DATE: 5/19/12
TIME: 9 AM to 1 PM
PLACE: Union Presbyterian Church, 858 University Ave, Los Altos 94024

Please click on this link for more information or to register: http://helponechild.org/nancy-verrier

This class will benefit anyone who is part of the adoption triad: birth parent, adoptive parent, and social worker as well as the adoptee who is mature enough and inclined to be self-reflective.  Ms. Verrier will address such topics as the connection between adolescent “genetic confusion” and acting out, distinguishing coping mechanisms from character traits, and other tools for managing difficult behavior.

The Big I: Identity

.                   Adoptees: looking for similarities, finding differences
.                   Always be aware of loss (of first family)
.                   How to get underneath the anger to the pain
.                   Which is it– personality, adaptation, or coping behavior?
.                   How to address the power struggle
.                   How to deal with intimidation or people pleasing behavior
.                   Complicity in child’s avoidance of responsibilities: writing things down
.                   Addressing cause and effect and why it is so difficult for these kids
.                   Addressing impulse control and teaching self-regulation
.                   How to learn more about what your child thinks/feels: the words to use.
.                   Parents as guides, not friends
.                   The use of “projective identification” to learn about child’s feelings
.                   Challenging the child’s belief system
.                   Honoring agreements to gain trust
.                   Parents’ self-knowledge to avoid projecting on children