Bringing Brittani Home

I was 39 years old when I gave birth to my beautiful son Chris after experiencing several miscarriages and a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. My husband and I still wanted another child and because my father had grown up in an orphanage, I always wanted to adopt a child. So we applied to several adoption agencies […]

Federal Study Underway to Understand ‘Reasonable Efforts’ Findings Judges Make

Federal Study Underway to Understand ‘Reasonable Efforts’ Findings Judges Make New research now underway and funded by the Children’s Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families, seeks to better understand factors that influence reasonable efforts findings by judges and how these findings relate to case outcomes, such as the likelihood of reunification and the […]

Holiday Traditions and Transformations

One of the great joys of being part of the foster and adoption communities is hearing about the moments of transformation that can happen as families expand and individuals commit fully to the children entrusted to them. It’s particularly moving when these moments of transformation are part of holiday traditions. As we head into the […]

Anxiety Fueled Behaviors

Many of my clients and their families have been diagnosed with or suspect they have Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), an Autism profile characterized by demand avoidance caused by anxiety. Demand avoidance can look like a meltdown, walking or running away, mutism, or any number of other ways. Understanding that a behavior is fueled by anxiety, […]

Confident Responses to Big Behaviors

If you’re well versed in therapeutic parenting, you’ve already heard all the things you should know about how to prevent a crisis. This is foundational knowledge for anyone parenting a child who’s experienced developmental trauma. What isn’t often spoken about is what to do when your best efforts at attunement and regulation aren’t enough to […]