Overview:
Adoption is often a story of both profound love and complex trauma, and adoptive families can experience unique challenges related to attachment, identity, and loss. This session will explore how trauma and joy are deeply connected and how we can cultivate resilience even in the face of adversity. While this training will focus on the experience of adoptive families, the concepts that will be presented will apply to any family or individual impacted by trauma.
Learning Goals and Objectives:
Understanding how trauma impacts the nervous system and emotional regulation. Identifying barriers that prevent access to joy and how to navigate them. Incorporating daily, small practices to reset the brain’s hope circuit. Supporting adoptive families in creating a culture of safety, connection, and growth.
Presenter:
Presented by Dr. MaryCatherine McDonald Dr. MaryCatherine McDonald is a researcher, author, and trauma specialist with over 15 years of experience studying trauma, resilience, and the neuroscience of healing. She is the author of Unbroken: The Trauma Response is Never Wrong and The Joy Reset, which explores how to reclaim joy after trauma by rewiring the brain’s response to adversity. Through her writing, public speaking, and educational programs, Dr. McDonald helps individuals and communities shift from a deficit- based model of trauma to an empowered, strengths-based approach. Her work has been featured on major platforms and she regularly teaches and consults on topics related to mental health, grief, and post-traumatic growth.