Rooted

Adoptive parents Paul and Robin Pennington talk about the hard realities of adoption. The Penningtons, who’ve adopted five children, including some with special needs, talk about ROOTED, an online training course they’ve developed that offers gospel-centered support for adoptive and foster families. Dr. Mary Bennett joins them to talk about the needs of orphans in Haiti, and the difficulties adoptive parents may have after bringing traumatized children into their home.

Paul and Robin Pennington joined by Dr. Mary Bennett talk about the needs of orphans in Haiti, and the difficulties adoptive parents may have after bringing traumatized children into their home. View Show Notes →
Adoptive parents Paul and Robin Pennington talk about the hard realities of adoption. The Penningtons talk about ROOTED, an online training course they've developed to support adoptive and foster families. View Show Notes →

Meet Series Guests

Mary Bennett

Mary Morrison Bennett, Ph.D., LPC-S, RPT-S is an Associate Professor in the Professional Counseling Program at Texas State University. Dr. Bennett received her B.S. in Special Education at Texas Christian University, her M.Ed and PhD in Counseling from the University of North Texas. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and Registered Play Therapist Supervisor. Dr. Bennett is the Director of the Institute for Play Therapy at Texas State University in San Marcos.

She is a Past President of the Texas Association for Play Therapy. Dr. Bennett has presented on play therapy across the United States and in England, Ireland and Russia. She provides play therapy and serves as the mental health consultant for children at an orphanage in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Dr. Bennett has published on the play therapy process, trauma, Child Teacher Relationship Therapy and play therapy supervision in professional journals and books.

She has been recognized for her professional contributions including the recipient of the Dissertation Award by the Association for Play Therapy for her research on Child Teacher Relationship Therapy and the Nancy Guillory Award by The Texas Association for Play Therapy. Her research interests include childhood trauma, international adoption, filial therapy and working with parents and teachers.

She serves as the mental health consultant for children at an orphanage in Port Au Prince, Haiti. She and her husband have two children.

Paul and Robin Pennington

Paul Pennington and Robin Pennington are co-founders of Hope for Orphans. Paul serves as the President of Hope for Orphans and is the co-author of several adoption and orphan ministry resources. Paul was the President of the board that founded and led to the development of CAFO (The Christian Alliance for Orphans). Paul has been featured on national Christian radio programs and has been published in The Washington Post, The Christian Post, and PastorResources.com. Robin is the Director of Family Relations at Hope for Orphans. She is passionate about equipping and mobilizing local churches to come alongside families of at-risk children and families in crisis. Paul and Robin have been married since 1978 and have six children (five through adoption) and 13 grandchildren.