Empowered To Connect Parent Training
Overview
Empowered To Connect (ETC) Parent Training is an interactive learning experience designed specifically for adoptive and foster parents. The ETC Parent Training was developed by Michael & Amy Monroe and relies heavily on the Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®) model developed by Dr. Karyn Purvis and her colleagues at the TCU Institute of Child Development.
ETC Parent Training equips parents with a holistic understanding of their child’s needs and development while empowering them with the tools and strategies to effectively meet those needs, build trust, and help their child heal and grow. The training is taught from a Christian perspective and focuses on a wide range of topics and issues relevant to adoptive and foster parents, including helping parents understand the impact of their child’s history, what they themselves bring to the parent-child relationship, the fundamentals of attachment, the impact of fear, and the importance of meeting their child’s sensory processing, nutritional and other physiological needs. Ultimately, ETC Parent Training integrates this holistic understanding with the insights and skills parents need to effectively and consistently employ a balanced parenting approach that allows them to provide compassionate discipline that both connects and corrects.
Session Topics & Training Requirements
Empowered To Connect Parent Training is divided into two separate courses: the Prepare Course (for pre-placement couples and singles) that meets for six weeks, and the Connect Course (for post-placement couples and singles) that meets for nine weeks. Each course is taught in interactive small groups that meet weekly for two hour sessions.
The Prepare Course includes the following six sessions designed to provide useful insights and a solid foundation for those who have not yet adopted or begun fostering:
● Foundations for Connection
● The Whole Equation: Understanding What You Bring to the Parent-Child Relationship
● The Attachment Dance
● Understanding the Needs of the Whole Child
● Behavioral Change: Connecting While Correcting (Parts 1 & 2)
The Connect Course includes the following nine sessions designed for parents who have already adopted:
● Foundations for Connection
● The Whole Equation: Understanding What You and Your Child Bring to the Relationship (Parts 1 & 2)
● The Attachment Dance
● Understanding the Impact of Fear and the Importance of Playful Engagement
● Understanding the Needs of the Whole Child
● Behavioral Change: Connecting While Correcting (Parts 1-3)
During the in-class sessions participants cover the above material contained in the ETC Parent Training Manual. In addition, the in-class sessions are supplemented by weekly assignments, including reading and a variety of participatory “at-home” exercises. You can view the ETC Parent Training Resource List here.
In addition, training participants have the opportunity to undergo (at a reduced cost) an Attachment Evaluation Interview provided by an experienced professional. This evaluation provides parents with an opportunity to fully embrace the meaning and implications of their own attachment history and patterns (topics that are thoroughly discussed during the training), and helps them to identify goals and develop a plan to achieve personal change that enables them to better implement the strategies they learn in the ETC Parent Training.
History of ETC Parent Training
ETC Parent Training was first led by the Monroes in 2010 at Irving Bible Church. Since then, nearly 200 families have completed the training. ETC Parent Training is offered regularly by Tapestry (at Irving Bible Church) for families in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. In addition, over 40 couples from around the U.S. have completed the ETC Parent Training Train-the-Trainer course (see details below), and many are starting to lead ETC Parent Training in their areas. A complete list of ETC Parent Training classes will be available soon!
Train-the-Trainer Course
Empowered To Connect offers the opportunity for adoption/foster care ministry leaders to become trainers and lead ETC Parent Training for families in their area.
The ETC Parent Training Train-the-Trainer course consists of an eight week training process. The first seven weeks are conducted via remote learning utlizing reading assignments, DVD instruction and a variety of written and participatory exercises. The train-the-trainer course concludes with a three day intensive in-class training led by Michael & Amy Monroe at Irving Bible Church in Irving, Texas. Click here for a detailed schedule of the three day in-class training.
The ETC Parent Training Train-the-Trainer course is currently being offered three times each year and is open to experienced adoptive/foster parents that are involved in leading established adoption/foster ministries. In order to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the train-the-trainer experience, class sizes are limited and both spouses are required to attend together.
The fee for the ETC Parent Training Train-the-Trainer course is $325 per couple, which includes all training materials, meals and snacks for the in-class portion of the training course. In addition, participants are required to pay for the cost of their resources (i.e., books and DVDs) plus their travel and lodging.
The upcoming open Train-the-Trainer courses are:
● Winter/Spring 2013 – applications due by December 15, 2012; seven weeks of homework assignments beginning in early January 2013 followed by the three-day intensive in-class sessions on February 28 – March 2, 2013 ***Course is now closed***
● Summer 2013 – applications due by May 13, 2013; seven weeks of homework assignments beginning in early June 2013 followed by the three-day intensive in-class sessions on July 25-27, 2013
● Fall 2013 – applications due by July 15, 2013; seven weeks of homework assignments beginning in early August 2013 followed by the three-day intensive in-class sessions on October 3-5, 2013
For more details or if you are interested in participating in an upcoming train-the-trainer course, contact Michael Monroe at info@empoweredtoconnect.org.
For Professionals
If you are a professional and seeking to be trained in your professional capacity, please visit the TCU Institute of Child Development website at http://www.child.tcu.edu/training.asp to learn more about Dr. Purvis’ Trust-Based Relational Interventions (TBRI) Training for professionals.