Anaheim, CA ~ Gail Curran, educational and therapeutic placement consultant, and certified educational planner invites all treatment-to-transition programs to participate in the 34th Annual Childhood Trauma and Attachment Conference from September 29 – to October 1, 2022.

As a participant, exhibitor, or sponsor, you can help bring the 2022 ATTACh Annual Conference to life. Support and participation will help ATTACh create an engaging, thought-provoking, and inclusive space for conference attendees where they can network, learn, and share ideas together.

Support and participation will also help provide high-quality, expert-led professional development and training experiences for clinicians, mental health professionals, occupational therapists, educators, parents, families, and others who provide care to children and young people.

Support and participation could be “out front” at one of the best national/international gatherings of professionals and parents dedicated to healing those impacted by trauma.

ATTACh will recognize Conference Sponsors through a variety of channels that offer distinct visibility in recognition of your support including conference marketing, promotions, and during the conference.

The Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment (ATTACh) is a nonprofit global coalition of parents, professionals, and caregivers raising awareness and understanding about attachment and treatment best practices. It is a fantastic opportunity for therapeutic programs to attend, purchase an exhibit booth or invest in sponsorship.

The 2022 ATTACh conference theme is Catch the Wave of Hope and Healing and will include workshops falling along seven tracks:  

• Parents: the workshops pertain to supporting caregivers in their lived experiences with extra focus and preference for hands-on is an intermediate knowledge base. 

• Prevention and Early Intervention: These workshops are for presentations focusing on actions and interventions before the development of severe attachment and trauma issues that will identify these issues in their earliest stages to prevent long-term effects. 

• Sensorimotor Approaches: for parents and professionals to understand the link between sensory integration issues in children.

• Child Welfare: Presentations should use evidence-based practice to enhance understanding and practices in child welfare around trauma-informed care. 

• Intermediate Professional: Workshops are for those furthering their knowledge of attachment issues that may be broader in scope. 

• Advanced Clinical: Workshops provide in-depth coverage of specialized topics.

• Teens and Young Adults, now have their own track. This new track will focus on hearing from teens and young adults who will share their life’s journey. 

As a board member, Gail introduced the idea of a space for teens and young adults in 2021.  A young woman,  Jess, and her mom share their story of healing and resilience at last year’s conference. “I thought that hearing from a young adult adoptee and her family, how they navigated the trials and tribulations in getting help through some of the most difficult times, and Jess’s resilience, would give hope to other families experiencing some of the same challenges,” Gail said. “I had no idea of just what an impact the story would have on others attending the conference.” They received enormous positive feedback from families, other young people, and professionals in the field, touched by Jess’s honest and heartfelt story. The impact of their presentation encouraged the conference organizers to add a new conference track this year dedicated to youth and young adults.  

After the 2021 conference, they were approached by Fostering Families Today, a bi-monthly resource magazine, who wanted to write an article about Jess and her journey. The article featured in their March/April 2022 issue, Everyday Heroes: One adoptee’s journey to healing with the help of an Arizona Educational Consultant. 

Jess and her mom will again join Gail to share how Jess was adopted from a Russian orphanage when she was 11 months old. The family dealt with volatile meltdowns when she was younger. At age 10, Jess fell from a second-story window. She became a paraplegic, further complicating the challenges in her life. The story continues through dramatic teen years with drug abuse and defiance. Finally, it culminates with Jess living in a hotel room and her family turning to Gail for help, and the first seeds of hope and healing began.  Added to this year’s 3-hour presentation are presentations by Terri Roman, LPC, PLLC, Jess’s current therapist, and Patricia Alana Inemer, LPC, discussing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) in borderline individuals. Jess is now a college student studying childhood development and trauma and is increasingly a spokesperson for trauma survivors. 

About ATTACh

The Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children (ATTACh) is a national and international coalition of parents, caregivers, and professionals working to give all communities the support they need to make healing children more hopeful and more effective.

About Gail Curran

Gail Curran, MS, MBA, and founder of Optimal Edu Options in Arizona, has served as an ATTACh board member since 2020. As an educational and therapeutic placement consultant and certified educational planner (CEP), Curran works closely with families who have children with developmental trauma. Curran spent decades working in residential treatment centers where she became interested in the trauma the children she worked with endured. She wrote her thesis on children with developmental trauma and working with these children and their families is her passion.