NTI Mental Health Training

Free state-of-the-art, web-based, standardized training that gives you the ability to learn at your own pace.

The National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training for Mental Health Professionals provides the foundational knowledge, values and skills needed to enhance adoption competency for mental health professionals providing or interested in providing therapeutic or clinical services to children, youth and families experiencing adoption or guardianship. Core competencies include understanding and addressing the complex and often nuanced mental health needs of children experiencing adoption and guardianship, with a focus on the impact of grief and loss, trauma, attachment, identity challenges, and the impact of race, ethnicity, culture, class, and diversity on adoption and guardianship especially for transracial and transcultural families. In addition to sharing clinical best practices in assessment and treatment and therapeutic parenting strategies, NTI provides an overview of evidence-based and evidence-informed treatment models that have been shown to be effective in helping children and youth heal from trauma and strengthen attachments.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Module 1

    • Resources

    • Lesson 1: Course Overview

    • Lesson 2: The Language of Adoption

    • Lesson 3: Guiding Principles That Support Effective Mental Health Practice

    • Lesson 4: Achieving & Maintaining Permanence Is Key to Well-being & Mental Health

    • Lesson 5: Pathways to Adoption & Guardianship

    • Lesson 6: Core Clinical Issues in Adoption and Their Link to Mental Health
  • 2

    Module 2

    • Lesson 1: The Big Picture Understanding the Factors that Shape Children’s Adjustment

    • Lesson 2: Understanding the Impact of Early Childhood Experiences on Mental Health

    • Lesson 3: Tools and Techniques for Helping Children Integrate Their Life Stories

    • Lesson 4: Family Life is Paramount in Healing

    • Lesson 5: Issues in Diagnosis and Treatment of Adopted Children's Mental Health Needs
  • 3

    Module 3

    • Lesson 1: Understanding Attachment as the Foundation for Child Development

    • Lesson 2: The Implications of Attachment Challenges in Treatment

    • Lesson 3: Assessing and Addressing Attachment Challenges in Children and Parents

    • Lesson 4: Practice Models to Address Complex Attachment Challenges

    • Lesson 5: Practice Models for Enhancing Parent-Child Attachment.
  • 4

    Module 4

    • Lesson 1: The Impact of Ambiguous Loss and Unresolved Grief on Emotional Adjustment

    • Lesson 2: Understanding Loss and Grief Issues in Adoption

    • Lesson 3: Understanding the Stages of Grief in Adoption

    • Lesson 4: Impact of Abandonment and Rejection on Children’s and Youth’s Mental Health

    • Lesson 5: Preparing and Helping Parents to Support Their Child’s Grief

    • Lesson 6: Maintaining Connections and Openness
  • 5

    Module 5

    • Lesson 1: Traumatic Experiences of Children Achieving Permanency

    • Lesson 2: Understanding the Impact of Trauma on Children's Mental Health

    • Lesson 3: Assessing Trauma Exposure and Its Impact on Children

    • Lesson 4: Treatment Goals for Remediating the Consequences of Trauma

    • Lesson 5: Models for Addressing Complex Trauma
  • 6

    Module 6

    • Lesson 1: The Impact on the Adoption and Guardianship Experience and Your Practice

    • Lesson 2: Understanding the Mental Health Needs of Children in Diverse Families

    • Lesson 3: Talking About Race and Racial Identity

    • Lesson 4: Working with Parents to Address Issues around Race, Ethnicity, Culture

    • Lesson 5: Mental Health Professional’s Role in Working with Youth with SOGIE
  • 7

    Module 7

    • Lesson 1: Overview Identity Matters

    • Lesson 2: Identity Formation During the Adolescent Years

    • Lesson 3: Therapist’s Role in Working to Support Positive Identity Formation

    • Lesson 4: Helping Parents Support Positive Identity Formation

    • Lesson 5: Mental Health Professional's Role in Supporting Youth Search and Reunion
  • 8

    Module 8

    • Lesson 1: Assessment Through the Adoption Guardianship Lens

    • Lesson 2: Unique Assessment Issues when Working with Relative Caregivers

    • Lesson 3: Utilizing the Assessment in Goal Setting and Treatment Planning

  • 9

    Module 9

    • Lesson 1: Laying the Foundation for Change

    • Lesson 2: Therapeutic Strategies for Children & Youth Who Push Parents Away

    • Lesson 3: Teaching Self-Regulation Skills through Therapeutic Parenting

    • Lesson 4: Addressing Especially Challenging Problems with Youth and Families

    • Training Survey

    • NTI Video Links

    • NTI Directory

    • Cassidy Seminars