About

Being a clinical social worker with adoption competency training is a journey. It starts with the adoption professional recognizing they need to be “out of the fog” and acknowledging that adoption only happens because of loss. With this knowledge, there is an awareness of the stereotypes and misinformation on birth/first parents, adopted persons, adoptive parents, as well as the business of adoption. Marie first became aware of the complexities of adoption issues when she saw that her adopted teenager clients were overrepresented in the clinical population. This was the beginning of Marie Dolfi making a commitment to educating herself on the unique issues facing adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, and their relatives.

Since the 1990s, Marie has pursued professional development in relinquishment and adoption issues by attending adoption issues trainings, adoption conferences, reading adoption books, adoption research, and most importantly, and most importantly learning from adoption triad members. Her adoption competency training includes completing the Center for Adoption Support and Education’s National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative for Mental Health Professionals.

Recognizing that adoption experiences can be traumatic for members of the adoption triad, Marie has committed herself to ongoing professional development training on trauma treatment. Evidence-based trauma therapies Marie has trained in include Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Polyvagal Theory’s Safe and Sound Protocol, and the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT/tapping). Her initial EMDR training was completed with the Parnell Institute (EMDRIA approved). Marie has also participated in training for using EMDR therapy for individuals with complex PTSD. In 2023, Marie completed The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation’s Level 1 Training on The Complexities of Complex Trauma.