Rituals that Reflect the Whole Story

Support emotionally complex days with empathy and awareness

Learn More Enroll Now

Do celebrations feel complicated?

  • Your child’s mood seems to shift around birthdays or holidays—and you’re not sure why
  • Big celebrations don’t always bring the joy you hoped for, and sometimes lead to meltdowns
  • You feel confused or hurt when your child seems withdrawn, anxious, or irritable during family gatherings
  • You want to celebrate your child, but worry the day may bring up painful memories or losses
  • You’re unsure how to balance honoring your family’s traditions while holding space for your child’s grief
  • You long to create meaningful rituals that feel safe and affirming for your child
  • You wonder whether your child experiences guilt, divided loyalty, or sadness on "special" days
  • You want to help—but feel unsure of the right words or gestures

Threading Connections Through Complex Days

Picture birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries like a patchwork quilt—stitched with joy, grief, love, and memory. Some squares are bright and warm; others hold pain. You may see something beautiful. Your child may feel the scratch of what still hurts.

You wrap the quilt around them, hoping it brings comfort—but they seem distant or overwhelmed. A birthday brings more tears than joy. An adoption day feels heavy. You wonder what went wrong, when in truth, these days carry more than celebration.

You begin tracing each piece with care—the belonging, the loss, the unanswered questions. Instead of fixing the sadness, you honor it. You make space for the “both/and”: joy and sorrow, love and grief, presence and pain.

And slowly, your child exhales. Not because you forced happiness, but because you allowed truth. Your rituals shift from performance to presence. You're not patching over pain with celebration—you’re stitching connection into every meaningful moment.

INTRODUCING

The Complexity of Birthdays, Anniversaries & Holidays

Step into a transformative exploration of how adoption-related milestones—birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays—can hold layered emotional meaning, guided by Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker. As a licensed psychologist, international/transracial adoptee, and adoptive parent, Dr. Wirta-Leiker brings a rare depth of insight and compassion to this often-overlooked aspect of the adoption experience.

Drawing from over a decade of experience in trauma, identity, and adoption-focused care, she gently unpacks how these “special days” can stir up feelings of grief, divided loyalty, confusion, and loss—sometimes hidden beneath the surface of celebrations. With her grounded and relatable approach, she helps caregivers recognize and validate these emotional undercurrents with empathy and intention.

This carefully crafted online course offers practical strategies to navigate meaningful dates with sensitivity and authenticity. You’ll learn how to create inclusive, flexible rituals; balance celebration with space for complex emotions; and support your child through anniversaries that may feel more like reminders than milestones.

This journey isn’t about picture-perfect holidays—it’s about presence, attunement, and trust. Through Dr. Wirta-Leiker’s unique lens of clinical wisdom and lived experience, you’ll gain the tools to transform emotionally charged dates into opportunities for deeper connection, healing, and belonging.

Enroll Now

What’s Included:

  • Comprehensive video lessons covering each core issue in detail that you can watch at your own pace.
  • Downloadable course slides to reinforce your learning.
  • A cultivated resource list with links to further support your journey.
  • Real-world strategies you can start using right away.
  • Insights from the course instructor’s unique perspective as an international/transracial adoptee, adoptive parent, and licensed psychologist.
  • A course completion certificate to recognize your achievement.

Get Started

What You'll Learn

By completing Unit 7: The Complexity of Birthdays, Anniversaries & Holidays you’ll be prepared to support your child’s emotional well-being during important dates that hold a wide range of emotions.

Understand the Emotional Weight of Special Days

Learn how birthdays, adoption anniversaries, and holidays can trigger a variety of confusing emotions for your child that lead to overwhelm, meltdowns, and shutdowns that impact everyone in the family.

Recognize Grief-Driven Behaviors

Decode mystifying reactions and behaviors that may stem from unresolved loss or emotional overwhelm—and respond with empathy and intention rather than frustration.

Navigate Celebration vs. Commemoration

Explore how to shift your approach to these days to acknowledge the difference between joyful celebration and attuned commemoration honoring your child's unique needs.

Create Supportive Rituals

Create and implement age-appropriate, inclusive, and affirming traditions to mark special days with the intention and sensitivity your child deserves.

Foster Open Communication

Support your child in navigating complex emotions on special days by modeling openness and using language that welcomes all feelings with compassion and clarity.

Unlike generic parenting courses or trauma workshops, Unit 7: The Complexity of Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Holidays is intentionally designed to support adoptive parents and professionals.

This carefully crafted online course opens the door to profound insights about the emotional complexity of birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays—these aren’t just special occasions, they’re emotional touchpoints where joy often coexists with grief, longing, or confusion. For adoptees and fosterees, these days can stir deep feelings tied to loss, identity, and belonging. Through Dr. Wirta-Leiker’s expert guidance, you’ll gain practical tools to recognize these emotional layers and respond with sensitivity, flexibility, and care. Her decade of experience—blending clinical expertise with lived insight—offers a compassionate framework that bridges understanding with action, empowering you to transform emotionally charged moments into meaningful opportunities for connection, healing, and trust.

Enroll Now

The Trifecta Perspective

Dr. Wirta-Leiker brings a unique three-dimensional understanding as an international/transracial adoptee, adoptive parent, and licensed psychologist specializing in adoption and trauma. This rare combination ensures you're learning from someone who truly understands the complexities of adoption from every angle.

Deep, Practical Understanding

Transform insight into meaningful support with a framework that helps you recognize how significant dates can impact behavior, mood, and emotional regulation. You’ll gain practical tools to create inclusive, flexible rituals, respond with empathy, and support your child in making sense of big feelings—turning emotionally charged days into opportunities for trust, connection, and healing.

Adoption-Centered Approach

While traditional resources often miss the nuanced realities of adoption, this course specifically addresses the unique experiences and needs of adoptees. Every lesson, strategy, and insight is tailored to the adoption journey, making it immediately relevant to your role.

Accessible Investment

At $25, this course represents an accessible investment in transformative knowledge. The value extends far beyond the course material, paying dividends in stronger relationships and better outcomes for the adoptees in your care.

Learn at Your Pace

Designed for busy professionals and parents, this flexible learning experience allows you to engage with the material on your schedule. Access video lessons and resources whenever and wherever works best for you, returning to deepen your understanding as needed.

What Others Are Saying About The Complexity of Birthdays, Holidays, and Anniversaries

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 Adoptions

The presenter was incredibly knowledgeable about this topic from a variety of different viewpoints. The information was presented in a way that makes it easy to understand, while giving clinicians practical tools to do this very important work.

Adoption Professional

Very easily digestible information, well-thought-out and executed. Dr. Wirta-Leiker's personal experience and perspective really helped to embody the spirit of the material.

Adoptive Parent

Dr Chaitra Wirta-Leiker was a great presenter! The information was helpful and laid out super clearly and in a way that makes it easy to put into practice.

Foster Parent

This isn’t just another course; it’s a chance to benefit from the unparalleled expertise of Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker, a licensed psychologist with personal and professional insights as an international/transracial adoptee, adoptive parent, and trauma specialist.

Her unique perspective ensures that every strategy and tool is practical, actionable, and deeply informed by lived experience and clinical expertise.

For just $25—less than the cost of birthday party favors —you’ll receive instant access to knowledge and tools that will enhance your approach for years to come.

$25

Enroll Now

Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker is fully committed to your learning and success. By completing this course, you are guaranteed to feel more prepared, confident, and equipped to handle even the most challenging moments in adoption. If you have questions or need additional support, you’re encouraged to reach out for extra resources, personalized consultation, or bonus materials designed to enhance your learning experience. Your growth and understanding are her top priorities.

These outcomes aren’t just ideas—they reflect a compassionate, adoption-attuned approach rooted in clinical expertise and lived experience.

  • Reducing emotional tension and meltdowns around birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries.
  • Creating rituals and traditions that feel safe, affirming, and emotionally inclusive.
  • Feeling more confident and prepared when significant dates approach.
  • Showing up as a calm, connected presence during emotionally charged moments.
  • Standing out as a thoughtful, attuned parent or professional who truly gets it.

Frequently Asked Questions

This course is perfect for:

  • Adoptive and Foster Parents who want to better understand and support their child’s unique needs while building stronger, more secure connections.
  • Adoption Professionals seeking deeper insights and specialized strategies to enhance your work.
  • Educators and Counselors looking for actionable insights to support adopted children in their care.
  • Anyone who is ready to move beyond surface-level advice and make a lasting impact in their relationship with foster and adoptive children.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure about how to handle the complexities of adoption, this course will give you the clarity, confidence, and tools to make a meaningful difference.

Even seasoned parents and professionals find this course invaluable. Dr. Wirta-Leiker’s unique perspective as an adoptee, adoptive parent, and psychological expert provides insights you won’t find in general resources. 

Yes! This course offers practical, actionable strategies that you can implement immediately to improve your interactions and build stronger connections with adopted children.

At just $25, this course takes only 30 minutes to complete. It offers an affordable investment that provides tools and knowledge worth many times its cost. You’ll save time, reduce frustration, and create meaningful change. 

Enroll Now

Meet Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker

Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker is a licensed psychologist, international/transracial adoptee of color, and adoptive parent with over a decade of experience in adoption, trauma, and racial identity work. She has dedicated her career to helping families and professionals better understand and support adoptees.

Drawing from both her personal and professional journeys, Dr. Wirta-Leiker offers a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities faced by adoptees and those who care for them.

As an adoptee with firsthand experience and a parent striving to provide the best support possible, Dr. Wirta-Leiker’s work is deeply informed by lived experiences. She is also a trusted voice in adoption education, known for her compassionate and approachable teaching style and practical solutions. Dr. Wirta-Leiker is the author of the acclaimed “Adoptees Like Me” children’s book series, founder of the National Adoptee-Therapist Directory, and a highly sought-after speaker and trainer in the adoption community. Her passion for empowering others lies at the heart of this course, making it an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to make a meaningful impact in adoption-related relationships.

Get instant access and transform your understanding of adoption today.

The tools and insights you gain will pay for themselves in the form of stronger relationships and deeper connections.
Let’s build a brighter future together!

Enroll Now