In this episode we sit down with Jacqui Jackson to discuss how we can use strategic prayer to alleviate suffering for children in foster care. Jacqui Jackson, M.Ed, is CEO of Ignite Hope, a former Foster Child, International Adoptee, and a mother to Adoptive and Biological children alike. She is a passionate advocate for the right of every child to have a safe family and executes this calling by speaking within the church and legislatively on the ways we can all impact the plight of the Vulnerab...
Oct 27, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 55
The P.A.C.E. framework teaches us to be playful, accepting, curious and empathetic. Jessica Sinarski is a highly sought-after therapist, author, and speaker. Extensive post-graduate training and 15+ years as a clinician and educator led her to create BraveBrains , a resource and training platform for home, school, and community. She makes brain science practical, helping parents and professionals become healers for hurting children.
Sep 29, 2021•47 min•Ep. 54
Join us while we chat with the Founder of The Behavior Hub Lauren Spielmyer. She shares her four part framework to teaching emotional literacy and regulation that work well for children with complex trauma as it takes how the brain works into its approach. Over the past 10 years, she has helped SOOOO many people learn about the brain and how it impacts learning and emotional well-being, which in turn changes behavior. With her master's degree in education, professorship at University of Pennsylv...
Aug 26, 2021•41 min•Ep. 53
Ginger sits down with us to discuss her work as a Social Worker, Adoptive Mom, Parenting Program Director and now co-host of the podcast from Attachment Trauma Network , Regulated and Relational . Check out the podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts and make sure to subscribe.
Jul 28, 2021•51 min•Ep. 52
Join us while Natalie Chavis Fisher takes us into adoption court to show us how the opioid epidemic is impacting the foster care crisis. Natalie is a best-selling author, third-generation attorney and executive producer for the feature documentary Foster Care: Perfect Imperfection . She is a leading expert in foster care adoption committed to helping improve the lives of vulnerable children and their caretakers. Natalie believes broken systems break children and has dedicated her life to help fo...
Jun 30, 2021•42 min•Ep. 51
Tiffany Sudela-Junker is mother by adoption to two children with vastly different trauma-based special needs. With her own growth process as an example, Tif mentors and advocates for a “empathy + connection before correction” approach to parenting. Stressing EXTRA empathy, mindfulness, humor, attunement, self-compassion and reciprocal atonement as key ingredients to helping tough kids achieve higher function and healthy relationships. Through stories of struggle and lessons learned with her bril...
May 26, 2021•57 min•Ep. 50
Join us as Ce Eshelman, LMFT walks us through how to discover what happened in our childhood and how that impacts how we show up to working with children today. Ce Eshelman, LMFT, is an attachment specialist, author, and founder of The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships. With 27 years of experience and training in marriage and family therapy, she began specializing in attachment and trauma healing 18 years ago after adopting her two children from the foster care system. In March...
Apr 28, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 49
Steve always knew he wanted a family. Raised catholic he grew up thinking he was destined to marry a woman and have children. When he was confronted with his attraction to men and the eventual realization that he was gay, he gave up, that dream of having a family and chose the route of gay singledom. As the times changed and he gained greater self acceptance he re-ignited his dream for a family and stared the journey toward parenthood. Steve is the author of the book Determined to Be Dad which c...
Mar 31, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 48
Barry Farmer is a Native of Richmond, Virginia. He grew up in Kinship Care with his grandmother from ages 5-18. For the last 15 years he's been devoted to working inside and outside the classroom with youth and their families. At age 20, Barry became a foster father with a local therapeutic agency to further help youth within his community. At age 22 he adopted his oldest son. Three years later, Barry's two younger sons were placed in his home, making him a proud father of three amazing young me...
Feb 24, 2021•48 min•Ep. 47
Join Angela Flores, Juvenile Justice Worker, as she explores the intersections between juvenile justice and child protective services. As a child who has experienced generational foster care, she offers services to children in her community and has a vision to attend law school, to further contribute to the justice system.
Jan 27, 2021•54 min•Ep. 46
Both Alexis and Justin are proud foster care alumni as well as recent graduates, authors, and business owners. They both join us this week to share their honenest and vulnerable story and to promote their book Re-Defining Normal. After both spent time in fostercare they met in college and through a healing journey have developed a healthy relationship with eachother, getting married this year. Together, they've created ROSE (Rising Over Societal Expectations) Empowerment Group, a company structu...
Dec 16, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 45
Marianne tells of her story of being an adoptee and how it shaped her childhood and early adulthood. She tells us that even though she was adopted at birth to extremely loving parents, that she still felt like she didn't belong, that something was wrong with her, that she wasn't wanted. Her birth certificate says that her birth father denied paternity which left her wondering why? When she saught answers to that question by finding her birth father she was retraumatized as an adult. Listen into ...
Dec 09, 2020•37 min•Ep. 44
We, as a society, talk about adoption, adoption, adoption and often focus on the child's life after adoption, but what about the birth mom? Listen to Ashley Mitchell discuss her journey through an unwanted pregnancy to an eventual decision to find an adoptive family for her son. She walks us through finding out she was pregnant, a trip to the abortion clinic, hiding her pregnancy for nearly 8 months, choosing a family for her son and then going home after the birth childless with a body ready to...
Dec 02, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 43
This week, as we prepare for Thanksgiving, we discuss how holidays can trigger foster and adopted children. Join us as we explore how not to impose our ideas, customs and traditions on others and instead choose to keep an open mind and implement their ideas into our realities.
Nov 25, 2020•23 min•Ep. 42
Lauren Flynn from www.fosteradoptivemom.com joins us to wrap up our conversation from last week. This part of the conversation focuses on challenging anti-reunification culture and ensuring representation for transracial adoptees. Follow Lauren on instagram @loflynnfam
Nov 18, 2020•41 min•Ep. 41
This week Lauren Flynn from the blog www.fosteradoptivemom.com joins us to talk about fostering and adopting medically fragile children. She walks us through her journey and gives us her real perspective on how we view children with disabilities and how her expectations and views have changed since opening her doors to children with medical conditions. Follow her on instagram @loflynnfam
Nov 11, 2020•39 min•Ep. 40
In this week's episode Jenn Thatcher joins us to discuss how she chose to foster as a single parent. She shares her journey of fostering over eight children and eventually the decision to close her doors. Follow Jen on Instagram @lovegodloveorphans
Oct 28, 2020•45 min•Ep. 39
On this week's episode we dive into some sticky situations submitted by Stable Moments locations. Many people ask "how does the approach look in action?" Here are some practical trauma informed responses listeners can use when they are faced with sticky situations.
Oct 21, 2020•42 min•Ep. 39
Jennifer Fairfax, Esq. gives us the low down on all the different types of adoption, the difference between open and closed adoptions and why adoptive parents choose which path. Jennifer's life has intersected with the areas of adoption and family building since she was a teen. Her adult goddaughter is an international adoptee from Korea and her adult nephew is a domestic adoptee. She, herself, underwent fertility treatments to become a parent and has found assisting others in buidling their fam...
Oct 14, 2020•55 min•Ep. 38
In this week's episode Darren Fink from Transfiguring Adoption tells us about his own adoption journey of four children and how their family uses magical creatures and play to address sensory, attachment, emotional and behavioral challenges. His experience lead him to write a family book A Guide to Magical Creatures Around Your Home and to start Transfiguring Adoption where reviewers use a trauma informed lense to review books, movies and video games for certain trauma triggers and therapeutic d...
Oct 07, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 37
In this episode I take some time to reflect on what we’ve learned in the first 35 episodes and reposition ourselves with a new vision for the podcast. Listen in while I talk about a new vision to build an army of people that are interested and willing to take responsibility for our foster youth and who are supportive of foster and adoptive families. I want this to be a place where community members feel like they can make a difference, where they feel good enough to make that difference and beli...
Sep 30, 2020•21 min•Ep. 36
In this episode Marcy gives her real and raw experience of being a foster parent. She breaks down the trials and triumphs to give us a look behind the curtain as a foster parent. Marcy is a liscensed clinical therapist with focuses in animal-assisted therapy , play and art therapies, and attachment theory. Marcy has also completed her Stable Moments certification and is launching her program at her nonprofit Grey Muzzle Manor. Grey Muzzle Manor Sanctuary, Inc. Website: www.greymuzzlemanor.org Fa...
Sep 23, 2020•48 min•Ep. 35
This week Dr. Melissa Sadin joins us to talk about the role of school in the foster care crisis and how creating trauma informed schools is really the first step to ending the foster care crisis. She gives us the roadmap to becoming trauma senstive and why we need to be proactive and not trauma responsive. Dr. Sadin has served as a special education teacher, a gifted education teacher, and a building administrator. Most recently she served as a director of special education. Dr. Sadin has been v...
Sep 16, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 34
Beth joins us this week to talk about what ambiguous loss is, and how it impacts foster and adopted children and their families. We both discuss the role grief plays in being trauma informed, and how often we breeze right over what a child has lost and jump right into our trauma responses. We also discuss lifebooks and how critical they are to helping a child keep a documented timelime of their story and all its complexity. Beth has a M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Eastern University, where ...
Sep 09, 2020•50 min•Ep. 33
Tori shares her experience in foster care as a former foster youth, foster care advocate, & foster mom and how that fuels her ife’s passion to raise up & nurture her own family, as well as advocate for the restoration of family. She shares her life vulnerably with hopes to let her Abba Father be known & loved through stories, to offer hope to the hurting, & to serve people from all kinds of backgrounds. Tori Petersen is a national speaker, writer, and advocate for the preservatio...
Sep 02, 2020•50 min•Ep. 32
Kristine joins us in part two this week to tell us how her time in foster care has allowed her to help foster and adoptive parents help children feel safe. Her story is that of true resilience as she shares how her experience drove her to get a Social Work degree, become a foster mom and start working with humans and horses at The Ranch of Hope Reins. The Ranch of Hope Reins is where Stable Moments is holding their certification training in October. Follow them on facebook....
Aug 26, 2020•39 min•Ep. 31
Kristine joins us this week to tell us part one of her harrowing story about her childhood, her mom's suicide, entering foster care and eventually aging out of foster care. She shares what was helpful and what wasn't. Her story is that of true resilience as she shares how her experience drove her to get a Social Work degree, become a foster mom and start working with humans and horses at The Ranch of Hope Reins. The Ranch of Hope Reins is where Stable Moments is holding their certification train...
Aug 19, 2020•34 min•Ep. 30
In this episode Rebecca Hubbard, LMFT gives us practical tools for when this work gets tough. She gives us suggested language to use, and sensory activities to encourage healing and regualtion. Whether you are a foster parent or just a parent, a mentor, or a program director, there is something for anyone interacting with kids in this episode. Rebecca J. Hubbard is a master's level Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, children's book author and co-owner and co-founder of Global Equine Service...
Aug 12, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 29
Karen Doyle Buckwalter joins us this week to finish our conversation about practical parenting interventions when our children are challenging. She also gives us a peek into her new book, Raising the Challenging Child . She also has her own podcast Attachment Theory in Action Karen Doyle Buckwalter, MSW, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and clinical social worker. She specializes in working with attachment and trauma issues in children and adults. She was the co-editor of the book Attachment Theory in...
Aug 05, 2020•57 min•Ep. 28
Karen Doyle Buckwalter joins us this week, and next, in a two part episode to give us some practical parenting interventions when our children are challenging. She also gives us a peek into her new book, Raising the Challenging Child . She also has her own podcast Attachment Theory in Action Karen Doyle Buckwalter, MSW, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and clinical social worker. She specializes in working with attachment and trauma issues in children and adults. She was the co-editor of the book Atta...
Jul 29, 2020•36 min•Ep. 27
