed for education, consultation, peer counselling and to offer support to all those who are impacted by adoption. We are a provincially registered, non-profit society in British Columbia, Canada and a federally registered charity, (88908-4869-RR0001) run by a dedicated group of volunteers in the Metro Vancouver area and the Interior of B.C.

• To establish and operate a Post Adoption Resource Centre providing education, consultation, counseling and support to those touched by adoption: adoptees, birthparents, adoptive parents, and concerned professionals.
• To provide community education programs, panel presentations and workshops on post adoption issues for any members of the community who wish to learn more about adoption and reunion issues.
• To encourage and develop a recognition of the benefits of family preservation and openness in adoption practice.

The Society was instrumental in changing the legislation to open adoption records in British Columbia, Canada. In November 1996 the BC Adoption Act was amended to provide for an Active Adoption Reunion Service

The Forget Me Not Family Society (originally Missing Pieces Thru Adoption Society) began with two birthmothers (Donna Doogan and Marge Beddington) talking over tea at a kitchen table. The first president was Alison Anderson, then Kathryn Vea, Sandi Blackie, Cecelia Reekie, Nancy Kato, and now Marnie Tetz.

Adoption Circles newsletter was started by Millie Strom in 1991. Missing Pieces Thru Loss Society was incorporated as a non-profit Society in January 1992, the name was changed to Forget Me Not Family Society in June 1992 and became a federally registered charity in November 1992. Support groups have been ongoing since the early days and the Society has offered annual workshops on adoption search and reunion issues since 2006.

More at http://adoptioncircles.net/wp/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Connect with Christian at https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-mayer-001/

Email him at [email protected]

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.