Free Training Link for Adoptive and Foster Parents in Washington State

Did you know you can access free training here in Washington State if you have adopted a child or if you are currently an active foster parent living in Washington?

You register for classes by to the Alliance for Child Welfare at the University of Washington's Website: https://www.allianceforchildwelfare.org/.--Just let them know that you are either a foster or adoptive parent.  They offer classes online and throughout the state.

The list of classes is updated on a regular bases.  You can find the list of classes they have to offer  at this link https://www.allianceforchildwelfare.org/course-schedule

Sharing your child's trauma with teachers

As adoptive families I know many of you struggle with sharing your child's trauma with their teachers.  Helping the teachers have compassion and understanding in how they approach your child, their student.  The Seattle Times had a great article in the paper Sunday, May 17, 2015.  There are many resources in the article...but I think it is so worth sharing with teacher/educators.  Especially if you are struggling with discussing the issues.

http://www.seattletimes.com/news/you-are-more-than-your-mistakes-teachers-get-at-roots-of-bad-behavior/

‘You are more than your mistakes’: Teachers get at roots of bad behavior

Originally published May 16, 2015 at 2:46 pm Updated May 19, 2015 at 12:59 pm

Schools in Washington suspend thousands of elementary-school students each year, but doing so rarely changes bad behavior. How to find school discipline that works?

By Claudia Rowe

Seattle Times staff reporter

 

For years, Franky Price terrified his teachers.
As a third-grader, he pantomimed killing other students by sliding his finger across his throat. In fourth grade, he swore at anyone who angered him. The worst moment came one month into fifth grade, after Franky wrote down his violent fantasies.
He never planned to act on any of them, but the behavior alarmed educators enough to get him suspended from the Clover Park School District, then expelled from Tillicum — placing him among the thousands of children statewide who are removed annually from elementary-school classrooms.

Franky never told anyone. He knew it would mean foster care.

Instead, he acted out, finally scrawling his inner world onto a piece of notepaper that another student showed their teacher.

“He took one look at me and said, ‘You need to go,’ ” recalled Price, now a senior at Chief Sealth High School. “Honestly, I’m surprised [Child Protective Services] wasn’t called — how does a fifth-grader even know about the things I was writing? I wish someone would have pulled me aside and asked: ‘Why do you feel this way?’ I mean, I was only 10 years old. But it was just ‘Go, get out of here.’ ”

Franky’s experience is not uncommon. In Washington, school suspension starts with kids as young as 5 years old, often beginning a downward spiral. Data show that certain children are punished again and again — missing weeks of class without a noticeable change in behavior. A third-grader from Seattle’s Highland Park Elementary, for example, was suspended nine times last year.

Such trends, only recently tracked, are raising serious concerns among legal advocates, parents and others who say schools rely too often on punitive discipline, especially for the very young.

“They’re whole children and they have behaviors,” said Jennifer Harris, policy analyst for the Education Ombuds, a state agency that mediates between families and schools. “That’s what we’re supposed to be teaching them — that there are rules. But instead, we’re tossing them out of school. I’ve got a 5-year-old being written up as a sexual harasser. I know about 5- or 6-year-olds who’ve hit their teacher’s wrist and that’s cast as assault.”

Bad behavior as sign of child’s mental state

In general, elementary-school suspensions follow the same pattern as discipline for older students: a surprising number of kids sent home for lesser offenses like disrespect, and black children suspended at rates that far outpace their enrollment.

Explanations for the latter fall, roughly, into two camps: those who say African-American kids, like Franky, more often flout schoolhouse norms; and those who insist that mostly-white educators frequently escalate misunderstandings into punishment.

But when it comes to suspensions, growing research suggests there is a less contentious — and more productive — way to handle students, one that views misbehavior not as a personal attack but as a language signaling children’s neurological state.

Teaching through this lens has given educators a powerful new tool for handling difficult outbursts, and it is getting results in schools from Boston to Los Angeles, including 12 in Washington state. Teachers in at least one Spokane school have watched suspensions drop by half.
Such an approach could have been transformational for Franky. Because for all the fear he caused in teachers, it is teachers he remembers most fondly. Compared with his life outside of school, they were the safest people he knew.

ACEs are common

About 2,100 students in 10 Spokane elementary schools were evaluated to determine their level of Adverse Childhood Experiences. More than 75 percent of the students were white. About half were poor. The results:
• Parents separated/divorced: 36 percent
• Residential instability: 9 percent
• Witnessed domestic violence: 9 percent
• Child Protective Services: 9 percent
• Family member jailed: 9 percent
• Substance abuse in family: 7 percent
• Lack of food, clothes, other basics: 7 percent
• Mental-health disorders in family: 5 percent
• Physical disability in family: 3 percent
• Exposed to community violence: 3 percent
• Death of parent/caregiver: 2 percent

Source: Washington State University Area Health Project

Put simply, certain experiences — including events as common as divorce — can be traumatic for children and harm their prefrontal cortexes, the part of the brain in charge of self-control and abstract reasoning. As a result, kids who grow up in chaotic or unstable homes may appear unfocused in class or react to off-the-cuff remarks as threats — precisely the sorts of behavior coded “disruptive” or “disrespectful” on school discipline spreadsheets.

“It’s as if their hair’s on fire, and you’re asking them to write their name,” said Kristy Wilkinson, who teaches third grade in Spokane, where research suggests at least 45 percent of students are growing up in homes riven by alcoholism, mental illness, domestic violence and other types of family dysfunction.

The light bulb came on for Wilkinson when she learned that kids from such households exist in a simmering state of emergency — which shows up in school as impulsivity, edginess and aggression.
“I realized that my students’ behavior wasn’t about me — it was about their story,” she said. “Taking that personal aspect out of the equation was huge.”

Wilkinson’s epiphany came not via feel-good theorists, but brain science spurred by the findings of two physicians who in 1997 discovered a link between what they called Adverse Childhood Experiences — or ACEs — and adult health problems.

Factoring in trauma’s effect on learning

The original study, by Drs. Robert Anda, with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Vincent Felitti, of Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, focused on 17,000 patients — most of them white, middle-class and educated, who reported rates of childhood trauma that surprised investigators: Nearly two-thirds had experienced at least one ACE (often, parental divorce), and 22 percent noted three or more, including substance abuse and domestic violence.

Those findings intrigued Chris Blodgett, a public-health researcher at Washington State University, who began examining school results through the ACEs lens, and believes racism could also be added to the child-trauma list. Poverty, too, is absent from the nine life events officially tracked. But it often exists alongside them.

Either way, the upshot was clear: trauma interferes with brain systems essential to learning, and the more ACEs, the more trauma. In 2014, Johns Hopkins University published similar results.
“If this data was coming from middle-class white adults, we knew we had it in our schools,” said Wendy Bleeker, director of student support in Spokane. “It’s clear that kids are experiencing trauma. It’s clear that it’s affecting their attendance and learning. So it made sense for us to get ahead of it.”
The notion of Adverse Childhood Experiences resonated loudly at Bemiss Elementary, which is largely white and sits in one of the poorest ZIP codes in Washington. Until recently, Bemiss suspended more than 100 kids each year.

Discipline that works: A community conversation

Education Lab invites you to a conversation on school discipline this Wednesday at South Seattle College. Speakers are Garfield High Principal Ted Howard, Kentwood High teacher Jay Maebori and Seattle student Dayöne Florence. Light dinner at 5:30 p.m.; program at 6:30 p.m. Registration required at seati.ms/disciplineforall. Free.

“Suspension was huge here,” said Jen Moore, a school psychologist. “It was just, ‘Get this kid out of my class.’ ”

In 2008, Bemiss became one of Blodgett’s early laboratories. First, his team educated teachers about the effects of early trauma, then helped them come up with ways to mitigate it.

Predictability, they learn, is helpful for kids with chaotic lives. At Bemiss, this shows up as daily schedules posted with large, colorful letters; student-behavior charts that progress from “super job” to “think about it” to “parent contact”; and secluded corners where children can sit and calm themselves.

You are more than your mistakes, says a poster in the quiet area just outside Wilkinson’s classroom.
Forging genuine relationships — among teachers, and between students and adults — also works. That may sound obvious, acknowledged Principal Jennifer Keck, but in many teacher-training programs it comes as an afterthought.

“So much is focused on instructional strategies — how to teach reading, how to teach math or science — but I firmly believe if we haven’t built the relationships, you won’t have instruction as rigorous as you want,” she said.

After five years of incorporating these and similar approaches, Keck watched suspensions drop by 33 percent in 2014, without forcing teachers to simply endure disruptive students. Indeed, school records show that defiance plummeted between September and April this school year.

From concept to classroom

That climate is evident in Bemiss Elementary’s cheery hallways, where teachers routinely throw an arm around students — even the most obstreperous. While test scores have bounced up and down, Bemiss is the first high-poverty school in Spokane to make it to the state finals in robotics last year.
Keck and her team walked a long road to get to this point. It took four years of monthly training and a team of teachers willing to collaborate on trauma-sensitive approaches.

“Early on, they used to ask: ‘Give us that silver bullet. Show us what to do.’ But it was not about me as a school leader deciding that,” Keck said. “It was about coming together as a staff and pooling what we knew about kids. It takes a while.”

Not to say that Bemiss students no longer challenge their teachers.

I realized that my students’ behavior wasn’t about me — it was about their story. Taking that personal aspect out of the equation was huge.”

A fourth-grader sitting outside Keck’s office — arms crossed hard across his chest, hoodie zipped over his head and body pretzel-twisted into a tight little line — provided a recent example. He was a bottle-rocket about to explode, a live wire of rage.

Years ago the boy almost certainly would have been suspended. He had scribbled on another child’s work, thrown a marker at his teacher and stormed from the classroom.

Peggy Slotvig, who knew the child and happened to be on a break, did not immediately grill him about why he’d been sent out of class. Instead, she ushered the youth upstairs, away from front-office traffic and into an empty classroom where the two sat close together.

“We were just messing around,” he began in a high voice, describing his fight with the art teacher. “Then she said, ‘That’s no way to get a girlfriend,’ and it set me off.”

“Very good — it did set you off. Because it embarrassed you,” nodded Slotvig, aware that the student had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and no longer speaks to his mother.
“She started it,” the youth insisted, rocking slightly in his chair.

“You know what? I’m going to agree with you — she did start it,” Slotvig said. “But not to be mean. She was trying to be funny. She just didn’t know your triggers.”

It would be the boy’s responsibility to explain them, just as he had with the librarian and gym teacher, and to answer for losing his temper. Consequences are essential, notes Natalie Turner, a trainer on Blodgett’s team who worked with the Bemiss staff.

“There is a place for suspension,” she said. “There has to be accountability. But too often, that response is purely reactive. It’s not about problem-solving.”

Back in Seattle, this organic approach to addressing behavior intrigued Vicki Sacco, principal at West Seattle Elementary, which has the highest rate of public-housing students in the city and suspended 13 kids last year.

That places it sixth among Seattle elementary schools, a significant improvement from 2010, when Sacco arrived to see children lining the hallway outside the principal’s office. But she wants more.
Last summer, teachers at West Seattle invited Blodgett’s team to begin schooling them, work funded through a $650,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (Note: The Education Lab project also receives support from the foundation.)

More from this story:

• Guest column: Franky Price gives his take on how discipline can be more effective
• Calculate your own ACEs level
• Share your thoughts on school discipline
• Read what others have to say

“I felt that the staff was ready for this kind of self-reflection,” Sacco said. “Programs come and go, but they don’t really require you to grow as a professional. This was different. It was helping teachers look within themselves. You know, we do take things personally — we’re human. But reacting that way can make things so much worse.”

Turner, the trainer, now makes monthly visits to West Seattle. After working with teachers she visits students, showing each class the relationship between feelings, actions and ways to manage them.
In a roomful of fifth-graders last month she made a fist to model their brains. Her thumb, tucked inside, was the hippocampus, the center for emotions.

“Show me where you feel your feelings,” she told the kids.

Some pointed to their heads, others to their hearts. One poked at his stomach.

“That’s right,” said Turner, seizing an opportunity. “Our brains are giving our bodies clues that we’re about to have a really big feeling. Raise your hand if you ever get stressed out.”

Every child in the room shot a hand in the air.

“Raise your hands if there is someone outside of school you can talk to about those feelings,” Turner continued.

Half the class sat motionless.

Seattle Times staff reporter Justin Mayo contributed data analysis for this story. Claudia Rowe: crowe@seattletimes.com or 206-464-2531. On Twitter @RoweReport

 

  Education Lab is a Seattle Times project that spotlights promising approaches to some of the most persistent challenges in public education. It is produced in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network, a New York-based nonprofit that works to spread the practice of solutions-oriented journalism. Education Lab is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  

More about Education Lab

• Education Lab FAQ
• Video: What is Education Lab?
• Meet the reporters and editors
• Sign up for the Education Lab email newsletter

To Franky, the punishments barely registered. Raised in a family of drug users and dealers, he wandered with them from one dingy apartment to the next. Often, there was no bed to sleep on and nothing but plastic covering the windows.

Related stories

This is the third in a series of Education Lab stories exploring the problems of school discipline and how school districts are working to alleviate them. The first two:

• Suspending kids doesn’t fix bad behavior; schools look for answers
• In school discipline, intervention may work better than punishment

 

 

Therapists Trained In Attachment-Focused Therapy With Deborah Gray, LICSW Washington/Oregon/British Columbia

Therapists Trained In Attachment-Focused Therapy With Deborah Gray

Washington/Oregon

WASHINGTON

Susan Bernt www.suebernt-licsw-therapy.com

601 Main Street  Suite M1

Vancouver, WA  98660

BIO:  Sue Bernt is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker dedicated to working with children (ages 2-14) and their families.  Sue has experience working with children whose attachments to their caregivers were disrupted.  Therapy with Sue includes working with attachment, behaviors, and abuse issues with adolescents and young children.  Some therapy is provided to reconnect with a parent (or reunify the connection of parent and child) after a prolonged absence.  Her focus is on mental health issues such as low or no sense of self worth, behavior, trauma, depression, stress, and anxiety. 

In 1980, Sue earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development and Family Life from Oregon State University.  Her career has led to years of teaching (0-6 year olds), management in Head Start programs, as well as counseling children and families at a Day Treatment Center for children ages 2- 6 years of age.  Sue completed her Master’s in Social Work at Portland State University in 2004.  She is licensed in Washington (LW 60084972) and in Oregon (L4288).  Sue opened her private practice in 2010.  She can be reached at 503-819-7095.

Denise Bower MA LMHC CMHS  drbower1@yahoo.com

360.421.2108

4984 Brentridge

Bremertown, WA 98311

BIO:  Denise’s passion is working with children and families and she has over 30 years of experience. She specializes in working with children who are in foster care or adopted and provides evening and Saturday appointments. She is willing to see families either at her office or in their home.  

Diane Lostrangiio  diadopt@hotmail.com

206.779.4736

225-14^th Ave East

Seattle, WA 98112

TEL: 206.799.4736

BIO:  Diane  has worked with children and families for over twenty years. She began her clinical career in community mental health and then went on to work with families formed through adoption. In 2007, she entered into private practice providing pre and post adoption services for children and families. Her post graduate training includes completion of Adoption and Foster Care Therapy and Advanced Clinical Practice Certificates as well as training in Infant Mental Health. 

 

Sarah Pulliam LICSW sarah@tendrilcounsel.com

206.218.6618

Tendril Birth and Family Services

5108 196^th St. W. Ste 350

Lynnwood, WA 98036

BIO:  Sarah Pulliam, of Tendril Birth & Family Services, LLC, is a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in pediatric mental health (0-20). She has advanced training in foster and adoption mental health, in addition to certificates in Attachment, and in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Sarah also specializes in perinatal mental health, including pregnancy loss and prenatal diagnosis of medical issues in the mother or baby. She counsels families of children with special needs or chronic illness, such as diabetes, drawing from over a decade of work at Seattle Children's. Sarah served for many years as an infant loss group facilitator in Journey, the hospital's bereavement program. Sarah is very comfortable and familiar working with people of diverse heritages including gay and transgender youth and parents.  Sarah sees clients Saturdays, Tuesdays, and can do home visits in some instances. www.tendrilcounsel.com

 Pamela Silver skivrpa@gmail.com

360.906.1190

1902 SE 190^th Ave.

Vancouver, WA 98683

BIO:  Pam is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker practicing in Oregon and Washington. She graduated in 1995 with a BA Degree in Art Therapy at Marylhurst University, then completed her Master's of Social Work at Portland State University in 2004. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Infant/Toddler Mental Health, and is a student of IPNB (Interpersonal Neurobiology).

Pam's theoretical practice is primarily relationship-based with a focus on attachment and child-parent relationships.  She specializes in infant-toddler mental health, attachment disorders, and attachment relationships with a trauma history.  Her modality in her practice is psychodynamic using Expressive Therapies, IPNB and Attachment Focused Therapy.  Pam has been a Certified Provider of an attachment intervention program called "Circle of Security" since 2006.   COS is an evidence-based parenting program designed for parents, based upon 30 years of attachment research.   She will open a private practice in Gearhart, OR in the fall of 2015, specializing in treating individuals, children and families who have trauma and attachment issues, including cases involved with foster care and adoption.

Local contacts for announcement of Certificate completion:

Katie Stallman, LICSW, CGE katiestallman@yahoo.com

Arbor Place Therapy, PLLC

823 20^th Ave.

Seattle, Wa 98122

206-240-4185

*Currently available for in-home therapy in Seattle area; Expected office in Eastlake February 2015

BIO:  Katie is passionate about preparing and supporting families in all their forms as they transition to and adapt to the ongoing complexities of parenting. She has been a licensed clinician in the state of Washington since 2001 after receiving her Master of Social Work degree in 1998 from Washington University in St. Louis. Katie has worked with families and children of all ages impacted by foster care and adoption for over 20 years. She has been a certified Bringing Baby Home ™ instructor since 2008 and completed The Certificate Program in Foster Care and Adoption Therapy in 2011 and the Attachment Certificate Program in 2014 through Cascadia Training Institute. Katie has worked in a variety of agency and independent settings providing educational, therapeutic, and consultation support to all types of families. Her approach to working with families is rooted and informed by attachment, psychodynamic, and developmental theories as well as motivational interviewing techniques.  Katie also incorporates DBT and mindfulness strategies into her work. Katie is a firm believer that change is always possible. She most enjoys helping parents/caregivers improve their communication with one another, while also seeing themselves and their children through a new lens.

                      

Gusty-Lee Boulware, PhD, BCBA

PEERS Play

9714 3^rd Ave NE

Suite 206

Seattle, WA 98115

Phone: 206-271-4796

www.peersplay.com

BIO:  Gusty-Lee has over 25 years of experience providing support and intervention for children with social, communication, emotional regulation and behavioral challenges. In her practice she provides social skills groups, parent support and coaching, 1:1 intervention with children, workshops and school consultations.  She also assists families with IEP development, 504 plans, program evaluation and positive behavior support plans. She earned her doctorate from the University of WA where she studied developmental and behavioral best practices, infant mental health and parent-child interaction. Recently she completed a dual certification in attachment-focused therapy and adoption and foster care therapy.  She has taught graduate level courses at the University of WA, provides training and workshops internationally and has published in Focus on Autism and Developmental Disabilities, Young Exceptional Children, and Topics in Early Childhood Special Education.

Megan Clarke, MA, LMFT

1800- 112^th Avenue NE, Ste 240W

Bellevue, WA 98006

425.647-6772

www.mclarkecounseling.com

mclarkecounseling@gmail.com

BIO:  Megan Clarke is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with a private practice in Bellevue.  She sees families, women, teens and children, with a special emphasis on adopted children and teens recovering from complex trauma. Megan helps her clients learn new skills to regulate their emotions, grieve losses and form strong, healthy attachments.  She teaches parents new tools to create loving, structured homes to increase feelings of safety for their children.  In addition, she helps parents develop strategies to renew the belief in their ability to parent and have joy in their lives.  She believes that counseling can help instill hope and strengthen resilience in children and families. 

She is a graduate of both the Adoption and Foster Care Therapy and Attachment –Focused Therapy Certificate Programs through Deborah Gray’s Nurturing Attachments.  Megan is a Clinical Fellow with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists as well as an At Large Board Member with the Washington Association of Marriage & Family Therapists.  Megan also has extensive experience working with women and children who have survived domestic violence and is a member of the King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Amy Dutt, LMFT

5100 South Dawson Street, Suite 104

Seattle, WA 98118

 (206) 604-0873

www.amydutt.com

amydutt@gmail.com

BIO:  Amy Dutt is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the Seward Park neighborhood of South Seattle. She specializes in relationships - working with families and couples to increase connection and attachment. Amy helps families with adopted and biological children decrease conflict and increase positive interactions by helping parents understand the 'why' behind their children's behaviors and helping children build trust and security with their parents. With couples, Amy works to help the couple increase their awareness of one another's needs and their emotional connectedness. She also works with parents on issues arising from challenges with their children. 

 

Jill Dziko, MSW, LICSW

P.O. Box 2191

Vashon, WA 98070

206-408-7219

jilldz@comcast.net

BIO:  I am the Executive Director of a licensed non-profit adoption agency and have been working in the field of adoption for over 10 years.  The agency provides consultation, homestudy and post-placement services as well as on-going support for adoptive families.  As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker I provide consultation with families who are considering adoption and/or foster care as well as therapy for families with young children who are adopted and/or in foster care.  I specialize in the areas of attachment, adoption, trans-racial adoption and LBGQT adoption and have completed both the Attachment-Trauma Focused Therapy and Therapy with Adoptive and Foster Families Certificate Programs.  I received my Master of Social Work from the University of Washington and have been a Certified Social Worker since 1997.  I am a member of the Washington State Society for Clinical Social Work and National Association of Social Workers and a CASA volunteer.  I see families at my office in Seattle and on Vashon Island.

Susan Flick, Ph.D

 www.woodinvillepsych.com

18500-156^th Ave NE, Suite 200

Woodinville, WA 98072

(206) 324-6524

Susan Flick, Ph.D. Is a clinical psychologist with more than 15 years experience. She works with children, adolescents, and adults at her office in Woodinville, WA  She is also an adoptive parent of two daughters.

Linnea Lauer, MA, M.Ed., LMHC

20307 Viking Ave., #203

Poulsbo, WA 98370

Or

793 Erickson Ave., Suite 123

Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.

libertybaycounseling@embarqmail.com. 

BIO:  I am a member of Bainbridge Psychotherapists Guild. I've been in private practice for 16 years, specializing in children, adolescents, and their families.  I've got a long history in education as teacher, counselor, and principal.  I've also been a counselor at a community mental health center and a clinical specialist at the Seattle Children's Home.  I have considerable experience living and working overseas in Asia and in Europe. The Poulsbo office has served children from Tacoma to Port Townsend.

Angie Langseth-Bostwick

abostwickcounseling.com

Roy, WA

(360) 481-0160

Angie Langseth-Botwick is a licensed mental health counselor in private practice located in Roy, WA. She specialized in treating children and families and enjoys working with children in foster care and adopted children. Angie is an adopted person herself and has completed both the certificate program in foster/adoption therapy and more recently, the certificate in attachment-focused therapy program. You can reach Angie:

Cindi Mack-Ernsdorff, M.A., LMHC, LMFT

www.cindimackernsdorff.com

cindimackernsdorff@gmail.com.

11415 NE 128^th St   Suite 100

Kirkland, WA  98034

(425) 941-3271

BIO:  Cindi is, and has been a Licensed Therapeutic Foster Parent for over 32 years.  Additionally, she has served clients as a licensed Chemical Dependency Professional for 10 years at a local DASA certified agency, and has worked within local school systems as well.  Ms. Mack-Ernsdorff particularly enjoys working with foster and adoptive families.

As a biological, step, and adoptive parent to 10 ‘personal’ children and after having opened her life to foster parenting over 280 special needs foster children, Cindi understands that foster and adopted children and their families—both like-cultured as well as multi-cultured families--often need extra help in adjusting to life with, in, and as a new, differently organized family.  She also understands that it makes sense to reach out to others for the support and help that you might need. 

Cory Staton, MA

Center for Child and Family Therapy   

7500 Old Military Rd NE Suite103

Bremerton, WA 98311

Christina Steere

Eastside Family Services
P.O. Box 53103
Bellevue, WA 98015
206-849-8455

BIO:  Christina L.P. Steere is the owner and founder of Eastside Family Services. She has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 2002. Additionally, she is a Child Mental Health Specialist and a certified Attachment and Trauma Therapist. Christina also is a clinical member of American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and Washington Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (WAMFT) and sits on the board of directors for New Light Ministries. Christina received her graduate degree from Seattle Pacific University in 2000 with a master's of science in Marriage and Family Therapy. She also received her undergraduate degree at the University of Washington with a bachelors of science in Social Work.

Christina has worked with at risk children in the foster care setting since 1995. Her work began in starting a homeless shelter in Seattle's economically depressed areas. For ten years, Christina specialized in foster care and adoption through her work at Olive Crest as their Clinical Director. Personally, Christina has been married to her husband for 15 years, has a son and a daughter, loves to travel, play sports and is currently a licensed foster parent.

Laura Stone, MA, LMHC

174 Roy Street, Suite B

Seattle, WA 98109

Phone: 206-498-9895

Email: info@laurastone.org

Website: laurastone.org

BIO:  I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a private practice in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle. I have earned Certificates in Adoption and Foster Care Therapy as well as Attachment-Trauma Focused Therapy, and I have practiced psychotherapy for over 14 years, both in agency settings and in private practice. My clients include children, adolescents, adults and families, most of whom have foster care and/or adoption as part of their story. In addition to working with individuals and families, I offer consultation to parents considering adoption.

For clinicians seeking Washington State credentialing as Licensed Mental Health Counselors, Certified Counselors, and Certified Advisors I offer on-going Clinical Supervision and Consultation.

Also, I offer groups for families and young people:

First Year Home Groups are small education and support groups for parents and their recently adopted infants and young children. This group runs for 8 weeks for approximately 90 minutes. Parents learn about child development and issues unique to new adoptive families. The format includes age appropriate songs, games and activities. Issues such as sleeping, eating, toileting, limit-setting, sharing, etc. will be addressed.

Between The Lines is an art therapy and discussion group for 9-12 year old girls, designed to help girls this age begin to issues related to adoption. Participants are encouraged to share their own life story and their experiences related to adoption, as well as to hear about, validate and connect with other girls and their experiences. Thoughts and feelings about culture, identity, birth family, prying peers and other issues are explored. Groups meet for approximately 7 weeks during after school hours.

Sandy Swan, M.Ed., LMHC

1400 Talbot Road South, Suite 106

Renton, WA 98055

253-234-4459

sandy.swan.m.ed@gmail.com

www.Sandy Swan.org

BIO:  I am an adoptive, therapeutic parent and a Licensed Counselor, working with parents, children, and families in the Puget Sound region for the past 24 years.  I have been through the Attachment Certificate program at Antioch University and the Attachment Certificate Program with Deborah Gray, M.S.W. I received my Bachelor’s Degree and my Masters of Educational Psychology Degree from the University of Washington.  I specialize in working with adoptees of all ages create better attachments with their parents. I also serve parents who have been or are going through various challenges with their young adult adopted children. I can advise in school settings, work well with school counselors, teachers, psychiatrists and neuropsychologists to offer the most inclusive care for children and their families.

Liane O. Wolbert, M.A.

Adoption Ministry-Youth with a Mission

731 W. Pioneer Street

Puyallup, WA  98371

(253) 770-2283

(253) 439-9220 

liane@adoptionministry.net

BIO:  Liane Wolbert is a counselor who is the Youth with a Mission Domestic Adoption Director for Adoption Ministry.  She also conducts homestudies for Adoption Ministry and sees children and families for counseling in her office in Puyallup, Washington with adoption related issues.  For the past 34 years she has been a certified public school guidance counselor, behavioral specialist and educational consultant.  Her experience in adoption related areas includes:  counseling young women with unplanned pregnancies, birth mother counseling, and adoption education.  She has traveled to Ethiopia on many occasions supporting Adoption Ministry's international adoption program.  All of her international homestudy visits include a significant amount of adoption education covering attachment, grief and loss, trans-racial issues, and strategies for adoptive parenting.  She has a B.A. in Education and an M.A. in Counseling and Guidance from Pacific Lutheran University.  In addition Liane also has her Attachment-Trauma Focused Therapy Certificate from Cascadia Training Program.    

Lynn Owens lynn@lynnowens.com

509.460.8006

3616 W. 27^th Ave

Kennewick, WA 99337

BIO:  Lynn is owner of and therapist at Canyon Lakes Family Counseling Center in Kennewick, Washington. He specializes in helping children recover from abuse, neglect and trauma. Lynn began his career with special needs children at a Residential Treatment Facility for Teens over 20 year ago, and has dedicated his life to children and their families by opening an emergency shelter for boys, as a foster parent, a house parent and has parented nearly 100 children in those roles.  He is a regular presenter and trainer on parenting special needs children and healing the traumatized brain. He can be reached for appointments at (509)591-0462 at lynn@canyonlakescounseling.com or at www. Canyonlakescounseling.com

Sandra Gormon-Brown, MSW, LICSW

Spokane, WA

509-990-6419
sandra@h2lb.com

BIO:  Sandra Gormon-Brown is a licensed, independent, clinical social worker and certified attachment focused therapist with over 20 years of experience serving a broad spectrum of children and families, especially those who have been involved in the child welfare system.  Sandra's areas of practice specialty include evidence based treatment of attachment issues, trauma, grief, infant mental health, pre and post adoption issues (foster, domestic and international), parenting, parenting/attachment assessment,  postpartum depression, mood disorders and relationship issues.

Sandra received her Master of Social Work from the University of Washington.  She participates in regular continuing education, primarily in the areas of attachment, trauma, grief, adoption, child abuse/neglect and infant mental health.  She is Circle of Security trained and teaches COS groups in the community.  Sandra is a Faculty Field Instructor for BASW students at Eastern Washington University.  She volunteers as a DCFS Child Protection Team member and is a member of the National Association of Social Workers. 

OREGON

Abbie Smith, LCSW  abbies@holtintl.org
Director of Clinical Services
Specialties: Attachment, Trauma, Parenting Adopted Children

BIO:  Abbie Smith holds a master’s degree in social work from Smith College.  In 1996, she became licensed to practice clinical social work, and later earned post-graduate certificates in two specialized areas – therapy for adoptive families, and attachment therapy. Before joining Holt’s adoption services staff in 2005, Abbie spent three years working with children who have severe emotional issues, three years in an adult acute psychiatric hospital and six years in the child development program at Oregon Health Sciences University. As Director of Clinical Services, Abbie coordinates adoption services trainings, counsels struggling families and handles all disruptions between adoptive parents and children.  Recently, she designed the first agency curriculum to help older children prepare for international adoption. Abbie also adopted a 6-year-old girl 15 years ago. 

Linda Sheppard, MS, FLE
Christian Counseling & Family Life Education
Adoption and Family Counseling Services, LLC

4660 NE Belknap Ct. Suite 101 T
Hillsboro Oregon 97124
Office/Voice: (503) 888-0050   Fax: (503) 924-5757

www.adoptionandfamilycounselingservices.org

BIO:  Linda has over 15 years of experience in the field of adoption. Her greatest passion is helping children and families through the many rewards and challenges of parenting. Linda’s adoption history includes various roles including: Director of International Programs, Social Work Supervisor, and Educational Consultant. Although Linda values her professional and educational experience, her greatest experience has come through living and learning as an adoptive parent. Linda and her husband are the proud parents of fourteen children, twelve of whom joined their family through the miracle of international adoption, domestic adoption, and embryo adoption. Linda has personally been through many of the trials and struggles that often accompany adoptive placements. Seven of Linda’s children joined their family after their original placements did not work out.

Linda holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling and a Bachelor’s Degree in Family Studies. Linda is currently pursuing doctorate degrees in Organizational Psychology as well as Christian Counseling. Linda is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC). Linda works out of her office in the Portland metropolitan area as well as with families via Skype located in various states and various countries all over the world. Linda's primary role is helping families transition from a traditional parenting model to a therapeutic parenting approach that incorporates adoption and attachment. In addition to her private practice, Linda leads humanitarian aid projects around the world.

Gail Hardman-Woung, LCSW

3939 NE Hancock Suite 210

Portland, OR 97212

503-314-8591

BIO:  I specialize in the field of Adoption and trauma.  I hold post-graduate certificates in Therapy with Adoptive Families, Attachment and EMDR. 

Eighteen years ago, I adopted three older children as a single parent.  I am trained in and use a variety of therapeutic techniques including: Psychotherapy, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) and Hypnotherapy.  I work with families struggling with behavioral concerns associated with developmental trauma such as: Attachment Disorders, Attention Deficit and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, and Fetal Alcohol Effect.

Liz Covey

503.741,1509

89907 Youngs River Rd.

Astoria, OR 97103

BIO:  Liz Covey is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the North Coast region of the Oregon coast serving the Astoria, Seaside and Cannon Beach communities. She currently works at Lutheran Community Services NW in Astoria as the Clinical Supervisor and serves as the Lead Clinician. She has specialized training in treating trauma and attachment issues with adults, children and families, such as completion of the Certificate Program in Psychological Trauma through the University of Washington (2011), Parent Educator through Circle of Security (2012), EMDR Training (2013) and completion of a Certificate in Attachment-Focused Therapy with Deborah Gray (2014). Ms. Covey has worked in the field of mental health and foster care since the late 1990's and has served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the Child Welfare system since 2012. She has clinical experience in varied settings in both urban and rural areas, including non-profit

CANADA

Laura Nikkel lauranikkel14@gmail.com

778.338.4072

1051 Prospect Ave

N. Vancouver, BC v7r2m6

BIO:  Laura Nikkel is a registered clinical counsellor through the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors. For the past 7 years she has worked in a community mental health setting with children and youth struggling with a variety of challenges such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, self harm, and parent child relationship difficulties. Laura is a certified positive discipline parent educator, and has training in play and expressive therapies as well as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Trauma focused CBT. Laura is also working towards her advanced certificate in ADHD. Laura now begins her role as a counsellor in Family Services of the North Shore's Child and Youth Counselling Program, providing clinical counselling services to children, youth, and their families dealing with child sexual abuse, sexual assault, or sexual behavioural problems, as well as providing clinical counselling services for children and youth experiencing difficulties. 

nikkel@familyservices.bc.ca

Fahrin Schmidt

fahrin@therapeutichealing.ca

604-765-3017

1974 Purcell Way

N. Vancouver, BC v7j3k3

BIO:  Fahrin is dedicated to truly understanding and appreciating the unique difficulties facing her clients. She works passionately to develop effective therapeutic strategies which can empower each individual to gain control over their ever-changing lives.

A Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors, Fahrin has attained a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology from City University of Seattle, post-graduate training in Attachment Therapy, and other specialized training qualifications including a diploma in Recreation Therapy. Fahrin has 10 years of experience providing individual and group therapy to children, youth and their parents. She has performed consultations, social assessments, and case coordination for schools and various social services within a community mental health setting.

Fahrin employs a variety of therapeutic modalities including client-centered approach, cognitive behaviour therapy, and attachment-focused therapy. She has worked extensively with children and adolescents who are experiencing anxiety, depression, obsessions and compulsions, difficulties with attention and impulsivity, anger management, trauma, parent-child conflict, and self-esteem issues.

Fahrin is dedicated to truly understanding and appreciating the unique difficulties facing her clients. She works passionately to develop effective therapeutic strategies which can empower each individual to gain control over their ever-changing lives.


Additional Therapists I personally have heard great things about—all have been trained in some form of adoption and trauma training.

Lisa Jefferies, LMHCA (360) 303-9269
1031 N. State St. Ste. 108 Bellingham, WA 98225
ljefferies@nwfamilylife.org

Dr. Chris Cochran, LMHCA (360) 523-7179
1031 N. State St. Ste. 108 Bellingham, WA 98225

Lindsay Dye, LMHCA (509) 378-7753
Bruneau Pl. Suite 110 Kennewick, WA 99336
ldye@newfamilylife.org

Kelli Hall, LSWAIC (425) 202-5284
10550 Lake City Way NE Ste E, Seattle 98125
10604 NE 38^th Pl. Ste. 132 Qud 1N Kirklan 98033
khall@nwfamilylife.org

Amy Barker, LMHC (206) 661-2566
10550 Lake City Way NE Ste. E, Seattle 98125
6512 20th St. Ct. E. Ste. B1Tacoma, WA 98466
abarker@nwfamilylife.org

Cynthia Ridgway, LMHC (253) 797-8982
10550 Lake City Way NE Ste. E, Seattle 98125
6512 20th St. Ct. E. Ste. B1Tacoma, WA 98466
cridgway@nwfamilylife.org

Barbara Tantrum, LMHC
10550 Lake City Way NE Ste. E, Seattle 98125
6512 20th St. Ct. E. Ste. B1Tacoma, WA 98466
btantrum@nwfamilylife.org

Lesley Joy Ritchie, LMHCA (425) 408-3270
10550 Lake City Way NE Ste. E, Seattle 98125
lritchie@nwfamilylife.org