Birth Father: Core Issues, Clinical Practice & Beyond
Dates: 6/10/26, 6/17/26, and 6/24/26
Time: 12-2pm EST/11am-1pm CST/9-11am PST
Faculty: Phil Weglarz, LMFT
Through in-depth, first-person accounts of birth fathers in contemporary adoptions, participants will enrich their perspective, empathy, and understanding of men’s experiences of responding to unexpected pregnancies, considering and making adoption plans, relinquishment and placement, and navigating post-placement contact and across their life span. In addition to enhancing your clinical practice with individuals and families with experiences of adoption, you will be challenged to identify steps you can take to promote men’s access and involvement in therapeutic services.
About the Faculty:
Phil Weglarz is an adoptive father, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and Registered Expressive Art Therapist (REAT). Phil also serves as full-time Core Faculty and Program Chair at the California Institute of Integral Studies, in the Masters in Counseling Psychology, concentration in Expressive Arts Therapy. In 2022, Phil completed a PhD, conducting a narrative research study with men who are birth fathers or adoptive fathers in open adoptions, entitled, Kaleidoscopes of Kinship: A Narrative Inquiry of Birth Fathers’ and Adoptive Fathers’ Experiences of Open Adoptions. In 2026, Phil graduated from the 72-hour Training in Adoption Competency (TAC) through C.A.S.E.
Birth Fathers: Core Issues, Clinical Practice & Beyond
This 3-session, 6-hour course will provide in-depth, first-person accounts of birth fathers in contemporary adoptions and will enhance clinical practice with individuals and families with experiences of adoption.
