Check here to see our growing list of workshop speakers!
Workshops are a vital part of Filled (together). Learn from experts in the fields of trauma, attachment, and child welfare; hear the stories of people with lived experience; and receive gospel encouragement from gifted teachers. With 20 workshops to choose from, you are sure to find the training and help you need!
JAMIE FINN - Secondary Trauma & Biblical Self Care
This breakout will explore the importance of Biblically informed self care. Topics include the risk of secondary trauma and burnout for foster and adoptive parents, a Biblical foundation for self care, creating space for self care in a busy family, and practical ideas for foster and adoptive parents to build actual self care into their lives.
JAMIE FINN - Foster & Adoptive Mom Huddle: Honest Discussions About the Lies We Believe & the Truths That Combat Them
Ann Voskamp famously said, "Shame dies when stories are told in safe places." Foster & adoptive moms are invited into a safe place of honest discussion about lies we are tempted to believe–about ourselves, our kids, and our God. Together we will vulnerably discuss the struggles of feeling like we are not enough, fearing we are ruining our kids, struggling to rest and care for ourselves, and wanting to give up. Then we will gather Biblical wisdom and gospel encouragement for battling these lies.
KATIE FARIS - Every Hour I Need You
So often, mom life exposes our weakness and insufficiency. It also reveals our children’s needs. We’ll never be able to answer all their questions, heal their deepest wounds, satisfy their greatest longings, or save their souls. Rather than trying to do these things on our own, in his word, God invites us to know him and lead our children to him. In this workshop, author Katie Faris will explain how our need is part of God’s plan, connect God’s character to everyday motherhood, and offer ways to contemplate God’s attributes individually and as a family.
RENAUT VAN DER RIET - What do I do when loving my child feels very hard?
This workshop is for adoptive and foster parents. Parenting is hard!! And parenting children from hard places and hard stories is even harder. How do we stay sane when our children are driving us insane? How do we love our children when they are not easy to love? How does the Gospel meet us right where we are and give us hope in the midst of the challenges of missional living? How can we create healthy rhythms of grace in our lives, marriages, and parenting that will produce ongoing renewal in our dailyness?
BEN & MEGAN FRESCH - Us AND Them: Building Bridges with Biological Families in Foster Care
Us AND Them is a practical and heartfelt workshop designed to help foster parents build healthy, grace-filled relationships with biological families. Through real stories, biblical insight, and practical tools, Ben and Megan Fresch guide foster parents to move beyond an “us vs. them” mindset and become bridge-builders who support family healing, whether the path leads to reunification or adoption. Learn how to initiate contact, set healthy boundaries, and walk alongside families with compassion and purpose.
BEN & MEGAN FRESCH - Parenting Together as One: How Our Differences Make Us Stronger
Parenting Together as One is an honest and practical workshop for couples who want to parent as a united team without losing the unique strengths each brings to the table. Ben and Megan Fresch share real-life stories, biblical insight, and practical tools to help you embrace differences, communicate well, and present a consistent foundation for your children. Discover how your distinct personalities and parenting styles can work together to build a stronger, healthier family.
JERAD MOFFITT - Man Of The House: The Titles That Matter
"Man Of The House" is a practical workshop for dads in the adoption and foster care journey, where we will spend time discussing the unique role of fathering children from hard places, supporting your spouse along the journey, and how to lead with strength, empathy, and presence in your home.
KAYLA MOFFITT - Welcome, Weary Mama
Welcome, Weary Mama is a gentle, grace-filled space for mamas to name their grief, process their pain, and bring it all before the Lord through the practice of lament. Together, we will discuss the Biblical meaning and purpose of lament and identify signs of hidden or unprocessed grief that can frequently be encountered in this space. We will end with a guided time of personal reflection through prayer and journaling. Tissues included.
JERAD & KAYLA MOFFITT - It's Not Fair: Learning to Love a Life You Didn't Know You Signed Up For
Parenting through foster care and adoption often looks different than what we imagined. Our dreams collide with unexpected challenges, unmet expectations, and the weight of unhealed wounds. In this workshop, Jerad and Kayla will create a safe space for parents to process their unfulfilled hopes and find joyful acceptance in where they are. We will discuss practical steps of moving toward peace, what "success" really means in the context of trauma-informed parenting, and how to have honest conversations with our spouse and our support system when life feels heavy.
NICOLE BARLOW - How Trauma Affects Us as Parents—and What We Can Do About It
Parenting children from hard places changes us- physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The constant stress can leave us running on empty, feeling it in our bodies, our health, and our marriage. In this session, we’ll get real about how carrying our children’s trauma affects our whole selves and what we can do to support our bodies in the middle of it. You’ll walk away with practical, realistic ways to strengthen your health, protect your marriage, and stay grounded in Christ so you can keep showing up with love and resilience for the long haul.
JESSE BOYKIN - Grief Workshop
Join us for this interactive time of learning to carry our grief with us as foster and adoptive parents. Whatever you're grieving- from children who have left your home to the loss of yourself, we will work through it together. Join us to be encouraged with biblical truths and hope for tomorrow.
EMPOWERED TO CONNECT - Intro to Cultivate Connection: A Course for Parents & Caregivers
Join us as we explore a core principle from Empowered to Connect’s Cultivate Connection parenting course: balancing nurture and structure to build trust and support your child’s growth. Whether you are caring for a newborn or navigating the challenges of raising older kids, our brain-based, attachment-rich, trauma-informed practices provide strategies that create lasting change.
EMPOWERED TO CONNECT - Parenting for the Anxious Generation: Sharing Peace with Your Children
Raising children in a world of uncertainty can amplify anxiety, especially for children who have experienced trauma. In this session, couples will explore how they can share God's peace with their children, drawing from biblical truths and practical strategies to help build emotional resilience
EMPOWERED TO CONNECT - Let’s Dance: Exploring Attachment Relationships as a Couple
Building secure attachment in your family requires a delicate balance of pursuit, trust, and repair — much like a well-choreographed dance. In this session, couples will explore how they can take the lead in fostering attachment with their children, while supporting each other in this rhythm of relationship.
BOTH HANDS FOUNDATION, PATHWAYS FOR LITTLE FEET, & LIFESONG FOR ORPHANS - Financial Assistance for Pre + Post-Adoption Expenses
Finances should never be an obstacle to a child having a forever family, yet studies show that the high cost of adoption and post-adoption expenses are one of the main barriers families face. Even as costs increase, there are many resources available to cover these costs. Learn more from our friends at Both Hands, Lifesong for Orphans and Pathways for Little Feet about grants, loans, fundraisers, and other resources like the Adoption Tax Credit.
JASON JOHNSON & RENAUT VAN DER RIET - FOR MEN ONLY!: A Unique Conversation for Just for Men
Guys, you are pouring yourself out in order to love and lead your families well through the foster care or adoption journey. It’s amazing, beautiful and exhausting. We get it, and you’re not alone. This workshop is designed for men, husbands and dads just like you that are living through shared experiences and can relate to your journey. You’ll be encouraged in the gospel, inspired in your calling and challenged to take your next best steps forward in a healthy, sustainable way.
JASON JOHNSON - REFRAMING THE JOURNEY: Finding Hope in Unexpected Places
Foster and adoptive parents face a unique set of challenges and circumstances that must be filtered through the lens of God’s truth. This session will help you “reframe” some thinking through those experiences along your journey in a helpful and sustaining way. Whether you’re just now considering getting involved in foster care or you’ve been on the journey for quite some time you’ll walk away encouraged, refreshed and inspired to take your next best steps forward.