HybridTraining;Supporting Transracial Adoptive Families Using Play Therapy

About the Presenter:

Sabra Starnes is a Clinical Social Worker, a transracial Adoptee, and an adoptive mother of two sons. Sabra and her twin sister were adopted as infants in a closed domestic adoption. Growing up in a transracial family in the Midwest had many joys and challenges. Sabra and her family experienced racism and discrimination as a transracial family.

As an expert adoption therapist for the past 23 years, she has the personal experience and professional training to work with Adoptees and adoptive families. She strongly advocates for children in care to have permanency or reunify with their birth families.

She is the Founder of Next Place Therapy Foundation, a non-profit she founded in 2020 with the mission to provide post-adoption support to the Adoptee and adoptive families locally and nationally.

Sabra received her bachelor's in Social Work from Bennett College, her Master's in Social Work from Catholic University, and a Master's in Education from American University. She specializes in adoption, foster care, parenting issues, and skills.

She provides adoption counseling and consultation using an attachment-based therapy connected with expressive therapies. Furthermore, she is passionate about her clinical work in speaking and training on adoption locally and nationally on various adoption topics to amply the adoptee experience.

As a lifelong learner, she has received training in Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, Sandtray, Theraplay, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, and Trusted Behavior Relation Intervention.

T raining Information:

3.5 Play Therapy Non-Contact Hours (Sponsored by Next Place Therapy Services, LLC #17-526).

3 .5CEUs from NBCC AECP Approved Provider #7270.

3.5 CEUS from NASW-DC Pending approval

T his training is both virtual and in person at Next Place Training Lounge in Largo, Md.

T ime zone: eastern

This live 3.5-hour virtual training will highlight the importance of understanding attachment theory in working with transracial Adoptee and their families.

This training will allow clinicians to discuss and explore the significance of race and ethnicity in their lives and the lives of clients with whom they work. And the importance of understanding attachment theory in working with transracial families.

This webinar will discuss and explore how to best support transracial Adoptees and their families using attachment-based therapies.

And how to work with adoptive parents/caregivers about the issues of race and culture involved in foster care and adoption.

During the webinar, there will be opportunities to discuss working with Adoptee and their families in a supportive and honest way to educate parents while effectively protecting children's cultural needs.

Topics: Play Therapy, Families, Children, Teens, Adoption. Attachment

Who should attend: mental health professionals, child welfare workers, social workers, and counselors.

L earning Objectives:

1. List the unique joys and challenges Adoptees and their families may be experiencing in individual and family therapy sessions.

2. Define the term: "racial identity" and give two examples of issues that individuals who are transracial/transcultural Adoptees may experience concerning racial identity in family play therapy.

3. Identify several barriers that transracial Adoptees and adoptive families may experience in discussing race with their clinician in family play therapy sessions.

4. Assess the importance of parents and caregivers and helping professionals understand their own attachment experiences and implicit biases.

During the training, the presenter will:

Share video clips of interviews I did with my adoptive parents.

We will do small and whole-group discussions.

Level: intermediate - should have a basic understanding of family systems and attachment theory

Host or Publisher Sabra Starnes, LICSW,LCSW-C, RPT-S, M.Ed