Have you ever wanted to put the pieces of your life together? Not just to look where you have come from but to help yourself move forward? What about helping a child you care about put those pieces together? Lifebooks can help children who have been in foster care and those who have experienced adoption. Lifebooks can help them integrate information about their past, present, and future in a useful and therapeutic way.

Lifebooks are a tool to gather and process by talking about the child’s information, answering their questions, and supporting the child in telling their story using their own words. In this workshop, we will take a closer look at Lifebooks, what they are (and are not), how and when they can be used, and helpful tips to get started.

Elliott Odendahl (she/her) is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW)/therapist and adoptee, who specializes in supporting individuals and families who have been affected by foster care, adoption and trauma. Elliott holds a Master’s degree from Augsburg College and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Elliott has had the privilege of working with children, youth, individuals and families of diverse backgrounds who are experiencing behavioral and mental health needs, disruptions in attachment and family relationships, trauma, as well as those experiencing the negative impacts of systemic and structural bias and racism. In addition, Elliott has previously worked with children and youth with neurodiversity-related diagnoses, provided Therapeutic Supervised Parenting to families, crisis support services to foster care providers and support services to families involved with Child Protection.

Elliott has a special passion for providing support and services to adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, resource parents and anyone from the adoption/foster kinship network. As an adoptee herself, Elliott believes it is an honor to be able to give back to the community, finding joy in being able to support the unique needs of transracial foster and adoptive families.