News

Coming 11/14/10: Workshops Answer Adoption Questions

Open to the public, three workshops celebrate National Adoption Month with guidance for navigating questions from extended family, friends; also includes special session on attachment.

October 8, 2010

Sunday, November 14: Workshops Answer Adoption Questions
Open to the public, three workshops celebrate National Adoption Month with guidance for navigating questions from extended family, friends; also includes special session on attachment.

CINCINNATI (October 5, 2010)—In celebration of November as National Adoption Month, three workshops will address common questions regarding adoption by adoptive and prospective adoptive parents and their extended family and friends, as well as those related to attachment in adoption. “Answering Questions…” will be held on Sunday, November 14, 2010.

The workshops are presented by Celebrate Adoption, a Cincinnati-area network of families touched by adoption, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. All three workshops will run concurrently and will be located in the Mayerson Jewish Community Center, 8485 Ridge Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236.

The three ‘Answering Questions…’ workshop sessions aim to address the questions that come with every adoption—open, closed, international or domestic.

“Adoption may raise uncertainties about the process for extended family members of an adoptive family, and they may not know where to turn for information that can alleviate concerns and increase their knowledge of the process,” says Patty Bonem, LISW, Celebrate Adoption’s professional facilitator. “Adoptive families receive information during the process, but may not communicate it with their families.”

Further, continues Bonem, “adoptive parents may wonder how to best facilitate attachment with their adopted child. We encourage adoptive parents to attend, and to invite friends and extended family members. These sessions are intended to provide something for everyone.”

The sessions include:

• Adoption Answers for Extended Family & Friends: Exclusively for family members and friends of adoptive and prospective adoptive families, this session includes information about the legal and emotional aspects of adoption. Appropriate language and how to provide support will also be discussed. Additionally, an adoptive and birth family will discuss the evolution of their open adoption relationship.The session will be facilitated by Patty Bonem, LISW, Celebrate Adoption’s professional facilitator and a social worker for Adoption Connection and All God’s Children International. Patty has 20 years of experience in adoption issues.
• Adoption + Extended Family, School & Community: This session is open to adoptive and prospective adoptive parents and will include a discussion of adoption issues as they relate to the extended family, school and community. The session will be facilitated by Kristen Riekert, LISW, Adoption Connection Social Worker and Families Thru International Adoption (FTIA) Administrator. Kristen has 15 years of experience in domestic and international adoption.
• Attachment & Adjustment in Adoption: This workshop is for adoptive parents of children from orphanages, foster care, or whose placement occurred at birth. The session will cover attachment issues that can influence growth and development, and present appropriate parenting techniques to enhance attachment. The session is presented by Debbie Joy, MA, LPCC, who has practiced psychotherapy for 20+ years. Debbie specializes in adoption-related issues and working with abused children.

The event is Free for Celebrate Adoption Members. It is also open to the public at a cost of $15 for one individual or $20 for a group of any size. PLEASE NOTE: The advance registration deadline has been extended to Saturday, November 13.

To register, please submit each attendee’s name, phone number AND email address with the name of the workshop they wish to attend to Nada Hammann, event chair: nhammann@fuse.net, or 513-373-1324.

For a printable PDF-format flyer, click here.

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About Celebrate Adoption
Celebrate Adoption is open to families at any stage of their adoption journey (prospective, matched, finalized, etc.) who have formed their family through any means (agency, foster-to-adopt, domestic, international, etc.).
Annual family membership dues are just $35. Membership includes all programs—INCLUDING THIS ONE, plus monthly discussion groups, educational workshops, holiday party, annual picnic, Celebration of Women,
and more—AT NO EXTRA CHARGE. To become a member, click here.