Adoption Training

I recently completed a twenty-five hour National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative. It was online so I could go at my own pace which made the experience more enjoyable. Each module had a pre-test and a post-test, thus it required thinking which was quite important, although sometimes I would grimace at yet another test.

I found the presentation of the entire training to be very well done. It was nicely organized, interactive in a fun way and used both images and videos throughout the training. It showed videos of experts speaking on behalf of the current topic which nicely complemented the written material.

The training also covered a wide span of themes relating to adoption. The highlights for me were pieces on attachment and trauma. Both theoretical viewpoints and treatment options were explored which address many of the issues that adopted kids and their families deal with on a daily basis. There were also nice age breakdowns since the challenges of a toddler are different than those of an adolescent.

Many of the case presentations had to do with older children that had been in foster care and were adopted into families later in their lives. I haven’t worked with foster care children since the early nineties, so this refresher about the foster care system was both helpful and heartbreaking to witness these very complicated situations.

When I go to conferences or receive training such as this I am always excited about gaining new information or being refreshed on something I learned in graduate school. I then get frustrated when I can’t remember what I learned and fail to apply it to my practice. Although I have certainly forgotten many of the intricate details of each treatment program, I have retained a good bit of the principles and concepts from this learning experience. I find myself assessing clients differently since the training. The trauma modules were so helpful and gave me further insight into how insidious even the slightest bit of trauma can really affect someone’s healthy functioning.

I am so glad that I completed the training even though I may have kvetched (complained) a bit during the process. It was well worth the time and energy to learn this important information.