Anne Atkinson & Debbie Riley: Training of Adoption Competent Mental Health Practitioners

Dr. Anne Atkinson, president and founder of PolicyWorks, Ltd. & Debbie Riley, LCMFT, CEO of the Center for Adoption Support and Education, discuss the importance of providing adoption competent mental health care to all members of the adoption triad. They begin by explaining what is meant by adoption competency and outline two post-graduate programs that have been developed, the Training in Adoption Competency curriculum and the web-based National Training Initiative. They describe the research that has been done to rigorously evaluate the trainings in terms of their impact on mental health practitioners knowledge and practice as well as outcomes for adoptive families. They end by summarizing important policy initiatives that can continue to grow an adoption competent mental health workforce. For more information on this episode and a transcript visit emilyhelder.com