Training for Professionals

Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker

I’m a licensed psychologist specializing in adoption, trauma, and racial identity development, and I have a literal lifetime of experience with adoption—as an international and transracial adoptee from India, adoptive parent to a child from Ethiopia, and professional who has worked in the adoption community since 2002.

Are you looking for a professional to train your team on any of the following topics? You’ve come to the right place!

Training Topics for Professionals

  • Working Compassionately and Effectively with Adoptees and Adoptive / Foster Parents
  • Understanding and Supporting the Needs of Transracial Adoptees / Fosterees
  • Promoting Conversations about Intersectional Identities and Client / Staff Needs
  • Becoming an Anti-Racist Therapist, Provider, or Educator
  • Understanding and Preventing Racial Trauma in Clients and Communities

Visit the Contact Me page to fill out a request form, and I’ll set up a discovery call with you to go over the details of the training!

Upcoming Speaking and Training Engagements

For a training sample, view my webinar on "The Hierarchy of Racial and Cultural Needs of Transracial Adoptees and Fosterees"
as featured on RaisetheFuture.org and the Child Welfare Information Gateway

Feedback from My Training Sessions

“Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker is a phenomenal trainer.  I’m very selective about who I invite to speak to my people, and partnering with Dr. Wirta-Leiker is a no-brainer.  She doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff, yet brings curiosity and compassion to topics that might otherwise trigger shame or defensiveness.  She’s a fierce advocate for elevating the adoptee experience and a top-notch clinician, educator, and trainer.”
—ROBYN GOBBEL,  LMSW-Clinical, robyngobbel.com

“Dr. Wirta-Leiker's concise, comprehensive workshop provided participants with solid, well-researched information on this critical topic. She covered more ground in two hours than many presenters do in a half-day. Her charismatic presentation was both lively and compelling; a real call to action in the ongoing fight to quell racism and support diversity in both our work and personal lives.”
—JOHN DANDURAND, Executive Director, Human Services Network of Colorado

“I highly recommend any trainings done by Dr. Wirta-Leiker.  She brings an amazing combination of education and knowledge along with professional and personal lived experience to every training she leads.  She presents in a manner that acknowledges the difficulty of some of the conversations she is training on while also challenging participants to lean in and learn.  I have nothing but praise and respect for Dr. Wirta-Leiker’s trainings and always leave them with more awareness, more knowledge, and a deeper understanding of the subject.”
—TAMI DAVIDSON, Hope's Promise

The following feedback is from attendees of trainings on the topics shared above.

"I usually feel like professional trainings could dive deeper into the presentation topic, but for this training I was blown away by the depth of the content. I was taking notes the entire time. I thought this was the most valuable training I've ever attended. Much gratitude to the presenter."

“The practical tips for using with clients in session was incredibly helpful.  The different graphics and analogies were really helpful in finding ways to explain things to kids of different ages and to parents in different stages of their understanding.  This was a fantastic course!”

"I have spent so much time looking for research articles which address the experience of transracially adopted children. The material I find is often lacking. Thank you so much for teaching a course on information I have been desperate to find for years. I would be happy to attend a multi-day course taught by this speaker.”

“I like the practical applications that were provided that I can immediately adopt into my work with clients. I also appreciated the discussion of micro-aggressions, the need to monitor one's own biases and how they can creep into sessions, and the importance of acknowledging mistakes and focusing on impact rather than intent.”

“New insights into the experience of transracial adoptees and how to be supportive. As a white MSW student, I also felt this was incredibly helpful information on how I can be more supportive with all youth of color. This is so important, and I've never had training like this. I wish Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker could do a guest lecture or teach a course at my college.”

"The presenter had a wonderful way of making research-based/clinical ideas into understandable content. This was probably the best training I have attended on discipline that felt productive (not just a very basic 101) while still digestible and able to applied on a day-to-day basis. The real-life little examples throughout the presentation were also very helpful." — Foster parent