WHEN: Tuesdays at 1:00 PM(EST) - meets biweekly

WHERE: Zoom

COST: FREE!

Maryland Families: Virtual Biweekly Group for Transracial Adoptiove or Guardianship Parents/Caregivers
Join us for a virtual support group where transracial adoptive parents and guardian caregivers can share experiences, learn, and build community.

ABOUT THE FACILIATORS:

Carmen Rickman, DSW, LCSW-C, serves clients throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. She has provided mental health services to children, teens, families, and groups in various therapeutic settings, providing in-home, outpatient, and residential mental health therapy. Carmen has experience working with anxiety, adjustment disorders, depression, trauma, abuse and neglect, and attachment concerns. Carmen is trained in Adoption Competent Therapy, Attachment-Focused Family Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Sandtray Play Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy and Theraplay to facilitate positive change, growth, and healing with her clients. She is passionate about helping individuals and families develop the tools and skills necessary to cope with challenges and identify and explore strengths that lead to improved self-worth and quality of life. Carmen views therapy as a collaborative process and welcomes the involvement of family members, care providers, and medical professionals. Carmen specializes in providing trauma therapy to teens and adults.

Deb Schugg has more than 35 years of experience working with families of vulnerable youth. She has extensive experience offering individualized, trauma-informed coaching to foster and adoptive families in crisis and training professionals who work with families throughout the nation. She is the mother of 8 children from culturally diverse backgrounds, 7 of whom were adopted as sibling groups from the foster care system. Deb and her husband also provide a safe haven and permanent connections for a number of young adults, many of whom are Deaf and identify as LGBTQ, and are kinship caregivers to 3 of their grandchildren.

As an adoptive parent and adoption professional, Deb is keenly aware of the needs of adoptive families and of the challenges and joys inherent in parenting children with a history of trauma. She is a staunch advocate for elevating the voices of both adoptees and birth/first families. Her fluency in American Sign Language and life experience within the Deaf Community add yet another dimension to her unique perspective.

As an advocate for foster, adoptive, and kinship families, Deb has been called on to provide expert testimony to the California State Assembly and State Senate regarding the need for adoption-competent mental health services. Deb serves as a consultant to families, schools, agencies, and residential treatment facilities to identify trauma-based behaviors, shift culture and language regarding adoption, and provide implementable strategies for helping families heal and thrive. She is a Thinking Partner for The Adoption Exchange Association, working to create a National Quality Improvement Center for Adoption/Guardianship Support, and is a Senior Consultant for the National Center on Adoption and Permanency.

Deb is an experienced and engaging trainer of both professionals and families. Known for her authenticity, passion, and expertise, she is in demand on local, state, and national levels. She is a contributing developer and trainer of 8 adoption-focused curricula across the nation. Deb’s use of lived experience to illustrate clinical content in a meaningful and memorable way is the hallmark of her teaching style.