Inward Bound

offers training in multiple domains, from one-family-at-a-time training sessions to community and agency settings across the United States.  Training opportunities are also accessible by webinar and can be coordinated for small groups.  Contact our administrative office ([email protected]) for more information and to discuss how Inward Bound can meet your training needs.

Frequently Requested Training Curricula:

Parenting for Attachment CORE Training: 

This module offers the basics of attachment theory to equip parents in relationship building with their children who come into the family with difficult histories and trauma in their backgrounds.

The Nuts and Bolts: Parenting For Attachment:

For families who have welcomed children with attachment challenges, this workshop helps parents reframe and understand their child’s functioning in life and relationship.  Caregivers explore strategies for creating an environment where children can heal amidst the very real and intense struggles to guide and influence an attachment-challenged child.

Handle With Care:

The Older Adopted Child:  Children adopted at older ages often have more difficulty with building and maintaining relationships, even with people who should feel “safe” to them, like their adoptive parents.  For parents who have welcomed older children into their families, many would agree there can be unique and unexpected challenges with parenting.   This workshop is designed to help you:

• Recognize the unique needs of children adopted at older ages and discuss how they manifest in behavior and personality;

• Analyze, identify and discuss methods of meeting those needs;

• Explore how to expand targeted “therapeutic/treatment time” beyond weekly therapy for your family. 

Motivational interviewing: 

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is designed to find a constructive way, in the midst of challenges, to communicate effectively while simultaneously building relationship with your child and creating long-term behavior change. 

We know that children who have trauma exposure, often times, don’t have the capacity to communicate needs, thoughts, or even feelings.  As a result, parents witness challenging behaviors, attempt to utilize traditional methods of parenting, and it implodes!  Moms and Dads are left discouraged and bewildered.  

Our trainer offers a unique toolset to adoptive families, combining Motivational Interviewing and practices rooted in Trauma Informed Care. Parents who participate in her workshops will discover ways to build connection with their children and bring healing to their families.

Domestic Infant Adoption: A Crash Course in Attachment:

This workshop educates parents about the impact of intra-uterine trauma and equips them with strategies for encouraging optimal brain development and attachment in their infants.

Life Links: Transitioning Children With Less Trauma:

Originally designed for foster care programs, this workshop is for parents and professionals who have the responsibility of helping children move from one home to another.  We often unknowingly and unintentionally inflict wounds to the souls of “our” children during moves.  The curriculum equips adults to facilitate these transitions mindfully, in ways that minimize the impact of those wounds. 

Ties That Bind: Disruption Prevention:

For parents and/or professionals, this workshop takes an honest look at the “dirty little secret” of foster care and adoption – disrupted placements.  Foremost, we discuss tools for the prevention of disruptions, followed by trauma-informed strategies for navigating disruptions when they are unavoidable.

Happily Ever After?

Many adoptive parents have little understanding about the challenges their marriage may face in the wake of welcoming children by adoption.  In this workshop, co-facilitated with adoption worker, Jennifer Jacobs, MSW, learn about the potential impact of adoption on your family and acquire some practical strategies for safe-guarding your partnership.

CORE Training for Domestic Infant Adoptions:

This 15-hour workshop (offered over two days) is co-facilitated with community partners working in traditional infant adoption.  Families will receive cutting-edge training that meets Colorado’s training requirements for prospective adoptive parents involved with domestic infant adoption programs.

Play Therapy: A Family Affair:

For mental health professionals and students working toward a helping profession, this workshop turns play therapy techniques on their side to explore the value of involving parents in the process.

Attachment Training for Teachers: 

This module provides an understanding of attachment challenges to educators and professionals working in school settings, including pointers around how to work with these youngsters and advocating for their best in education.