About Allison
Allison Davis Maxon, M.S., LMFT is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of child welfare and children’s mental health specializing in Attachment, Developmental Trauma and Permanency/Adoption. She is the Executive Director of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency and was the foster care consultant for the Paramount Pictures movie Instant Family. Allison was honored in 2017 with the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute ‘Angels in Adoption’ award and is the co-author of Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency: A Guide to Promoting Understanding and Healing in Adoption, Foster Care, Kinship Families and Third Party Reproduction, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2019.
Bethany Haley, Allison Maxon, the Honorable Mary Landrieu at the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute Gala Nov. 2019
For more than 25 years, she has dedicated her clinical work as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist to expert programs and practices in children’s mental health, attachment family systems, adoption/permanency and developmental trauma. She is a clinical member of ATTACh, The Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in Children. Allison is an author, educator, clinician and advocate who is passionate about helping children and families heal and thrive. She is co-author and master trainer of Kinship Center’s ACT: An Adoption and Permanency Curriculum for Child Welfare and Mental Health Professionals and co-author and master trainer of Pathways to Permanence: Parenting the Child of Loss and Trauma. Her broad range of experience crosses all aspects of the non-profit sector including executive leadership, program development, board/staff training and engagement, clinical supervision and philanthropic partnering.
Allison provides training, program and curriculum development, public speaking and consultation services on a wide range of topics. She frequently presents at national, state and local mental health and child welfare conferences including the Child Welfare League of America, American Adoption Congress, North American Council on Adoptable Children, National Foster Parent Association, ATTACh, San Diego County Children’s System of Care Training Academy and the prestigious Georgetown University National Symposium on Children’s Mental Health Systems of Care.
In 2017, Allison received a Congressional ‘Angels in Adoption’ Award from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute. To learn more about their advocacy on behalf of children in foster care and adoption please visit http://www.ccainstitute.org/.
In 2020, Allison co-founded a non-profit organization with writer/director Sean Anders. Unbelievably Resilient www.ur-resilient.org is led by former foster youth whose mission is to empower current and former foster youth to reclaim their story and re-brand foster care to include their narratives, voices and perspectives. To learn more and support their mission #traumatotriumph Check out their podcasts on spotify
Books and Articles by Allison:
The Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency Workbook for Children and Teens: A Trauma-Informed Resource, by Allison Davis Maxon, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2023
The Seven Core Issues Workbook for Parents of Traumatized Children and Teens: A Guide to Help You Explore Feelings and Overcome Emotional Challenges in Your Family, by Allison Davis Maxon and Sharon Kaplan Roszia, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2022
Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency: A Comprehensive Guide to Promoting Understanding and Healing in Adoption, Foster Care, Kinship Families and Third Party Reproduction, by Allison Davis Maxon and Sharon Kaplan Roszia, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2019
What To Do With All That Anger! Fostering Families Today, May/June 2019, Words Matter!, Fostering Families Today, Nov/Dec 2018, Children Learn What They Live, Fostering Families Today, May/June 2018, Dance of Relationship: What All Parents Need to Know About Attachment, Fostering Families Today, March/April 2018, Adoption Trauma, Fostering Families Today, Sept/Oct 2017, What To Do With Challenging Behaviors, Fostering Families Today, July/Aug 2017, Helping Your Child Move from Anti-Social to Pro-Social Behaviors, Adoptalk Winter 2017, 10 Things Kinship Caregivers Need, Kinship Parenting Toolbox, 2015, The Dance of Permanence, Fostering Families Today, 2011, Becoming Your Foster Child’s Emotional Tutor, The Foster Parenting Toolbox, 2012, and is a co-author and master trainer of Kinship Center’s ACT: An Adoption and Permanency Curriculum for Child Welfare and Mental Health Professionals (48 hrs of clinical training) and co-author and master trainer of Pathways to Permanence 2: Parenting the Child of Loss and Trauma (21/hrs).
Creator of The 10 Things Your Child Needs Every Day; a video training tool to assist parents/caregivers with specific strategies to strengthen their attachment relationship with their child.
Get In Touch
To connect to Allison, call 949.939.9016 or email her at [email protected]