Adoptive Parent Profiles, But for Foster Care Adoption - Weekend Wisdom

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Are you looking for practical ways to build your child's resilience and sense of safety, and to strengthen your family's connectedness? Listen to this conversation with Ginger Healy, MSW, LCSW, director of programs for the Attachment & Trauma Network and host of the podcast “Regulated and Relational.” Ginger speaks across the nation on trauma-informed schools, therapeutic parenting, and community engagement.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What made you decide to write a book for educators?
• What were you observing about children’s needs around emotional language, self-regulation, and connection?
• Knowing that at home we often deal with a different rhythm, different dynamics (for example, one caregiver rather than teacher + many students), what initial advice do you have for parents and caregivers to translate this book’s classroom tools into a home context?
• Why is it essential that children learn social/emotional language — not just “feelings words” but the capacity to talk about self, other, relationships, safety?
• How does having more social/emotional language help a child feel “seen, safe, valued” in a family environment?
• What are the risks when children don’t have that language or opportunity to practice it?
• We often hear culture around us say, “Kids are resilient.” Why is that a misconception, especially in our community of adopted, foster, or relative children?
• Why does a child who has experienced trauma need specific, intentional scaffolding to develop their social/emotional language and build their capacity for emotional strength?
• What are the themes of the workbook that parents or caregivers can bring into their everyday conversations at home?
  • Understanding my story within my family structure
  • Reframing my narrative: navigating family challenges and conflict
  • Building confidence, hope, and a positive future
• Can you suggest a few strategies to get families started with the conversations?
• What if we are struggling with or lacking these skills ourselves? How do we learn them so we can teach and model them?
• What practical strategies can we use to integrate these skills into our daily rhythms?
• How do we know our kids are ready for adjustments in how we practice these skills, or to “level up”?
• How will they know if these strategies are effective?
• Do you have practical tips for families that want to strengthen their family dynamics but already feel overwhelmed by the long list of To-Dos?

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Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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