Empowered To Connect Parent Training
Overview
Empowered To Connect (ETC) Parent Training is a learning and training experience designed specifically for adoptive and foster parents. The ETC Parent Training was developed by Michael & Amy Monroe (from Empowered To Connect) and is based 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 strategies and tools 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, including helping parents understand the impacts of their child’s history, what parents bring to the parent-child dynamic, the fundamentals of attachment, the impact of fear, and the importance of meeting their child’s sensory processing, nutritional and other physiological needs. Ultimately, the ETC Parent Training integrates this holistic understanding with the insights and skills parents need to effectively and consistently use the TBRI principles and strategies, and equips them to employ a balanced parenting approach that enables them to provide compassionate discipline that both connects and corrects.
Session Topics & Training Requirements
The training is interactive and is taught in small groups (most classes are limited to ten families) that meet weekly for two hour sessions over the course of nine weeks. Married couples are required to attend training together, and singles are encouraged to attend with a support team member.
The sessions covered in the ETC Parent Training are:
● Introduction & Overview of Empowered To Connect Parent Training
● 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 How Sensory Processing, Nutrition and Neurotransmitters Affect Your 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, in-class sessions are supplemented by weekly outside assignments, including reading and a variety of participatory “at-home” exercises. You can view the ETC Parent Training Resource List here.
ETC Parent Training was first led by the Monroes in early 2010 at Irving Bible Church. Since then, over 60 families have completed the training. ETC Parent training is offered regularly (2 to 3 times per year) by Tapestry (at Irving Bible Church) for families in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. In addition, 19 other couples that lead adoption/foster ministries from 10 different states and Canada have completed the ETC Parent Training Train-the-Trainer course (see details below), and many are starting to teach ETC Parent Training in their areas. A complete list of ETC Parent Training classes will be available soon!
For more information or questions about Empowered To Connect Parent Training, contact Michael Monroe at info@empoweredtoconnect.org.
Train-the-Trainer Course
Empowered To Connect offers the opportunity for 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. 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 two to 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 $275 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 ETC Parenting Training Train-the-Trainer course will be offered twice during the remainder of 2012:
● Summer 2012 — registration to begin in May, with the seven weeks of homework assignments beginning in early June followed by the three-day intensive in-class sessions on July 26-28, 2012
● Fall 2012 – registration to begin in July, with the seven weeks of homework assignments beginning in mid-August followed by the three-day intensive in-class sessions on October 4-6, 2012
The in-class sessions will be held at Irving Bible Church in the Dallas, Texas area.
For more details or to let us know that you are interested in participating in an upcoming train-the-trainer course, contact Michael Monroe at info@empoweredtoconnect.org.