The kind of talk people are still thinking about on the drive home.

Speaking, Keynotes, & Workshops on Adoption Competency & Adoptee Mental Health

Melissa LaCour brings clinical depth, lived experience, and a direct voice to conferences, trainings, and professional development events across the country.

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Bridging Lived Experience & Clinical Expertise in Adoption & Attachment

MELISSA LACOUR, LPC

SPEAKER | TRAINER | ADOPTEE

Not just a clinician. Someone who has lived it.

There is a difference between a speaker who has studied a topic and one who has lived inside it. Melissa LaCour is both — and that combination is what makes her talks land differently.

She is an adoptee doing adoption work. A person who has navigated career change, loss, and identity rebuilding in adulthood — doing life transitions work. The clinical knowledge is deep. The personal authenticity is undeniable.

Her approach is warm, direct, and never generic. Audiences leave with real insight, specific language, and a framework they can actually use — not a list of platitudes they will forget by Monday.

"The most important work a person can do is the work of knowing themselves. My job is to help the people in your audience understand why — and what to do about it."

— Melissa LaCour, LPC

KEYNOTES & TRAININGS

Featured Speaking Topics & Workshop Presentation Menu

Each topic is available as a keynote, half-day training, full-day workshop, or multi-session professional development series. All can be adapted for in-person or virtual delivery.

  • Beyond Gratitude: What Adult Adoptees Wish Clinicians & Parents Knew

    • Best For: Mental health professionals, adoptive parents, adoption agencies, and community retreats.

    • Overview: For decades, the dominant cultural narrative around adoption has demanded unyielding gratitude, often leaving adoptees feeling isolated when complex emotions surface. In this presentation, Melissa LaCour unpacks the unspoken psychological reality of adult adoptees—including performative gratitude, fear of rejection, and hypervigilance. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how "adoption fog" lifts in adulthood and learn concrete ways to create environments where adult adoptees feel truly heard without having to minimize their truth.

    • Key Learning Outcomes:

      • Identify how performative gratitude creates barriers to authentic emotional expression.

      • Understand the intersection of adoption, boundary-setting, and chronic people-pleasing in adulthood.

      • Learn practical strategies for parents and clinicians to validate loss without creating division.

  • Navigating the 7 Core Issues in Adoption Across the Lifespan

    • Best For: Child welfare professionals, family therapists, adoption educators, and parent support groups.

    • Overview: Adoption is not a single past event; it is a lifelong developmental journey. Based on the foundational framework developed by Sharon Kaplan Roszia and Deborah N. Silverstein, this presentation explores the 7 Core Issues in Adoption—Loss, Rejection, Shame & Guilt, Grief, Identity, Intimacy, and Control. Melissa translates these core struggles from abstract clinical concepts into lived realities, illustrating how each issue evolves from childhood through adulthood and impacts relational patterns later in life.

    • Key Learning Outcomes:

      • Recognize how the 7 Core Issues manifest at different developmental stages.

      • Examine how early attachment disruptions affect adult romantic and family relationships.

      • Master actionable frameworks to help individuals process adoption-related grief and identity shifts.

    MENTAL HEALTH CONFERENCES | CORPORATE WELLNESS | FAITH COMMUNITIES | LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS | GENERAL AUDIENCES

  • Building Adoption Competency for Therapists & Child Welfare Professionals

    • Best For: Clinical training seminars, mental health agencies, university counseling programs, and CEU workshops.

    • Overview: Many well-intentioned therapists unwittingly misdiagnose or invalidate adoptee clients because standard graduate programs rarely teach adoption competency. This clinical training bridges that gap. Combining C.A.S.E. (Center for Adoption Support and Education) adoption-competent frameworks with insights from lived experience, Melissa teaches clinicians how to provide affirmative, adoption-informed care. Participants will learn how to avoid common therapeutic pitfalls—such as forcing resolution or missing hidden trauma—so clients don't have to spend sessions educating their counselor.

    • Key Learning Outcomes:

      • Differentiate between standard attachment struggles and complex adoption dynamics.

      • Implement adoption-competent assessment tools and therapeutic modalities (CBT, Attachment-Based, Systems Theory).

      • Build a culturally sensitive, trauma-informed environment for adult adoptees and adoptive families.

    HR & PEOPLE TEAMS | EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS | COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS | HEALTHCARE SETTINGS | GENERAL AUDIENCES

  • Attachment, Identity, & the "Both/And" of Adoption

    Description goes hereBest For: Keynote addresses, university lectures, panel discussions, and multi-disciplinary mental health summits.

    • Overview: One of the most challenging aspects of the adoptee experience is holding conflicting truths at the same time: loving one's adoptive family while grieving a lost biological connection, or feeling deep appreciation while holding anger toward systemic practices. This keynote explores the therapeutic concept of the "Both/And." Melissa shares how embracing dialectical thinking allows individuals across the adoption constellation to release rigid perfectionism, integrate fractured identity narratives, and move toward genuine emotional wholeness.

    • Key Learning Outcomes:

      • Understand how binary thinking ("good adoption vs. bad adoption") hinders healing.

      • Learn tools to help clients navigate search, reunion, and genealogical confusion without guilt.

      • Foster resilience, self-compassion, and authentic identity development in adult adoptees.

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CREDENTIALS & EXPERIENCE

The expertise behind the voice.

Melissa LaCour is a Licensed Professional Counselor with over seven years of clinical experience. Her speaking and training work is grounded in the same depth of knowledge and lived experience that defines her clinical practice.

She has completed training through The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) — one of the most respected adoption-informed training organizations in the country. She is additionally trained in Trauma-Focused CBT, Functional Family Therapy, Trust-Based Relational Intervention, and Attachment Trauma.

What distinguishes her as a speaker is the integration of clinical expertise with personal experience. She does not speak about adoption from the outside. She brings the inside view — and that changes how audiences receive the content.

  • M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

  • Licensed Professional Counselor — Louisiana #7708

  • Telehealth privileges — Georgia, Indiana, Minnesota, & Ohio

  • Adoption competency training through C.A.S.E. (Center for Adoption Support and Education)

  • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

  • Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI)

  • Specialized training in Attachment Trauma

  • Personal adoptee experience — 7 Core Struggles framework

Event Types, Conferences, & Organization Partnerships

  • Mental Health Conferences & Clinical Education Seminars

  • Adoption & Foster Care Agencies & Family Organizations

  • Podcasts, Media Interviews, & Panel Discussions

  • University Guest Lectures & Professional Development

  • Keynote

    45–90 minutes. A single powerful session designed to open or anchor your conference, summit, or professional event. High-impact, memorable, and tailored to your theme.

  • Half-Day Training

    3–4 hours. Deeper content with interactive elements. Participants leave with frameworks and tools they can apply immediately in their professional practice or organization.

  • Full-Day Workshop

    6–8 hours. Comprehensive professional development with case studies, group work, and skill-building. Ideal for clinical teams, school districts, and organizational training days.

  • Multi-Session Series

    Multiple sessions over weeks or months. For organizations committed to sustained learning in adoption-informed care, athlete mental health, or identity-based practice.

  • Panel & Moderation

    Available as a panelist or moderator for conferences and professional events in mental health, adoption, athletics, and related fields.

  • Virtual Delivery

    All formats available virtually. Melissa is an experienced online presenter and adapts her delivery to ensure the same engagement and impact in a remote setting.

Book Melissa LaCour, LPC for Your Next Event or Conference

Whether you are planning a conference, a professional development day, a training for your clinical team, or a community event — I would love to talk about what is possible.

I am available for in-person engagements nationally and virtual presentations globally. Every inquiry receives a personal response within two business days.

Frequently Asked Questions About Speaking & Workshops

  • Melissa LaCour, LPC, speaks on adult adoptee mental health, adoption competency for clinicians, attachment styles, identity development, and the 7 Core Issues in Adoption. Her presentations integrate lived experience as an adult adoptee with clinical training from the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.).

  • Melissa is available for both in-person keynotes and virtual workshops, webinars, and panel discussions nationwide. She regularly presents to conferences, clinical training organizations, adoption agencies, and university programs across the United States.

  • You can request a speaking media kit, availability, and fee schedule by reaching out directly through the contact form on this page or emailing info@melissalacour.com with your event details, date, and audience type.