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

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What does healthy openness in adoption really look like—and how can adoptive parents maintain meaningful birth family connections over time? In this episode, we talk with adoptive mom Annie Iverson about practical strategies for open adoption, including staying consistent when life gets busy, setting healthy boundaries, keeping your child’s needs at the center, and adjusting openness as children grow. We also explore how connection with birth family can support an adoptee’s identity and sense of belonging, plus ways parents can honor a child’s birth family and story even when direct contact is limited or inconsistent. 
Resources:
Cards That Connect - use discount code Family20
Open Adoption: Perspectives from the Triad
#1 Secret for Navigating Open Adoption
How to Handle Open Adoption Even When the Birth Parent Chooses to Close It
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

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Parenting kids exposed to trauma is hard. Sometimes, it is very hard, but these families can thrive. In an interview with Creating a Family, Dr. Ross Greene, a Harvard Psychology professor, stressed that it was crucial for parents of children exposed to trauma to realize that kids want to do well, and if they are struggling, it is likely because they are lacking a specific skill needed to succeed.
Resources:
Helping Children Heal from Trauma
Practical Guide to Parenting a Child Exposed to Trauma
The Explosive Child by Ross Greene
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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!
Children in foster care can experience far more than a change in placement. They may lose caregivers, siblings, schools, routines, communities, caseworkers, therapists, and other trusted relationships—sometimes again and again. What does that repeated instability mean for a child’s behavior, sense of safety, and ability to trust?
In this episode, we talk with Rita Soronen, President and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, about the impact of foster care instability and what caregivers and child welfare professionals can do to create greater stability and connection. 
We explore why challenging behavior can be a form of communication, how foster and adoptive parents can build safety through predictable routines and promises kept, why children’s voices must be included in permanency decisions, and how child-focused recruitment can help children find lasting families. The conversation also explores the Wendy’s Wonderful Kids model and why understanding a child’s relationships, history, culture, and needs can lead to stronger permanency outcomes.
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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!
Bedtime can be especially challenging for children who have experienced trauma, loss, or disrupted attachment—and even harder when parents disagree about how to respond. In this episode of Weekend Wisdom from Creating a Family, we share practical ways to approach bedtime as a team, divide the parenting load more fairly, support your child’s need for connection and regulation, and protect your relationship from exhaustion and resentment.
Resources:
When Parenting Feels Uneven: Helping Your Partner Step In
Sleep Issues in Adopted, Foster, and Kinship Children
Focus on Father Involvement and Co-parenting: Why It Matters
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

Drop us some Fan Mail. Thanks!
How can play help children heal, regulate big emotions, and strengthen attachment? We talk with Georgie Wisen-Vincent about ways that adoptive, foster, and kinship caregivers can use playfulness to build connection, support emotional growth, and help children impacted by trauma thrive. She is a nationally recognized play therapy expert, co-author of the new book , The Way of Play, and the Founder/Director of The PlayStrong Institute.
In this episode, we explore why play is essential to children's emotional development, how trauma, loss, neglect, and disrupted attachment can affect a child's ability to play, and what caregivers can learn from the stories and behaviors that show up during play. Georgie also shares practical ways to use playful connection to build trust, respond to big feelings, and strengthen attachment—even when a child resists play or a caregiver doesn't naturally consider themselves playful.
Resources:
The PlayStrong Institute
The Way of Play: Using Little Moments of Big Connection to Raise Calm and Confident Kids 
How Do I Handle All These Big Feelings & Big Behaviors?
The IDEAL Response: How to Maintain Connection When Correcting Your Child

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