Surviving Childhood Trauma and Succeeding in Life: Panel of Former Foster Youth

Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care

07/27/22

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58m

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We talk with a panel of former foster youth about their stories and what helped them survive their trauma and succeed in life.
In this episode, we cover:

What were the two most important things in helping you heal and ultimately thrive after your years in foster care and early life trauma?
Was their one or two people in your life who helped you overcome? What did they do to help?
Why do you think you became a survivor when others in similar positions did not?
If you are parents, how has your trauma from your early years impacted your parenting?
While you are successful and are “survivors” do you still carry some of the baggage from your childhood?
What advice would you give foster, adoptive, and kinship parents to be most helpful to the children in their care?

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. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

Weekly podcasts
Weekly articles/blog posts
Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Support the show

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.
Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

Weekly podcasts
Weekly articles/blog posts
Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Previous Episode

How Do Teachers Understand Adoption (and What Can Parents Do About It?)

July 20, 2022

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41m

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What do teachers know about adoption? What are the misperceptions? We talk with two researchers on this topic: Dr. Hal Grotevant, the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Dr. Abbie Goldberg, a Professor of Psychology and current Director of Women’s & Gender Studies at Clark University.
In this episode, we cover:

How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of trauma?
How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of attachment?
How knowledgeable were teachers in understanding the impact of adoption?
How knowledgeable were teacher sin understanding the impact of prenatal exposure?
Was there a perception that adopted kids were “troubled”?
What did they know about open adoption?
How accepting were teachers to the idea of modifying assignments to reflect diverse families, including those formed by adoption?
Do teachers know whether kids are adopted? Do they need to know? Do they feel comfortable asking this information?
Did teachers present lessons that included the diversity that adoption represents?
Does teacher training, either formal or in-service training, often include information on adoption?
What can parents do to help their child’s teacher be more adoption-aware or adoption-sensitive?
Where can listeners get more information on your research?
- The “Teachers and Adopted Children” Survey and the Factsheet for Teacher can be found here.

Weekly podcasts
Weekly articles/blog posts
Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Please leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamily

Support the show

Weekly podcasts
Weekly articles/blog posts
Resource pages on all aspects of family building

Next Episode

Helping Our Kids Overcome a Traumatic Background

August 3, 2022

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56m

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We know our kids have experienced trauma, but how can we help them overcome this trauma to become healthy happy adults. We talk about resilience and overcoming an adverse beginning with Dr. Julian Ford and Dr. Amanda Zelechoski. Dr. Ford is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry and Law at the University of Connecticut where he directs two Treatment and Services Adaptation Centers in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Dr. Ford is past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and has published more than 250 articles and book chapters and is the author or editor of 10 books. Dr. Amanda Zelechoski is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in trauma. She is a professor of psychology and Director of Clinical Training at Purdue University Northwest.
In this episode, we cover:

What are some of the different types of events/situations that can be traumatic to a child?
Do different types of trauma affect children differently? Short term but intense trauma. Long term trauma at the hands of a primary caregiver. Neglect? Witnessing domestic violence? Prenatal trauma?
Why does early life trauma make it harder for kids to succeed at life?
What are some signs of trauma by age of child? Preschool? Elementary? Middle and High School? (learning, physical health, mental health, trouble with the law, etc.)
How to help our kids overcome their traumatic background and thrive?
How to rewire the neurons?
Triggers
Emotional regulation.
What can parents do to help their kids bounce back from their early life trauma?
What is the key element to resilience?
How can parents encourage resilience?
What role does temperament or personality play in resilience to trauma?
How long does it take for kids to “heal” from trauma?
Are there specific types of therapy that are more effective than others for helping children overcome trauma? Does it differ depending on the type of trauma?

Resources: Roadmap to Resilience Podcast series. www.roadmaptoreslience.org