Hope for the Journey Conference
Formerly the Empowered to Connect Conference
FREE Digital Access
Focus on the Family is proud to sponsor the Hope for the Journey Conference.
The adoption journey does not end on the day a child is welcomed home; in fact, the journey is just beginning. Children impacted by adoption and/or foster care have often experienced early attachment injuries related to loss, abuse, trauma, and/or neglect. There is hope and help, though. Whether you are in the adoption process, have welcomed a child home through adoption, or are loving and serving well children through foster care, you are not alone.
The Journey Conference seeks to encourage and better equip parents and caregivers meeting the everyday needs of children impacted by adoption and/or foster care. With the busy parent and caregiver in mind, the Hope for the Journey Conference has moved to a on demand viewing experience making the conference more accessible to this audience with information being practical, succinct, and consumable in its delivery.
Structurally, the Hope for the Journey Conference will include five high-level learning modules based on the foundational principles of Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®) along with a new teaching component, The Gospel + TBRI. Embedded within each learning module will be a “Going Deeper” teaching video on a select topic, and also included will be two practical, encouraging “Practical Perspectives” videos featuring the voices of adult adoptees as well as adoptive and foster families.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Hope for the Journey Conference?
Show Hope launched its Empowered to Connect Conference in 2010 with the aim of equipping parents, caregivers, ministry leaders, and care professionals to better serve children impacted by adoption and foster care. Over the past 10 years, the conference has grown to include research-based tools to promote attachment and connection in families such as Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®) methods developed by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross from the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at TCU. At its core, TBRI works to promote trust, attachment, and connection between caregivers and children by addressing physical and emotional needs while also disarming fear-based behaviors.
Over the years, Show Hope has had the opportunity to hear from parents, ministry leaders, and professionals on the ever-changing, complex needs they face in serving children who have been impacted by early loss and trauma. Show Hope staff members also hold rich knowledge and experience with TBRI, and we continue to learn about new research, resources, and tools that align in scope with the concepts of connection, belonging, and security. And so, with this assessment of our Empowered to Connect Conference, we have also continued to return to our mission and see with fresh eyes that Show Hope does, in fact, stand in a unique place of resourcing the Church to serve families.
With these markers in place, guided by the vision set forth by Show Hope Founders, Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, the Hope for the Journey Conference will continue to build upon attachment-based knowledge and experience and introduce robust resources and share practical experiences of successes and failures of day-to-day parenting and caregiving. It is Show Hope’s aim that parents and caregivers will leave encouraged as they continue to journey well with their children.
How does it work?
The 2023 Hope for the Journey Conference will be available for on-demand viewing from Friday, April 14, 2023 through June 30, 2023, for individuals and organizations and includes the Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®) model for caring well for children impacted by adoption and foster care. Show Hope is working to resource churches, agencies, and other organizations as they support and equip the families, caregivers, and the communities they serve.
The Hope for the Journey Conference can be consumed in one day, targeting parents and caregivers meeting the everyday needs of children impacted by adoption and/or foster care. In an effort to make the conference more accessible to this audience, the information will be succinct and consumable in its delivery. To that end, Show Hope will, once again, be leveraging video content as a major component in the 2023 conference. Additionally, to provide greater flexibility for hosts to tailor the conference to meet needs in their community, the Hope for the Journey Conference will be modular in nature. This will allow the event to be consumed in one day or shared over multiple training sessions or weeks.
Structurally, the Hope for the Journey Conference will include five high-level learning modules based on the foundational principles of TBRI along with a fifth teaching component, The Gospel + TBRI. Embedded within each learning module will be a “Going Deeper” teaching video on a select topic, and also included will be one encouraging “Practical Perspectives” video featuring the voices of adult adoptees and/or foster youth alum as well as adoptive and/or foster families.
Learning Module 1: An Introduction to Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)
» Teaching Session With Daren Jones of the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development (KPICD) at TCU
» Going Deeper With Dr. Scott LePor on the topic of Trauma’s Effect on Neurological Development
» Practical Perspectives With Sarah Geserich & Emma Geserich
Learning Module 2: Connecting Principles
» Teaching Session With Amanda Purvis of the KPICD
» Going Deeper With Summer and Rob Curwen on the topic of Connecting and Stressful Experiences
» Practical Perspectives With the Yates Family
Learning Module 3: Empowering Principles
» Teaching Session With Kari Dady of the KPICD
» Going Deeper With Brooks Kaskela/Stacy Burrell on the
topic of Empowering in the Home
» Practical Perspectives With Shaoey Chapman &
Stevey Joy Chapman
Learning Module 4: Correcting Principles
» Teaching Session With Kimberly Glaudy of the KPICD
» Going Deeper With Brooks Kaskela/Stacy Burrell on the topic of Correcting Principles and Teens
» Practical Perspectives With Angela & Felix Gonzales
Learning Module 5: The Gospel + TBRI
» Panel Discussion: Trauma Competency & Care
Within the Church/Youth Ministries: A Panel Discussion
» Going Deeper WIth David Platt
» Practical Perspectives With Lynley and Steve Jackson
Is the Hope for the Journey Conference faith-based?
Show Hope is a faith-based organization and evidence of that faith will naturally be part of the Hope for the Journey Conference (as it was with the Empowered to Connect Conference). In an effort to further engage the Church in elevating trauma-competency, Show Hope will introduce a new supplemental module and additional resources to explore the gospel as foundational to TBRI.
It is Show Hope’s desire that the conference serves as a resource for the churches and organizations that host, allowing them to further open their doors and build relationships with families impacted by adoption and foster care in their communities.
Moving to a modular format gives hosts the flexibility to make decisions about which portions of the conference are most helpful in their context.