Adoption Competence in Clinical Practice: Supporting Adopted People

Adoption is a lifelong experience that deeply influences identity, relationships, and mental health. Most professionals are already working with adopted clients without realizing it, as many do not readily disclose their adoption status. Yet many clinicians lack formal training in adoption-related issues. While personal experience or connection to adoption can provide valuable insight, it is not enough to ensure competent care. This workshop provides foundational knowledge for developing adoption competency—a specialization requiring awareness of intersecting issues such as identity development; search and reunion; transracial and international adoption; family enmeshment; search and reunion; secrecy; trauma; and co-occurring concerns like suicidality, self-harm, PTSD, and disordered eating. Participants will gain essential skills through lecture, case studies, and interactive discussion, leaving with a clearer understanding of what adoption-competent care entails and how to move toward it in practice.

Participants will be able to:

• Identify implications of separation from original family on human development as an adverse childhood experience.
• Identify three key elements of adoption competence.
• Demonstrate increased confidence in ability to assess and support clients who may be experiencing adoption or foster care-related distress.
• Summarize the meaning of the phrase “coming out of the fog.”
• Understand how a provider’s own power and privilege may impact the therapeutic relationship with adopted people.

Kathryn (Katy) Perkins, LCSW-S is the founder, CEO, and Clinical Director of FindSelf Counseling, a trauma-informed psychotherapy and training practice. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker-Supervisor and an EMDR and Brainspotting-trained clinician with a deep commitment to ethical practice, equity, and healing. Katy provides therapy, professional training, clinical supervision, case consultation, and policy analysis—specializing in family separation trauma, eating disorders, sexual and domestic violence, identity disruption, DNA discoveries, family secrets, and systemic oppression.

Katy’s approach is informed by nearly 20 years of experience as a Social Worker, therapist, advocate, and educator. She offers professional and community trainings on topics such as adoption ethics, trauma-informed care, DNA discoveries, supervision, and intersectional identity. A passionate advocate, she has contributed to legislative advocacy efforts and education at the community, state, and national level, and served as a founding board member of Support Texas Adoptee Rights (STAR).

She is committed to providing inclusive, justice-oriented mental health services that honor the complexity of people’s stories and identities. Katy practices in Fayetteville, NC and is licensed in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

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Host or Publisher Katy Perkins, LCSW-S