Information Hub / Events Continuing Education
Supporting Foster Youth Through A Relational and Culturally Responsive Lens with Tamera Peterson
12:00 PMFriday, May 22 2026
11:00 AMFriday, May 22 2026
10:00 AMFriday, May 22 2026
9:00 AMFriday, May 22 2026
8:00 AMFriday, May 22 2026
6:00 AM
Tamera Peterson, LCSW, ADHD-CCSP, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and founder of Thrive Collective Services, a Virginia-based mental health practice providing trauma-informed therapy and psychoeducation for children, adolescents, young adults, and families. With over 15 years of experience across community-based, crisis, outpatient, and telehealth settings, she specializes in trauma, emotional regulation, executive functioning, ADHD, and culturally responsive mental health care.
Tamera is passionate about supporting foster youth and underserved communities through relational, strengths-based, and developmentally responsive approaches. She currently serves as the Virginia Chapter Director for A Home Within, an organization dedicated to providing consistent, relationship-based mental health support for youth impacted by foster care. Her work focuses on helping clinicians, caregivers, and systems better understand behavior through a trauma-informed and relational lens while increasing access to meaningful mental health support.
This clinical training provides mental health professionals with advanced, evidence-informed approaches for working with foster youth through a trauma-informed, relational, and culturally responsive framework. Participants will examine the neurobiological and psychological impact of complex trauma, attachment disruptions, and placement instability on emotional regulation, behavior, and relational functioning.
The course will integrate principles from attachment theory, trauma-focused CBT, and culturally responsive care to support accurate assessment, case conceptualization, and treatment planning. Clinicians will learn to identify trauma-related symptom presentation versus behavioral concerns, implement developmentally appropriate interventions, and utilize relational techniques to strengthen therapeutic alliance and engagement with foster youth.
Emphasis will be placed on cultural humility, implicit bias awareness, and addressing systemic disparities within child welfare systems. Participants will also explore interdisciplinary collaboration with caregivers, caseworkers, and educational systems to support continuity of care and improve clinical outcomes.
By the end of the training, participants will be able to apply evidence-based interventions, enhance clinical decision-making, and implement culturally responsive strategies that support stabilization, resilience, and long-term healing for youth in foster care.
This course is eligible for 2 continuing education credits.
This course is suitable for LMHCs, and LPCs.
Intermediate
12:00 PM – 12:10 PM Introduction & Course Overview
12:10 PM – 12:30 PM Foster Care & Complex Trauma Overview
12:30 PM – 12:55 PM Attachment & Relational Impact
12:55 PM – 1:20 PM Culturally Responsive Clinical Practice
1:20 PM – 1:50 PM Evidence-Based Interventions & Case Application
1:50 PM – 2:00 PM Reflection, Q&A, and Clinical Integration
At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
List at least three clinical impacts of complex trauma and attachment disruption on the emotional and behavioral functioning of foster youth.
Identify and apply at least two trauma-informed, culturally responsive clinical interventions to improve engagement, emotional regulation, and treatment outcomes in foster youth.