Webinars and Workshops

Education and practical tools to better understand your life journey

VANISH offers two programs to help people navigate the complex impacts of adoption. Our free psychoeducation webinars are held online throughout the year, offering accessible information and tools for adoptees and the people supporting them. Our workshops bring people together in smaller, more immersive settings to explore their lived experience through creative practice and in community.

Psychoeducation webinars

For people impacted by adoption and the people close to them.

Our free webinar series offers practical information about adoption and its impacts, presented by expert practitioners and researchers. Each session focuses on a specific topic to offer new language and frameworks for understanding the adoption experience, delivered live via Zoom.

We currently have six sessions planned for 2026-27 on topics including parenting as an adoptee, navigating complicated grief, and an introduction to the 7 Core Issues in Adoption.

Can’t attend live? Register for a session and we will send you a link to the recording afterwards.

Creative workshops

For adult adoptees and mothers separated from their children through adoption.

Being adopted or being separated from a child through adoption is often a complex, lifelong experience. Creative practices can offer a vehicle for self-expression, self-care, and ultimately, healing.

Our workshops provide safe spaces to explore complex emotions and personal narratives through diverse creative modalities. No artistic experience or skill is necessary. 

Since 2023 we have curated an innovative program exploring visual art, therapeutic writing, textiles, online storytelling and theatre-making, led by trauma-informed artists and facilitators—many of whom also have a lived experience of adoption. 

Recent workshops include:

Ballarat Art Therapy (Spring 2025): A 6-session art therapy program for adoptees in Ballarat, incorporating clay work, mask-making, printmaking, collage and guided imagery. Co-facilitated by Art Therapist Marita Jacobsson and Masters of Counselling student Eva Hoevenaar, participants explored themes of identity, belonging, and healing through arts-based inquiry. Read about participants’ experiences

Theatre for Social Justice Project (2025-2026): A multi-phase project combining online storytelling workshops, oral history interviews and theatre-making workshops. Adoptees collaborated with Dr Alison Ingram to co-create TAKEN, a verbatim theatre piece exploring the enduring impacts of past adoption practices. Phase II continues in 2026. Learn more about this project

Please note: Workshops are offered intermittently depending on funding. To stay informed about upcoming opportunities, subscribe to our newsletter or contact us to express your interest.