Pre-Conference Event with Dr. Karyn Purvis

Together for Adoption is partnering with Empowered To Connect to present an Empowered To Connect Pre-Conference on Thursday, September 30, 2010 in Austin, Texas. This one day conference will be hosted at Hill Country Bible Church and sponsored by The Austin Stone Community Church. This Together for Adoption pre-conference event features sessions led by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Michael and Amy Monroe (bios below) and is designed for those focused on serving and supporting others, including social workers, agency professionals, church staff and ministry leaders, counselors, therapists, adoption and orphan advocates, and others involved in adoption and foster care ministries or services. Professionals are eligible to receive CEU credit for their participation in the conference.

The pre-conference will be held from 9:00 am to 4:45 pm. Check-in begins at 8:15 am. Light refreshments will be provided during breaks throughout the event, with an "on your own" lunch break scheduled from 12:00-1:30pm.

Schedule:

General Session One: Real Hope & Practical Help for the Journey - Dr. Karyn Purvis
General Session Two: Leading Parents on a Healing Journey - Amy & Michael Monroe
Break - 10:30 to 10:45 am
Breakout Session #1: Preparing to Provide Training and Support
Lunch - 12:00 to 1:30 pm
General Session Three: Key Strategies to Empower, Connect and Correct - Dr. Karyn Purvis
General Session Four: Reflecting the Heart of God for Our Children - Michael Monroe
Break - 2:35 to 2:50 pm
Breakout Session #2: Models for Providing Training and Support
Break - 4:00 to 4:15 pm
General Session Five: Q & A with Karyn Purvis and the Monroes

The Presenters

Karyn Purvis, PhD - Dr. 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.

Michael and Amy Monroe - Michael and Amy are the proud parents of four children, each welcomed into their family through adoption. Together they lead Tapestry, the adoption and foster care ministry at Irving Bible Church. Since 2005, Tapestry has grown to serve hundreds of families and children each year through a wide variety of educational events, training, support groups, financial assistance and community outreach. During this time, Michael and Amy have had the privilege of personally providing support and counsel to countless couples and singles in the adoption and foster care journey. In addition, they lead the DFW Alliance of Adoption and Orphan Care Ministries, a network of over 25 churches in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. In 2009, Michael and Amy partnered with Dr. Karyn Purvis to launch Empowered To Connect, an online educational resource for adoptive and foster parents and church ministries. As part of this effort, Michael and Amy co-authored, together with Dr. Purvis, Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child. Michael also helps to lead the local church ministry initiative for the Christian Alliance for Orphans and writes frequently for national adoption and foster care publications as well as contributes regularly toAdoptiveDads.org.