ADHD and Children with Hard Histories
I love to spend time with my kids! But sometimes, I also dread helping them with homework. Though necessary, homework isn’t on my top ten list of “most fun family activities,” and I’m guessing I’m not the only parent who feels that way! When you are parenting children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), doing schoolwork can quickly shift from an annoying ritual to painfully frustrating. Why is schoolwork so difficult for children with ADHD? Consider […]
Mirroring Each Other
Have you ever walked up to someone who was laughing really hard and you started laughing too, even though you didn’t know what that person was laughing about? Do you find yourself yawning when you see your child yawning? Have you found yourself cringing when you see someone getting hurt on a movie screen? There […]
Saving Reasons Until the End
Devon* is an 11-year-old living with his grandmother. His mom left the family years ago and his dad recently went to prison. Devon misses his dad and doesn’t understand why his grandma acts more like his school principal than the fun lady who used to spoil him. He becomes emotional easily and sometimes has a […]
Strengthening Our Children’s Stories
“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.” Jonathan Gottschall Stories. We love the stories we find in books and movies. We love the stories we find in books and movies. Our culture spends significant amounts of time […]
The Power of Choices
When you are caring for a child from foster care, unexpected challenges can arise. Step into a day in the life of a foster family with Chosen Care Manager Bethany Hall to learn about their challenges and how to support them. This is not the story of one foster parent, but rather a combination of […]
Giving Yourself
Have you ever been bone tired and yet every cell in your body was pulsating with electricity? No? Maybe not… because it sounds like it makes no sense at all. But this is exactly what I used to feel like after running marathons. Every time. I would lay down for a nap in exhaustion but […]
Haunted House Feelings
By Staci Thomas, TBRI® Practitioner It’s the scary season. Haunted houses and spooky events are everywhere. People pay money to be frightened. If you are one of those people, you enter a creepy house knowing that you are going to scream, jump, and be scared out of your wits. Even though you know some sort of […]
Adoption Granted! Now What?
Adoption is beautiful but it doesn’t end in the courtroom. Years of waiting, heartache, loss and wondering precedes adoption day. There are countless hours of planning, preparation and paperwork, but when the day finally arrives, it’s over in the blink of an eye. We applaud adoptive parents, but we don’t realize that when the papers are […]
Bridging the Gap: How to Improve Birth Family Visits
Birth family visits are one of the most challenging aspects of foster care. They are confusing for foster parents, not to mention how emotional they are for birth parents. Sometimes, foster children look forward to these temporary reunions with their family but are wrecked at the brevity. Other times, children dread these visits, as they […]
One on One Time
Children with a trauma history don’t receive correction well unless they have connection to a safe, loving caregiver. As a result, it is essential that parents be intentional about taking time to connect with their hurting children every day. Unfortunately, as parents, we tend to focus on correction first. Cindy Lee, Executive Director of the […]
Helping Young People in Foster Care Through the Holidays
“Holidays are hard even when u have found “new family” because u still feel awkward and ur mom and dad are not there so though it is easier it sill makes u sad because u are reminded of what u don’t have.” — FosterClub member Divine, age 21, from Wisconsin, in foster care more than […]
Three Essential Pillars for Foster and Adopted Children
In 2008, an Australian psychologist named Howard Bath published an article (linked below) called “The Three Pillars of Trauma Informed Care.” Nearly a decade later, his work holds true as we continue to see the benefits of using trauma-informed interventions with foster and adopted children. Occasionally returning to the basics of trauma-informed care is essential […]
