Empowered to Connect LIVE Simulcast

The Empowered to Connect LIVE simulcast is a two-day training on Friday, April 10 and Saturday, April 11 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m Central Time.  As this is a LIVE simulcast and will begin promptly at 9 a.m., we ask that you arrive by 8:30 a.m. Doors open each day at 8 a.m.  The cost is $10.  Please purchase your ticket by February 28 to guarantee a workbook to use during the simulcast.  There will be a limited supply after this date, so please buy your tickets early!! If you have any questions, please email e2c.auburn.alabama@gmail.com.

The Empowered To Connect Conference is a two-day conference for adoptive and foster parents (and regular parents!), ministry leaders and professionals designed to help them connect with children from hard places in order to help them heal and become all that God desires for them to be. 

Led by Dr. Karyn Purvis (Director of the TCU Institute of Child Development) together with Michael & Amy Monroe (Leaders of Tapestry Adoption & Foster Care Ministry), this conference is ideal for adoptive and foster parents, those considering adoption or foster care and those who are serving and supporting others, including social workers, agency professionals, church staff and ministry leaders, counselors, therapists and others all involved in adoption and foster care ministries or services.

The Empowered to Connect (ETC) Conference is a two-day conference for pre- or post-adoptive or foster families and professionals that is designed to help them better understand how to connect with children from hard places in order to help them heal and become all that God intended for them to be.

ETC is beneficial for adoptive parents, foster parents, potential adoptive/foster parents, and professionals (counselors, therapists, teachers, social workers, ministry leaders, youth nursery leaders and ANYONE working directly with children). 

Continuing education credits from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) will be offered to professionals for all conference learning sessions without charge. In order to receive CE Credits:

• Please make note when registering for conference

• You will be required to sign in/out EACH day of the event

• Separate check-in tables will be set up for professionals to sign in/out

• CEC certificates will be sent to participants within 6 weeks of the event. 

The 2015 Empowered to Connect conferences have been approved by the National Association of Social Workers (Approval #886649357-2610) for 11 Social Work continuing education contact hours.*PLEASE BE ADVISED: CE credits are for licensed professionals only and are not the same as adoptive/foster training credits. 

Each parent will receive a certificate of attendance. The certificates will be handed out at the end of each day, per parent. Attendees are responsible for providing the certificate to their agency, and it is at the agency’s discretion whether or not to count participation toward training credits. To be eligible with your agency to receive training credits, each participant will need to turn in to their agency a copy of each certificate and it is beneficial to also provide them the schedule of the conference. There is no need to sign up for adoptive/foster training credit.

No, all ticket sales are final.

No, but we will provide a hand-out with local restaurant options, if needed. Each day there is an 1 ½ hour lunch break for an off-site lunch each day. Coffee, water and light refreshments will be provided during the morning and afternoon breaks. 

No, unfortunately childcare will not be provided. Please make arrangements for your children off-site.

Can I purchase a ticket for one day?
We do not offer reduced tickets for one-day attendance.  However, check-in will be available both days if you are only able to attend one day.

Yes! This event is centered on teaching parenting and connection skills to adoptive and foster parents, social workers, ministry leaders and the like.  If you are considering adoption or foster care this event will equip you with skills and training to connect your child.

Anyone who works with children will benefit from this training! Ministry leaders, social workers and pastors, teachers will benefit from a better understanding of the effects of trauma and abuse, the losses experienced by adopted/foster children and how to heal and connect.

Day 1 (Friday, April 10)
9 a.m.  Welcome Introductions & Overview
9:30 a.m.  Hope & Help for the Journey 
10:30 a.m.  Break (15 minutes)
10:45 a.m.  Understanding a Child's History and Its Impacts 
12-1:30 p.m.  Lunch Break
1:30 p.m.  The Attachment Dance
2:45 p.m.  Break (15 minutes)
3 p.m.  Our Journey of Hope:  The Coley's Adoption Story 
3:45 p.m.  Developing Healing Connections
4:45 p.m. Closing Remarks

Day 2 (Saturday, April 11) 
9 a.m.  Welcome
9:15 a.m. Empowering Our Kids to Succeed:  Understanding Sensory Processing and the Neurochemistry of Fear 
10:30 a.m. Break (15 minutes)
10:45 a.m.  Parenting From a Hard Place
12-1:30 p.m.  Lunch Break
1:30 p.m.  Behavioral Crunches: How to Correct While Connecting in the Crunchtimes 
3 p.m. Break (15 minutes)
3:15 p.m.  Behavioral Change: Putting It All Together 
4:45  Closing Remarks 

Dr. Karyn Purvis is the director of the Texas Christian University Institute of Child Development. She has devoted the past decade to developing research-based interventions for adopted, foster and other at-risk children. She has lectured and taught all across the U.S. and throughout the world to varied groups – from trainings in the U.S. for parents, churches, judges, social workers and counselors, to international trainings for parents and professionals in England, Iceland, Scotland, Romania, Ethiopia and Rwanda. She and her colleague, Dr. David Cross, write regularly for scientific journals and parents magazines, and co-authored The Connected Child: Bringing Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family (2007). Dr. Purvis also wrote, together with Michael and Amy Monroe, Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child. She is the recipient of the T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., Texas Infant Mental Health Advocacy Award, and in June 2008 was given the title of Distinguished Fellow in Adoption and Child Development by the National Council for Adoption. Dr. Purvis holds both masters and doctorate degrees in Developmental Psychology from TCU, and is a former foster parent, a mother of three boys and a grandmother of eight.