Patricia Irwin Johnston, MS
Pat Johnston Biography
Patricia Irwin Johnston, MS
Pat Johnston is Perspective Press' publisher. She has been writing and speaking and advocating about infertility and adoption issues for nearly 30 years, beginning as a long-term volunteer in Indiana coalition building and with RESOLVE (for which she chaired the national board of directors for three years) and including several years on the national board of Adoptive Families of America.An innovative thinker, in 1979 Pat and two partners (Carol Hallenbeck and Dr. William R. Keye, Jr.) conceived of and planned what they later discovered had been the first consumer symposium on infertility held anywhere in the world! It became the model for the RESOLVE/Serono symposia series. A regular columnist ("Growing Up Adopted: 0-2") for Adoptive Families magazine for over five years (ending in 2000), Pat is an on-line expert for INCIID's Exploring Adoption and Expecting by Adoption bulletin boards. As well, she is a frequent contributor to many other magazines and newsletters.
Pat's books include Understanding Infertility: Insights for Family and Friends, Taking Charge of Infertility, Adopting after Infertility, Launching a Baby's Adoption, and Adoption Is a Family Affair! What Relatives and Friends Must Know and editing the poetry anthology Perspectives on a Grafted Tree. Pat and her husband, Dave, are the second generation of their family to extend it beyond infertility through the adoption of three children. (See Pat's Recommended Reading List).
Pat Johnston's decision-making and special-issue-exploration workshops for consumers and her in-service trainings for allied professionals are routinely praised for their friendly, inspiring, and gently provocative nature. Frequent topics (as one hour sessions or mixed and matched for half and full day sessions) include
Infertility: Issues and Decisions
Life at the Crossroads
Taking Charge of Infertility
Making Good Decisions
Creating a Balance
For Men:What to Do when You Can't "Fix It"
Fostering Effective Communication between Partners
Dealing with Family and Friends
Coping with the Holidays
Choosing the Right Professionals
Doctor/Patient Relationships
Where Do We Go from Here?--Evaluating Options
When Is Enough, Enough?--Knowing When to Stop
Ethics and Choices
Why Childfree is not Childless
The Quasi-Adoption Options: Donor Insemination, Surrogacy, Egg and Embryo Adoption
Is Adoption for You?--Making the Decision
Is Adoption for You?--Making the Commitment
Tough Adoption Choices--Making a "Match", Openness, Artificial Twinning, and more
Parenting after Infertility
Parenting in Adoption
Launching a Baby's Adoption
Promoting Attachment
Growing Your Family--Entitlement, Attachment and More
Getting the Words Right--Using Respectful Adoption Language
Adoption Expectancy--Feeling "Pregnant"
Eggs, Cabbages Patches, Airplanes and Social Workers--What Kids Think
Attaching through the Senses
Children's Developing Understanding of Adoption
Sex Education and The Adoption-Built Family
Conspicuous Families--Parenting across Racial Lines
Embracing Difference
Opening Ourselves to New Issues
Bringing Family and Friends Aboard
Promoting Understanding in the World Outside
And, for profressionals ,The Infertile Client in the 21st Century a half or full day workshop on dealing with today's changing issues with today's changing clients
To contact Pat Johnston about speaking for your organization, e-mail Pat at the office of Perspectives Press
Pat moderates the Exploring and Expecting through Adoption Forums
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