This Year’s Topic Experts
Utah Foster Care (UFC) is dedicated to educating foster parents and the larger community about the difficulties faced by many children in foster care. Specifically, we’re concerned how the child welfare community and foster parents can help these children heal from the traumas they’ve experienced.
Our annual Symposium brings local and national experts to present and is open to foster parents and the public. In addition to being an educational and social event, the Symposium is one way for attendees to meet their personal educational goals. For foster parents, the time spent at the conference counts towards their in-service training requirements for relicensure. For child welfare and clinical professionals, there are continuing education credits (CEUs) available (the amount varies each year).
THIS YEAR’S EVENT WILL BE ONLINE ONLY.
Meet the experts…
September 29th
9:00am – 12:00pm: Mollie Marti and Liz Coenen will share the THRIVE resilience model that shows how positive relationships are the key to helping us:
- Understand the impact of trauma on the brain
- Gain skills to help others heal and overcome adversity
- Master key aspects of human resilience building
- Create environments that support emotional regulation and self-mastery
- Practice regular self-care
1:00pm – 2:30pm: Dr. Karen Tao will help us explore how to support positive identity development in children—with particular focus on children from minority communities. Dr. Tao is a professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah and the host of Let’s Talk on Utah PBS.
September 30th
9:00am – 12:00pm: Susan Stiffelman is a marriage and family therapist and a licensed psychotherapist. For over 30 years, Susan has worked with families to create greater harmony and deeper connection between parents and children. Susan believes that children need to know that they can depend on their parents to guide them through the ups and downs of their lives.
1:00pm – 2:30pm: Dr. Lee Raby will share his research about healthy emotional development in children who are adopted. Dr. Raby is a professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Utah.