Conference Schedule
*This content is subject to change
Friday November 3, 2023
*The times listed are in Central Daylight Time
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM - Welcome!
Shannon Quist, Committee Chair & April Dinwoodie, AKA President
9:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Friday Morning Keynote Presentation
CEUs: 1.75 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Keynote Speaker, Susan Ito, MFA
The Arc of Adoption is Long (And So Is Your Story)
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM - Lunch Break for Attendees
Annual Meeting of the AKA Membership
Friday Afternoon Educational Sessions
*The times listed are in Central Daylight Time
Session 1 1:00 PM - 2:45 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. “You’re Not My Real Mom!” And 9 Other Real Adoptive-Parenting Conversations, Barbara Herel & Lori Holden
B. Managing our inner wounds with mind/body/energy training, Danielle Gaudette
Session 2 2:45 PM - 4:15 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. Race, Adoption & Religion: How to Build Religious Communities that Affirm Transracial Adoptees, David McCarty-Caplan, PhD
B. What Grows When We Find Common Ground in Adoption Land, Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, Lori Holden
C. The Power of Memoir to Heal Your Heart and Claim Your Story, Patricia Knight Meyer
Session 3 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. Strengthening School Belongingness for Adopted/Looked After Students: A Case Study on Educator Practice, Max Weinberg, PhD Candidate
B. #BlackLivesMatter: Insights from Black Transracial Adoptees living in the Aftermath of the Nation's Racial Reckoning, Torie DiMartile, MA
This presentation has been canceled due to circumstances beyond our control. We apologize for any inconvenience
C. Expressing the Primal Wound: Navigating Fear, Grief, and Ambiguous Loss, Liz DeBetta, Ph.D.
Friday Evening (Optional) Programming
7:00 PM Meet Jeanette Yoffe from Celia Center, Inc.
7:15 PM Evening Special: Jenni Alpert (aka Cami)
Home is Where the Heart is: An adoption and biological reunion perspective
8:30 PM Documentary + short Q&A
Saturday November 4, 2023
*All times listed are in Central Time zone
9:00 AM - Welcome - Announcements
9:15 AM - Adoption Vanguard Award
9:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Morning Keynote Presentation
CEUs: 1.75 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Keynote Speaker: Andie Coston
From Right to Left: One adoptee's journey of coming out of the fog and into my own
12:00 PM - 12:20 PM Vanguard Award
12:20 PM - 12:45 PM Lunch Break for Attendees
Saturday Afternoon Educational Sessions
Session 1 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. Racial Identity and Power Dynamics, Melissa Guida-Richards
B. Why Genetic Identity Rights Matter, Kara Rubinstein Deyerin, JD, LLM
C. FOG Fazes for Birth/First Parents, Amy Barker D'Alessandro, LMHC & Jennifer Joy Phoenix, LSWAIC
Session 2 2:45 PM - 4:15 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. Adoptees & Eating Disorders: Clinical Considerations and Lessons from Lived Experience, Rebecca Berg, MS, RDN
B. The Power of Generative Choice, Rich Uhrlaub, M.Ed.
C. The Healing Possibilities of Ethnoautobiography: Embodiment and Decolonization to Take Your Power Back, Joanna Mailani Lima, M.A., AMFT
Session 3 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. History, Heritage, & Healing (for adoptive parents), Abbey Whigham & Alexa Orndahl
B. What I Wish I Had Known About Addiction as an Adoptive Parent, Beth Syverson
C. Secrets Told / Masks Unfold, Sharon Cummins & Jeanette Mooney
Conference Wrap-Up & Appreciations 6:30 PM -7:00 PM
*Please note, the times listed above are in Central Daylight Time
*The times listed are in Central Daylight Time
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM - Welcome!
Shannon Quist, Committee Chair & April Dinwoodie, AKA President
9:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Friday Morning Keynote Presentation
CEUs: 1.75 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Keynote Speaker, Susan Ito, MFA
The Arc of Adoption is Long (And So Is Your Story)
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM - Lunch Break for Attendees
Annual Meeting of the AKA Membership
Friday Afternoon Educational Sessions
*The times listed are in Central Daylight Time
Session 1 1:00 PM - 2:45 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. “You’re Not My Real Mom!” And 9 Other Real Adoptive-Parenting Conversations, Barbara Herel & Lori Holden
B. Managing our inner wounds with mind/body/energy training, Danielle Gaudette
Session 2 2:45 PM - 4:15 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. Race, Adoption & Religion: How to Build Religious Communities that Affirm Transracial Adoptees, David McCarty-Caplan, PhD
B. What Grows When We Find Common Ground in Adoption Land, Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, Lori Holden
C. The Power of Memoir to Heal Your Heart and Claim Your Story, Patricia Knight Meyer
Session 3 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. Strengthening School Belongingness for Adopted/Looked After Students: A Case Study on Educator Practice, Max Weinberg, PhD Candidate
B. #BlackLivesMatter: Insights from Black Transracial Adoptees living in the Aftermath of the Nation's Racial Reckoning, Torie DiMartile, MA
This presentation has been canceled due to circumstances beyond our control. We apologize for any inconvenience
C. Expressing the Primal Wound: Navigating Fear, Grief, and Ambiguous Loss, Liz DeBetta, Ph.D.
Friday Evening (Optional) Programming
7:00 PM Meet Jeanette Yoffe from Celia Center, Inc.
7:15 PM Evening Special: Jenni Alpert (aka Cami)
Home is Where the Heart is: An adoption and biological reunion perspective
8:30 PM Documentary + short Q&A
Saturday November 4, 2023
*All times listed are in Central Time zone
9:00 AM - Welcome - Announcements
9:15 AM - Adoption Vanguard Award
9:45 AM - 11:30 AM
Morning Keynote Presentation
CEUs: 1.75 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
Keynote Speaker: Andie Coston
From Right to Left: One adoptee's journey of coming out of the fog and into my own
12:00 PM - 12:20 PM Vanguard Award
12:20 PM - 12:45 PM Lunch Break for Attendees
Saturday Afternoon Educational Sessions
Session 1 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. Racial Identity and Power Dynamics, Melissa Guida-Richards
B. Why Genetic Identity Rights Matter, Kara Rubinstein Deyerin, JD, LLM
C. FOG Fazes for Birth/First Parents, Amy Barker D'Alessandro, LMHC & Jennifer Joy Phoenix, LSWAIC
Session 2 2:45 PM - 4:15 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. Adoptees & Eating Disorders: Clinical Considerations and Lessons from Lived Experience, Rebecca Berg, MS, RDN
B. The Power of Generative Choice, Rich Uhrlaub, M.Ed.
C. The Healing Possibilities of Ethnoautobiography: Embodiment and Decolonization to Take Your Power Back, Joanna Mailani Lima, M.A., AMFT
Session 3 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
CEUs: 1.5 Total for LMSWs, LPCs, LMFTs
A. History, Heritage, & Healing (for adoptive parents), Abbey Whigham & Alexa Orndahl
B. What I Wish I Had Known About Addiction as an Adoptive Parent, Beth Syverson
C. Secrets Told / Masks Unfold, Sharon Cummins & Jeanette Mooney
Conference Wrap-Up & Appreciations 6:30 PM -7:00 PM
*Please note, the times listed above are in Central Daylight Time