About the presenter
Deborah Gray, MSW, MPA , specializes in attachment, grief, and trauma. She has spent over 15,000 hours in the last 15 years counseling children who have been fostered or adopted from the United States or internationally. Her private practice philosophy is one of empowering parents with information and techniques so that their skills and styles are used in meeting the needs of their children. Her passion is to help children and their families to develop close, satisfying relationships.
Deborah stresses practical approaches of promoting attachment, shaping behavior, and working through trauma and grief. She was a keynote speaker for the 2005 ATTACh conference and has keynoted national conferences including the Joint Council of International Children’s Services, American Association of Adoption Attorneys, Midwest Adoption Conference and Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption. She is a faculty member for the University of Washington’s Trauma Certificate program and has taught for Portland State University and Northwest Adoption Exchange post-graduate foster care and adoption therapy programs. She trains regularly for public and non-profit foster care and adoption programs.
Deborah Gray is the author of numerous articles and the books, Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today’s Parents, published by Perspectives Press, 2002, and her second book: Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience after Neglect and Trauma. To find out more about it: Click here
