Foster2Forever

by

How Foster Parents Unknowingly Cause Anger Outbursts

Parenting an angry foster child can be frustrating, confusing, and sometimes quite overwhelming. Even the smallest things can cause an angry outburst.

parenting-angry-foster-child

My foster child was struggling to open the half-gallon of milk.  But pulling the tab was a bit too complicated for her small hands. As I noticed her frustration building, I came over to help but then I saw RED all over the container!

“Oh no, sweetheart! Let me help you. You’re pulling that wrong! Is that BLOOD??!?”

Surprisingly, her reaction was of ANGER: “NO! That’s not blood! You’re so STUPID!”

I was befuddled as my angry foster child stormed off yelling at me. I had only been worried that she had cut herself on the plastic ring tab. Why did she go off on me?

Meanwhile, my husband had watched our interaction from the dining room. His observation made me realize how hyper-sensitive a child with past trauma can be.

“You told her she was doing it WRONG.”

Wow! A simple word. A word I had spoken. A negative word. WRONG.

One word can quickly make a hurt child feel stupid, unworthy, unloved.
One word can conjure up all sorts of feelings of self-doubt in a child from a hard place.
One word can cut deep into the soul of a traumatized child.
One word can plummet a child’s self-esteem with one utterance.

Foster children can be HYPER-VIGILANT OF EVERYTHING around them, including small words.

For instance, a traumatized child can pick up on the smallest negative nuance:

  • One negative word,
  • A negative connotation,
  • A stern glance, or
  • Even a simple sigh of frustration.

Moreover, that’s why each time you have a negative interaction with your foster child – evaluate how you communicated afterword.

  • Were you calm in your interaction?
  • Did you use a calm tone of voice?
  • Did you come close to speak or did you speak across a room?
  • Did you use negative words?
  • Did you show any negativity?
  • Did you show empathy for your child?
  • What could you have said or done differently?

In short, by evaluating YOUR response to your foster child’s behavior, you can begin to identify triggers that may unknowingly be setting off your child.

By the way, the red wasn’t blood. It was smeared red Cheetos! Whew!

Check out these online courses for foster parents! 

by

This Foster Youth Aged Out to a Life of Crime and Addiction

One in five youth aging out of foster care will become homeless immediately. [1]  Up to half of youth aging out of foster care will become homeless within 18 months.  One in four youth aging out of foster care will be in prison within two years. [2] 

This is the true story of one of these… 

Entering the Foster Care System

When I was just three-years-old, Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families came and took custody my sister. Then, my biological mother, in a desperate attempt to keep me from also being taken from her, kidnapped me and fled to the state of New York.  During this period of “being on the run” I have several memories where I questioned what was actually going on in my life.

My earliest memories are of watching my biological mother snort cocaine off a chest freezer. I remember being handcuffed and locked in a closet. Then there’s the memory of being dropped off at a foster home.

I spent the next fifteen-plus years of my life trying to make sense of all this trauma. My way of making sense of it was to create stories to ease the confusion of what was actually happening. I created so, so many stories about who I was as a result of the trauma I had no control over.

“This happened, and as a result of this happening I am__________.”

Moving Through the Foster Care System

With each trauma and each move, my confusion increased, as did my anger and outbursts.

As time went on, I just wanted to shut off the confusion and pain of my past. By age 11, I started smoking marijuana to dull the pain. However, as my rebellious behavior escalated, the courts became involved, and placed me in my first of many institutions.

All this did was escalate my pain and confusion. All my acting out was my attempt to end my constant need to make sense of my life.

Turning to Drugs and Crime

After aging out of foster care, I began using drugs and alcohol on a daily basis, and became heavily involved in criminal activity to support my addiction. I was homeless for 4 years, and spent 7 years of my young life incarcerated. This lifestyle isolated me from any and all of my relationships.

On August 23, 2007, I was released from the New Hampshire State Prison where I had just served a two-year sentence for burglary charges.

Although I came out of prison sober, I was more confused than ever before, and overwhelmed with hopelessness.

youth-aging-out-of-foster-care

Rehab and Transformation

The court ordered me into yet another institution for drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

This is where my entire life finally changed.

Here is where I met my mentor, Rob. Rob agreed to guide me through my recovery journey, and show me how he had broken free from his addiction.

However, I did not think recovery would work for me, because I did not know any other way to survive. I had been playing the victim of my circumstances for so long.

In our first meeting, Rob asked me to tell him my life story. I shared the most painful events of my life. I retold how my biological mom had kidnapped me, how she had burned me with cigarettes, handcuffed me and locked me in a closet, about being placed in foster care, and then institutionalized……. And so on and so on.

Rob listened respectfully and when I finished talking, he said:

“It has to be really hard for you to be living in a 21-year-old body, but emotionally stuck as a 7-year-old.”

This revelation stopped me in my tracks. That is the moment that I began my 12-plus year obsession with transformational change.

My most recent book Embrace Your Past Win Your Future details my life and exactly how I changed my mindset from being a victim to embracing all I’ve overcome in my past.

Today, I don’t believe anything happened TO me. I believe that everything happened FOR me.

Mark Crandall, LMSW, LCDC, is a motivational speaker, clinical interventionist, and the host of Purpose Chasers Podcast. Mark went from a lost boy with countless traumatic experiences to drug addiction, prison, and an undying self-hatred to building multiple a highly sought after motivational speaker, transformational life and business coach.  His book, Embrace Your Past Win Your Future, shares his page-turning story of enduring childhood abuse, trauma, drug addiction, homelessness, and years of incarceration, and how Mark learned to turn his victimhood into victory.  

by

Free Video Series for Foster/Adoptive Parents

Tried everything and nothing is working?
Feel like your living in total chaos all the time?
Thinking about having a foster child moved or just closing your foster home?

I know exactly how you feel! I have been there!

I didn’t know what to do! I tried everything! I read all the books and websites about parenting these hurt children. I attended extra foster parent training and conferences.  I knew all the things, but in the moment, I couldn’t remember anything… There’s so much information to remember – I couldn’t keep it all straight!

I was desperate! So I decided to go through every single bit of information I had — everything!

I got out all my books and notes I’ve taken through the years, and began scouring through all of it. I pulled out every tip and technique, and grouped them.  After doing this for a while, I began to see a pattern!  All this connected parenting guidance could be put into 3 categories:

CALM – Staying calm and using self-care were mentioned quite a bit, but there wasn’t much information in detail.

CONNECT – The tips and techniques all revolved around showing empathy for your child and using connection to build relationship.

CORRECT – Misbehavior has to be corrected, but sometimes this means coaching the child in the correct way to respond to situations.

This is how the idea behind CALM-CONNECT-CORRECT was born.

When I began focusing on using this CALM-CONNECT-CORRECT process with my children, I began seeing amazing RESULTS!!! 

After all these years, I finally was able to attune to my child’s emotions and understand what was really going on with my child, but most importantly, myself. I am finally able to feel amazing about the relationship of my attachment-challenged child.  I am calmer; my children are happier.

That’s why I created CALM-CONNECT-CORRECT — a comprehensive course using a step-by-step process that will enable you to:

  • calmly respond to trauma,
  • discover the fear behind behavior,
  • connect with your child during the hardest times, and
  • dramatically transform your relationship!

Watch this free video series, which takes you through the CALM-CONNECT-CORRECT process.

The first video is only 10 minutes long so you can watch just about anytime.

Registration for the full CALM-CONNECT-CORRECT course opens soon.

by

The Connected Child Book Summary and How It Works in Real Life

The Connected Child: Bring Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family is a book I highly recommend for anyone who parents kids with troubled backgrounds, and should be required reading for all foster and adoptive parents.  This book can be used as a continual parenting resource because it discusses just about any issue that a foster or adoptive parent may encounter. In this in-depth, comprehensive book summary, I outline the variety of topics that this book covers.

While The Connected Child examines behavior with a holistic approach; it discusses in detail how the trauma of your child’s past has affected brain chemistry, fear response, and sensory processing abilities of your child. Although the information in the book is based on research, it is presented in easy-to-understand language.

The Connected Child Book Summary

The Connected Child begins by showing the reader that there can be HOPE and HEALING in your child. By closely observing your child, showing compassion, and eliminating the traditional parenting techniques that can become obstacles to attachment, you can create a connected relationship with your child hurt by trauma. READ HOW HOPELESS I FELT

The Connected Child stresses the importance of a baby’s first years, and how the loss of a nurtured environment can affect a child for a lifetime. This even includes the baby’s environment prenatally, and not just exposure to drugs and alcohol. Even a pregnant mother’s stress can cause an influx of stress hormones into an unborn child that can cause changes in a baby’s brain development. The Connected Child dedicates a chapter on how stress affects the chemistry of the brain and the importance of nutrition. READ HOW EARLY NEGLECT STILL AFFECTS MY CHILD 

The Connected Child includes solid, practical advice for a variety of behaviors that could be attributed to the trauma of a child’s past. The key is to decipher the behavior and the hidden message behind it. FEAR DRIVES A HURT CHILD’S BEHAVIOR. A parent can disarm this fear in order to meet the child’s need. READ HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR CHILD’S EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS

Although a hurt child maybe safe in your home, due to their past trauma, a child may not FEEL safe. A parent’s duty is to create an environment of “FELT SAFETY” for the child. Building trust and reducing stress are the ways to create an environment of felt safety. READ HOW I DISCOVERED THE CONNECTION BETWEEN TRAUMA AND MISBEHAVIOR

Children from hard places may not have learned appropriate social interactions. Due to their fear and survival instincts, a child may act out, throw tantrums, or try to manipulate or control others around them. The Connected Child discusses ways that a parent can teach life values, such as respect and accepting the word NO. The parent must consistently model these life values by staying calm, actively listening, and offering praise and encouragement. READ ABOUT MY STRUGGLE WITH CONNECTION

The Connected Child emphasizes how the traditional way of parenting with punishment, such as using time-outs, can be counterproductive to attachment by encouraging isolation and shame. This book provides a number of useful parenting strategies that you can put to use immediately, along with examples of dialog and phrases you can use. The emphasis is on providing a respectful environment which begins with the parent’s being mindful in their response to misbehavior. Parents can also build connection by staying close during the child’s tough times. The parenting techniques include offering choices and compromises, allowing re-do’s, and having a unified front with your partner to avoid triangulation. An entire chapter is devoted to dealing with defiance. READ HOW TO USE A TIME-IN FOR DISCIPLINE

The key to parenting children from hard places is to nurture at every opportunity with positive engagement and to be proactive in situations which may be difficult for your child. The Connected Child acknowledges that there will be setbacks, but encourages parents to look at the overall progress your child has made. READ WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I TREATED MY CHILD LIKE A BABY

The Connected Child concludes by discussing the importance of parents to heal their past emotional wounds.

“There are many wonderful, responsible, capable, and self-sacrificing people who carry around unresolved traumas and wounds inside them, and as a result they are unready to give the deep, nurturing care that an at-risk child requires.”

The Connected Child has become a reference book that I pick up and re-read over and over because I will always glean yet another great parenting strategy and understanding as I struggle to navigate through trauma behaviors.

With the large amount of parenting tools and advice given, this book may feel overwhelming for someone just beginning their foster/adoption journey. However, the book has a very thorough index in the back to help you find the topic you are needing help with.

BUY THE CONNECTED CHILD HERE!

Disclosure: This article contains Amazon affiliate links which means I receive an itty bitty commission with no additional cost to you. 

by

4 Questions to Ask When Early Childhood Trauma Causes Behavior Issues

Early childhood trauma can radically change the way a child’s brain experiences a situation. Trauma causes the brain to go survival mode which triggers the FEAR response (flight, fight, or freeze). When a traumatized child is in FEAR response, the brain shuts off the thinking part of the brain, and the child cannot think or even recall coping skills. The primitive part of the brain is about only one thing — SURVIVAL!

Logical thought processes can be hijacked by the FEAR response caused by early childhood trauma. Trauma has the unique ability to rewire the brain, and what may seem like ordinary simple everyday situations, can become huge triggers for children that have experienced early trauma.

A child may not even remember the neglect or abuse experienced, but magically, the body remembers. This buried, intrinsic memory can trigger the FEAR response.  FEAR hijacks the brain with a simple trigger that the child probably doesn’t understand or remember.

Recently, my child wanted me to buy him sunflower seeds after baseball practice. I knew he needed to eat a good meal so I just wanted to get him home for dinner. But hunger (even perceived hunger) is a huge trigger for children who have experienced early neglect or food insecurity. (You can read his heartbreaking story on infant neglect here.)

As the situation escalated, I tried to reason with my child, but he was becoming more irritated.  The sunflower seeds were not going to help with his hunger, plus he had a huge bag of sunflower seeds at home. I wanted to just get him home.

COMMON SENSE SAYS:

  • I have sunflower seeds at home
  • I can wait 20 minutes to get my sunflower seeds
  • It’s okay to just go home and get my sunflower seeds
  • Sunflower seeds won’t keep me from feeling hungry

But you can’t reason with a brain in fear response!

EARLY CHILDHOOD TRAUMA SAYS:

  • If I don’t get sunflower seeds right now, I WILL STARVE TO DEATH!!!

I stopped the car at a park and let my son out to cool off and SWING (the repetitive motion of swinging is therapeutic and calming for the brain). As I was watching him and becoming more calm myself, I began asking questions.

4 QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN EARLY CHILDHOOD TRAUMA CAUSES MISBEHAVIOR

WHAT IS TRIGGERING THE BEHAVIOR?
My child hasn’t eaten dinner yet. (Read more about emotional triggers)
WHAT’S GOING ON IN MY CHILD’S BRAIN?
My child in FEAR response.
WHAT DOES HE NEED TO FEEL SAFE?
My child needs to know that I will meet his needs.
WHY AM I SAYING NO?
I am saying NO because of all the common sense reasons.

MEETING YOUR CHILD’S NEED & CALMING THE TRAUMATIZED BRAIN
In that moment, I had an epiphany and realized that I should give my child what he NEEDS – that is food security!!!  Therefore, my child has to know that I will meet his NEEDS so he won’t ever FEEL that he will go hungry again.  A child has to FEEL SAFE!!!

My child needed the sunflower seeds to feel safe and calm his brain! 

Parenting children from hard places is different than the way we were raised. You have to meet your traumatized child’s needs – even if it doesn’t seem like common sense.

(Read more on overcoming childhood fears)

by

What Do You Do When Your Child Is Having a Meltdown?

How do you react when your child is having a meltdown?

Let’s say that for whatever reason, you have to say “no” to your child, your child can’t have something, or get their way about something, etc.

No matter how small the issue seems to be, your child starts having a meltdown.

In this scenario, how would you react when your child is having a meltdown?

  • Do you tell her that she’s not getting her way until she uses her words?
  • Do you try to ignore the tantrum (but inside your blood begins to boil)?
  • Do you send her to her room or calm-down spot until she calms down?
  • Do you try and bargain with her to bring her out of it?

I’m telling you honestly that I have tried all of these and none of them have worked with my traumatized children. But I’ve discovered something that does work.

I’ve become a peaceful, connected parent who is intently child-focused during these tantrums.

What this may look like: I come close to my child, showing empathy for their disappointment. I may pick up my child, put my child in my lap, begin rocking and let them cry it out in my arms. At first, my child may fight that closeness or try to demand their way. But I won’t talk about the issue at all until my child stops crying, and is calm.

What this may look like to others: “You are rewarding your child for a tantrum.”

I’m not giving in. I’m giving comfort to my hurting child.

child-having-a-meltdown

What others don’t realize is that when a child is having a meltdown, there is no negotiation, no “thinking about what you did” because a child simply can’t think during a tantrum. The child is in fear response and the thinking part of the brain is shut off by fear.

Only AFTER the tantrum, when the child is calm, do I revisit the issue, if needed.  Sometimes we don’t have to revisit the issue because my child may just have needed to know that I understand the disappointment that they are experiencing.

Becoming a peaceful parent has totally transformed my relationship with my traumatized child!

Tantrums are fewer and go away quicker.

My attachment-challenged child has become extremely loving and desires closeness. He is more compliant, and will help me out when I ask. He tells me he loves me.  He is happy!

What that has helped our family most is Dr. Laura Markham’s Peaceful Parent Happy Kids book.

Take a transformational journey to become peaceful, connected parents with Dr. Laura Markham’s book.

by

3 Steps To Being An Intentional Parent And Ending The Chaos In Your Home

As 20+ kids came in and out of my home through my years as foster parent, I thought that the strife of parenting traumatized children was simply part of the journey — what you signed up for, per se. I knew of many other foster parents that also lived in chaos as they agonized over difficult behaviors, just as I had with my own attachment-challenged forever child. I’ve read dozens of books and attended numerous trauma classes and adoption conferences, to seek out the answers to parenting trauma.

Would we ever have a peaceful home? I was losing hope.

peaceful-parent-foster-home

But then recently, I somehow found Dr. Laura Markham’s book, Peaceful Parent Happy Kids, and I have to say, I’m learning so much more about parenting with connection than ever before! Even as helpful as The Connected Child has been for parenting adopted children with its focus on connection, I felt it was a bit disjointed, and although full of tips for parenting traumatized children, it didn’t give me the sequential steps or a roadmap for connection. I still struggled with remaining calm during the most difficult times.

Peaceful Parent Happy Kids gives an easy-to-follow sequential roadmap for connection.

Peaceful Parent Happy Kids is broken down into three parts. The first, all-important step in parenting with connection begins with YOU, the parent.

Step One: Regulate Yourself

REGULATING YOURSELF is the foundation for staying calm when your child misbehaves. Now, as parents, we all have had to deal with irritating things that our child does. But it all comes down to IF we can stay calm. Every expert says that a parent has to stay calm, but how can you do that if your child just marked up the wall and himself with a Sharpie? Or is throwing a tantrum at the store? Or just hit another child at the playground?

Peaceful Parent Happy Kids delves deep into the parental psyche about why we get angry when our child misbehaves. Our #1 priority as parents is to examine our own emotional state before we get upset with our children. The truth is, when we are stressed out, we resort to how our parents reacted when we were kids, which could be vastly different than how our hurt children should be parented. As parents, we have to come to terms to how we were raised and rewrite our childhood hurts. But also, a self-care practice is a key element too.

Step Two: Connect with Your Child

EMOTIONAL CONNECTION can actually help grow your child’s brain. Peaceful Parent Happy Kids breaks down the implications of how connection and separation affect the brains and emotional development of babies, toddlers, preschoolers and elementary-age children. The key to connecting with your child is to make them feel safe. Behavior problems are caused by FEAR. As parents, our goal is to give our children a safe place to release that fear WITH US through connection. “Defiance isn’t a discipline problem; it’s a relationship problem.” Parents can build connection through habits that focus on the relationship with your children.

Step Three: Coach Your Child, Don’t Try to Control Your Child

Finally through COACHING, NOT CONTROLLING, a parent can guide a child into better behavior by helping the child learn self-soothing, unconditional love, empathy, and emotional self-regulation. Peaceful Parent Happy Kids covers a multitude about emotions and behavior, and specifically addresses your child’s emotions, such as anger, meltdowns, and other difficult behaviors, including sibling conflict.

I believe Peaceful Parent Happy Kids should be required reading for all foster and adoptive parents. It is that amazing and life-changing! Dr. Markham has totally changed the way I look at parenting my traumatized child!

 

by

How Parenting Trauma Differently Can Turn Into Special Moments

Parenting trauma is a totally different way of parenting. Basically, you have to throw out what you know about parenting (which is probably how you were parented), and become “child-centered” in your approach to parenting your traumatized child.

What does this mean? Here’s an example from this week.

I had made back-to-back appointments with a specialist for two of my children. The first appointment had lasted an hour-and-a-half. During that entire time, one child stayed in the waiting room playing on a tablet. I was so proud!

However, as we were waiting for the second appointment, the tablet’s battery died and this child became obsessed with playing a game on my phone. “Can I have your phone?” “Not fair!” “I want your phone!” over and over.

The scenario with old way of parenting (usually how a parent was parented):

“No, you can’t have my phone. Go sit over there and quite whining!”
Child gets mad and pouts. The incident would then probably escalate into more whining, maybe even angry words, perhaps a chair would be kicked, or may have turned into a full-blown meltdown in public.

Parent begins seething inside, and thoughts would begin spiraling into:
“Why can’t I just have a normal child that minds? Why did I think I could do this? I’m horrible at this parenting thing.”

Do you see all the negativity? It’s not good for the child and it’s not good for the parent.

Now, I could have just given him my phone to keep him quiet, but instead, I did something different…

parenting-trauma

Parenting Trauma with Connection

(Parenting trauma requires that connection with your child –> Check out these adoptive parenting techniques.)

“Let’s not talk about the phone right now. Come here. Come sit on my lap. We’re not talking about the phone right now.”

As I coaxed my child to sit in my lap, I pulled him close and began rocking him, rubbing his back. As he continually whined for my phone, in the most soothing voice I could muster, I replied: “Shhhh. We’re not talking about that right now. Let me hold you. We’re okay right now.”

For the next five minutes, he continued whining, and I continued to soothe him. Then, would you believe? He fell asleep!!! My child was tired and needed rest with me!

In that waiting room, as I looked down, at my 9-year-old child, I began reminiscing about how I rocked him as a baby. Friends, he is growing up so fast! I’ll be losing these opportunities soon.

I’m so thankful that I reacted to my child’s whining differently this day, for in this moment, I received the rare opportunity to travel back in time to hold and rock my baby again. Which was exactly what we both needed!

by

Why You MUST Sign Up for this Adoption Conference

Watch this encore presentation of the Adoption HEART Conference!!! The Adoption HEART Conference is a free online event. Free sign up here.

free-foster-parent-adoption-training

As an adoptive parent, I’ve struggled with navigating the unique challenges that come with parenting traumatized children. Sure, there are some incredible conferences and trainings available to foster and adoptive parents, but I just can’t jump on a plane to attend. And even if I could, my kids do not travel well at all!

To make matters worse, most adoption conferences and trainings don’t provide childcare so that means I’d have to find sitters anyway to either stay overnight or with my rambunctious boys during the conference.

That’s why I created the Adoption HEART Conference!

To provide adoptive parents (& prospective adoptive parents) a convenient way to get the training and tools they need to effectively parent traumatized kids.

The Adoption HEART Conference is an online event so that means no travel and no childcare, plus you can watch the conference sessions at your convenience. Plus it’s free to watch during the conference! – all you have to do is sign up.

You’ll get free access to sessions with over 20 adoption experts to give you incredible insight into the mind and heart of our children from hard places.

Check out these incredible sessions:

Replacing Your Child’s Fear with Love: Powerful Strategies to Stop Difficult Behavior

Bryan Post

Growing Up White: An Open Discussion with a Transracial Adoptee

Rhonda Roorda

How to Choose Which Adoption is Best for Your Family

Dawn Davenport (of CreatingAFamily.org)

What You Might Not Know About Birthmother Grief & Loss

Ashley Mitchell (birthmother of BigToughGirl.com)

What They Don’t Tell You About International Adoption

Sharla Kostelyk (of ChaosAndTheClutter.com)

How to Choose Which Adoption is Best for Your Family

Lori Holden (of LavenderLuz.com)

From Adoptee to Adoptive Parent: Overcoming Your Past to Parent Traumatized Children

Jillian Lauren (New York Times bestselling author)

What Parents MUST Know About Adoptee Identity, Grief & Loss

Sherrie Eldridge (author, adult adoptee)

Seeing Trauma through Your Child’s Eyes: Tips from a Former Foster Kid

Chadwick Sapenter (former foster youth)

What Really Happens to Kids Who Age Out of Foster Care & What You Can Do About It

Gianna Dahlia (Executive Director of TogetherWeRise.org)

How Attachment Has More to Do with YOU than Your Child

Marshall Lyles (of the Center for Relational Care)

How to Recognize Prenatal Exposure & Its Complex Effects on Your Adopted Child

Melissa Fredin (of Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome)

It’s Not Behavior, It’s Neurological: How Trauma Imbalances Your Child’s Brain

Dr. Rob Melillo (of Brain Balance Centers)

How Compassion Fatigue & Secondary Trauma Can Unknowingly Invade Foster & Adoptive Families

Amy Sugeno (trauma therapist)

How to Integrate Two Parenting Styles & Diffuse Conflicts in Your Marriage

Mike Berry (of ConfessionsOfAnAdoptiveParent.com)

How to Integrate Adoption into Your Home, Life & Work to Make a Difference in the World

Tamara Lackey (photographer, activist, adoptive mom)

How to Help Your Child Overcome Their Past Trauma with a Trust-Based Parenting Intervention

Debra Jones (author, parenting coach, adoptive mom)

How to Use Animals & Pets to Help Regulate Your Traumatized Child

Lindsey Bussey (equine therapist)

How to Develop an Effective Plan to Intentionally Parent Challenging Behaviors in Adopted Children

Stacy Manning (author, parenting coach)

How to Help Your Foster & Adopted Children Rise Up from the Depths of Trauma & Low Self-Esteem

Dr. Sue Cornbluth (therapist, parenting expert)

Tough Decisions When Parenting Reactive Attachment Disorder

John M. Simmons (author, adoptive dad)

Could Your Child’s Behavior Actually Be Sensory Processing Disorder?

Marti Smith (occupational therapist)

Creating this Adoption HEART Conference has significantly changed my view of adoption — now I feel that I can see through the lens of my adopted children about the adoptee loss that they WILL eventually experience.

Be sure and go to AdoptionHEARTconference.com to check out all the sessions and claim your free ticket to this life-changing event. Please share with your friends, agencies, and caseworkers!

I’m Clever

Sway