Workshops & Training

Upcoming Events:

2020 Reflect & Connect Annual Retreat - Exclusively for Adult Adoptees - This event has been postponed until we can meet safely again. In the meantime, please contact me about connecting with other Adult Adopted People.

Recent Events:

Reflect & Connect Therapeutic Retreat - Exclusively for Adult Adoptees

October 25 to 27, 2019 in Blue Mountain, Ontario. Spend a relaxing weekend away from pressure amongst a small group of fellow Adoptees. We will focus on self care, refection, healing and connection. Learn more about what makes you and your adoption experience unique and important in the safety and comfort of other like-minded Adoptees. Guided and supported by Adoption Competent Practicioners, who are also Adopted. Weekend includes single accommodation, food, and many luxury extras, such as indoor salt water pool, hot tub and on-site massage. Professional receipts available for this weekend. Contact me directly for more information on this great weekend of self-care and growth.

For ongoing Permanency and Adoption Competency Training (PACT) please contact the Adoption Council of Ontario and speak to the PACT Manager at (416) 482-0021 or pact@adoptontario.ca

Past and Available Workshops:

Are We There Yet? Adoption Parenting Through the Ages and Stages

Learn about the adoption related tasks of each stage of development; from Birth to Senior Years. Based on the book, "Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self" by Brodzinsky, Schechter and Marantz Henig. A twist on Erik Erikson's 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development. - For Parents and/or Professionals

Beyond Family Trees

This workshop is for Educators. How many times do children come home with the dreaded" family tree" or "why my eyes are blue" assignment? This often causes many children, of various backgrounds and experiences, a great deal of stress and anxiety. Teachers, of all grades can learn how to teach children and youth about connections (at home, community and in society) without causing further stress, anxiety or triggering trauma in the classroom or at home. Families are diverse and need to be reflected as such in their schools.

The Brain Architect Game

An interactive, hands-on, group experience! A unique way to fully understand the influence of early life experiences on the brain throughout one's life. For groups of 6 to 200+. How does Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) impact the outcome of brain development? (The Brain Architecture Game’s intellectual property belongs to a not-for-profit partnership between the USC Creative Media & Behavioral Health Center, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, Clinical & Translational Science Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, and the FrameWorks Institute. )

Disenfranchised Grief & Working With Birth Parents -

Birth or First Parents can often be seen as "challenging to work with" within foster and adoptive realms. Many are stuck in a survival mode of grief and loss that is not permissible to heal because of the stigma of not parenting your child born to you. This workshop delves into understanding disenfranchised grief and how to support and work with birth parents for the well-being of the child.

Impact of Providing Foster Care on your Biological Family

Parenting is Parenting, Right? An overview and Comparison of Traditional, Attachment, Developmental and Therapeutic Parenting

Hey, What About Me?: Surviving The Waiting Game

This is a workshop for Waiting Single Adoptive Applicants. Many single applicants wait and watch while other, 2-parent families begin their family through Adoption. Come and connect with others in similar circumstances while you learn the why's and what to do while you are waiting.

A Fine Line Between Brave and Crazy: The Single-Adoptive Parent Experience

This is for those beginning or already parenting through adoptive or kinship as a single person, as well as for professionals who work with or are assessing clients. Connect with others while on your adoption journey. Learn much needed info, including Marketing your strengths. You may be single, but you are not alone!

Kimberley in the Media

Here is an example from CBC Radio for a show about the importance of Fathers. While the whole piece is interesting, my segment begins at 1:38.