The Power of Story: Helping Kids Heal and Thrive
Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption, Foster & Kinship Care
07/15/26
•63m
About
Comments
Transcript
Featured In
Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!
How can storytelling help kids heal? In this episode, we talk to Dr. Sharon Zaffarese-Dippold to explore how story helps children make sense of their experiences, build resilience, and move toward thriving, including simple, everyday ways to begin using it at home. She is a psychotherapist with 27 years of experience in counseling and author of the "Garbage Bag Life" series, which emphasizes her journey through foster care.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Can you tell us a little about your own journey and why helping children make sense of their stories became such an important part of your life?
- What did you wish the adults around you had understood about what you were carrying as a child?
- Why are stories such powerful tools for helping children heal?
- What is it about a story that often feels safer than direct conversations, especially for children who have experienced trauma, loss, foster care, adoption, or family disruption?
- What happens when children don't have a coherent story about their lives?
- What are some of the questions they may silently wrestle with?
- Many parents and caregivers are afraid of saying the wrong thing around a child’s story. What do you suggest?
- What does it mean when a child moves from "What's wrong with me?" to "What happened to me?"
- What are some simple ways parents and caregivers can build storytelling into everyday family life?
- Stories can be used for more than understanding a child’s history in adoption, foster care, and relative care. They can also help children recognize their strengths, resilience, and a sense of belonging.
- How can parents and caregivers use storytelling to build family identity?
Resources:
- How to Talk with Our Kids About the Difficult Parts of Their Stories
- How to Make and Use an Adoption Lifebook
- Building the Framework for Adopted & Foster Children to Process the Hard Parts of Their Stories
- The Healing Power of Storytelling
- Suggested Books for Kids: Adoption, Foster Care, and Kinship Care
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
Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!
Question: My partner and I parent really differently, especially with our adopted child. I’m more focused on connection and understanding behavior, and my partner is much more strict and consequences-focused. We keep arguing about discipline and routines, and honestly, it’s starting to hurt our relationship too. How do we stop fighting about parenting and work better together?
Resources:
- Prioritizing Your Marriage in Adoption, Foster Care, or Kinship Care
- When Your Child's Trauma Impacts Your Marriage
- Self-Care Isn't Selfish
Related Podcasts:
- Strategies for Maintaining a Healthy Marriage or Partnership While Raising Adopted, Foster, or Relative Children
- When Parenting Feels Uneven: Helping Your Partner Step In
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
Next Episode
Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!
Question: What advice do you have for fostering/adopting children with autism, particularly those with limited communication skills? How can we best support them in expressing big feelings and feeling safe to do so? What can we do to help them feel they have some control and feel heard when they can't always communicate what they want and have a harder time understanding what's going on?
Resources:
- Setting Up Your Child with Autism for Success
- Helping Autistic Kids Shine
- What Is Pathological Demand Avoidance and How Do I Parent This Child?
- Helping Your Child with Autism Thrive
- Parent Support Toolkit (Autism Foundation)
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
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted