Meet The Experts

Dr. Julian Davies is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington where he co-directs the Center for Adoption Medicine and works at the longest running FAS clinic in the courntry. His interest in foster care and adoption began in Russia, where he started a summer arts and clown camp for Russian orphans. He now has a pedeiatric practice where 2/3 of his patients were fostered or adopted. Dr. Davies also created an award-winning online resource for pediatrics and adoption adoptmed.org.

Deborah Gray specializes in the attachment, grief, and trauma issues of children in her practice, Nurturing Attachments. Her methods of working with children and families reflect her strong developmental and infant mental health perspective.

Her passion is to help families develop close, satisfying relationships. She has worked 20 years in children’s therapies. Deborah was the 2008 Henry W. Maier Practitioner in Residence at the School of Social Work at the University of Washington.

Deborah Gray is the author of two books, Nurturing Adoptions: Creating Resilience after Neglect and Trauma, 2007, and Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today's Parents, 2002, both published by Perspectives Press. Nurturing Adoptions was a 2008 award finalist for the Benjamin Franklin best professional book of the year. Deborah is on faculty for two post-graduate certificate programs in foster and adoption therapy.

Dan Hughes, Ph.D. is a practicing clinical psychologist who specializes in the in the treatment of children and youth who have experienced abuse and neglect, childhood trauma and attachment disorganization.

Dr. Hughes received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Ohio University, with a clinical internship at the University of Rochester Medical School. He is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) and the Association for Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children (ATTACh).

He has provided training and consultations to therapists, social workers and parents in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Dr. Hughes is the author of Facilitating Developmental Attachment (1997), Building the Bonds of Attachment, (2006) and Attachment-Focused Family Therapy (2007).

Arleta James has been an adoption professional for fifteen years. She spent several years as a caseworker for the Pennsylvania Statewide Adoption Network placing foster children with adoptive families and she now works as a therapist providing services for attachment difficulties, childhood trauma and issues related to adoption. She was the 1999 Pennsylvania Adoption Professional of the Year. She is currently on staff at the Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio.

She is the author of the 2012 Jessica-Kingsley Publishers’ release Brothers and Sisters in Adoption: Helping Children Navigate Relationships When New Kids Join the Family.

Dr. Johnson earned his M.D., and a Ph.D. in Anatomy, served his internship and residency, and completed his neonatology fellowship at the University of Minnesota where he currently is Professor of Pediatrics, member of the Division of Neonatology and a faculty member in the Global Pediatrics Program.

Dr. Johnson co-founded the International Adoption Clinic in 1986. His research interests include the effects of early institutionalization on growth and development and the outcomes of internationally adopted children.

Dr. Johnson is an invited speaker worldwide, a Senior Research Fellow in the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute and has authored over 200 scholarly works. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the Joint Council for International Children's Services, Friend of Children Award from the North American council on Adoptable Children and the Harry Holt Award from Holt International.

He is also the father of a son adopted from India.

Gregory Keck is the founder and director of the Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio, where he specializes in working with children who have developmental trauma disorder, reactive attachment disorder and numerous other mental health difficulties.

Dr. Keck served on the board of ATTACh for nine years, two of which he served as president. He is also the co-author with Regina Kupecky, MAT, LSW of Parenting the Hurt Child: Helping Adoptive Families Heal and Grow (2009), Parenting Adoptive Adolescents (2009) and Adopting the Hurt Child: Hope for Families with Special Needs Kids (2009).

Carrie Kitze, an adoptive mother of two children from China, is the founder and publisher of EMK Press. She is active in adoption affairs and speaks at adoption events on the topics of Adoption Parenting 101, Parenting with Narratives, Lifebooks, Ceremonies and Rituals for Adoptive Families, and Discovering Differences, a workshop for Kindergarten through third graders.

She is a past regional Families with Children from China coordinator, and has written for Adoptive Families Magazine and Adoption Today. She is the author of We See the Moon, a book for connecting with not-present or unknown birthparents, and I Don't Have Your Eyes, a book that finds commonality on the inside when the outside looks different.

She was also the creator of Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections with Sheena Macrae and Jean MacLeod, an indispensable resource for adoptive families.

Phyllis Laughlin has been an adoption counselor at The Cradle Adoption Agency for over 10 years. She and her staff work with adoptive parents as they go through the home study process and accept placement. Phyllis works with families adopting domestically, internationally and special needs infants and children. She also facilitates training sessions to prepare prospective adoptive parents for adoption, including openness.

Marilyn has more than 40 years of adoption and child welfare experience in administration, supervision and casework, and is the Executive Director of Adoptions Unlimited. Prior to establishing Adoptions Unlimited, Ms. Panichi was the Executive Director of the Adoption Information Center of Illinois under the auspices of the Child Care Association of Illinois.

She began her career with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services as a Child Welfare Worker and Adoption Coordinator.

She is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the Academy of Certified Social Workers. Ms Panichi is co-founder of the Adoption Exchange Association where she currently serves as board member and treasurer.

Over the last thirty years, Dr. Perry has been an active teacher, clinician and researcher in children's mental health and the neurosciences. He is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago.

Dr. Perry is the author, with Maia Szalavitz, of The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog, and Born For Love: Why Empathy is Essential and Endangered. He is the author of over 300 journal articles, book chapters and scientific proceedings and is the recipient of numerous professional awards and honors, including the T. Berry Brazelton Infant Mental Health Advocacy Award, the Award for Leadership in Public Child Welfare and the Alberta Centennial Medal.

Dr. Perry's research includes: the effects of prenatal drug exposure on brain development, the neurobiology of human neuropsychiatric disorders, the neurophysiology of traumatic life events, and long-term cognitive, behavioral, emotional, social and physiological effects of neglect and trauma in children, adolescents and adults. His work has resulted in the development of innovative clinical practices and programs working with maltreated and traumatized children.

Dr. Karyn Purvis is the founder and director of the TCU Institute of Child Development and a passionate advocate for "children from hard places", a phrase that describes children with histories of trauma, abuse and neglect. Dr. Purvis and her mentor and colleague, Dr. David Cross, currently lead the Institute in its triple mission of research, education and outreach on behalf of at-risk children.

Dr. Purvis and Cross also co-authored The Connected Child: Bringing Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family and developed Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), a step-by-step intervention designed to bring deep healing to at-risk children and their struggling families. In 1999, Dr. Purvis launched The Hope Connection, a summer camp that serves as a research and training lab for adopted children and their parents and students.

A noted author, scholar and popular speaker, Dr. Purvis holds a PhD in developmental psychology from Texas Christian University. She was appointed to chair the state committee that set licensing standards for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, has trained judicial and court personnel, caseworkers and orphanage caregivers.

Honors include: T. Berry Brazelton MD Infant Mental Health Advocacy Award; Heroes of Healthcare Award, Families Supporting Adoption Hall of Fame Award, the James Hammerstein Award, and a Distinguished Fellow in Adoption and Child Development.

Dr. Purvis is a former foster mother, a mother of three sons, and a grandmother of eight, two of whom are adopted.

Betsy Keefer Smalley, LCSW, has thirty-three years of experience in the field of child welfare, specializing in the areas of adoption, kinship, and foster care. She is a training consultant for the Institute for Human Services, Program Manager at the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program, a consultant to the Center for Child Welfare Policy, and a clinical consultant to the Family Trust Clinic.

With colleague Jayne Schooler, Ms. Keefer Smalley co-authored the award-winning book, Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child: Making Sense of the Past. She is lead author of the 10-module IHS Adoption Assessor training series, and the Preservice Training for Foster, Adoptive, and Kinship Caregivers, and has prepared over 600 foster care and adoption specialists to use these curricula.

Susan is Program and Project Director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and Co-Director of the Center for Adoption Studies at Illinois State University is a leading scholar in the field of post-adoption services. A licensed clinical social worker and Emerita Professor of Social Work at Illinois State University, she has published several books and numerous articles in scholarly journals.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recognized her pioneering work, along with Dr. Jeanne Howard, with its 2002 Excellence Award for applied scholarship and research. Dr. Smith is a recipient of the Angels in Adoption Award (2006).

Judy is a LCSW and adoptive mom, has been serving families and children in the field of adoption for over 20 years. Instrumental in launching The Cradle's international program, Judy was also a lead developer for Adoption Learning Partner's premiere course, Conspicuous Families.

She serves on the board of Adoptive Families magazine, is the past president of Joint Council on International Children's Services, and is currently serving as Adoption Learning Partners' Director of Professional Relations.

Lynn Wetterberg, MS is the Executive Director of ATTACh, a national organization of clinicians, advocates and parents of attachment disordered children. Lynn currently serves as the President of Comfort the Children, a humanitarian aid and child advocacy organization, and is a founding member of For the Children, SOS, a grass roots organization which advocates for Romania's orphaned children.

Lynn served as a co-founder and Executive Director of Uniting Families Foundation (UFF), a licensed child welfare agency, assisting in the placement of children from orphanages overseas. During her tenure she assisted in the placement of more than 50 older and special needs children.

Lynn also served on the Board of Directors of Joint Council on International Children's Services for seven years. A recipient of the Congressional Angel in Adoption Award, Lynn Wetterberg remains devoted to the right of every child to be raised in a permanent, loving family.

Lynn has four children, three adopted from Romania and one from Russia.