Trauma-Informed Parenting

One of the most discouraging things as a parent is being stuck in a vicious cycle of chaos and not being able to escape.

One of the most frustrating things as an educator is trying to help parents break cycles, find hope and healing, and them not realizing their kids have experienced trauma.

I’ll be the first to say that in my early days of parenting, I didn’t know what trauma was. Neither did I know that my bio kiddos had experienced it (in some way shape or form). When we adopted a sibling group of four, I was informed of all the trauma the kiddos had experienced in a lengthy meeting with psychologists.

What that meeting gave me was the information that my kiddos had experienced trauma in their childhood. What I didn’t know yet was how it affected them. I learned that later and it’s one of the major reasons I run this site and podcast. What I’d like to talk about today is why parents don’t invest in a trauma education and remove some of those roadblocks. Once those roadblocks are removed we can find some tools that help us heal.

Teaching Social Safety Media With A Tween Novel – The Case Of The Missing Person

While I know today kids think that owning a device and having social media accounts is a right, not a privilege. It’s our job as parents to set limitsto make sure our kids are emotionally mature enough to navigate having a device.

The truth is lots of damage has been done to kiddos seeking connection, comfort, and encouragement on social media.

Everyone wants their child to practice social media safety but how do you teach it?

Sitting your kids down for a frank discussion about it is one option and one I’ve used myself.

But there is an additional way you can open the conversation -Through a novel.

Really? Yep. You can read a tween novel with your tween and follow the instructions in a free pdf – Social Media Safety which you can grabHERE.

When it comes to healing from trauma, the first step is acknowledging the trauma.

When we acknowledge the trauma -whether it is caused by one of the six risk factors or due to being neurodivergent in a neurotypical world, we can begin to heal.

What does the Bible say about healing from trauma? Is there hope? That's what you may be asking right now. Let me assure you, there is hope.

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I share 3 Biblical promises about healing from trauma!

Ever wonder exactly who trauma-informed parenting is for?

Or what it is all about?

If you raised your hand, this is the episode for you!

In this jam-packed episode, I share who trauma-informed parenting is for, what it is all about, a list of resources, and some of my personal story (that led me to start Trauma-Informed Parenting). Grab the show notes here and save them and this episode to share!

Grab a cup of coffee and join me.

Wondering if the Trauma-Informed Parenting Podcast is for you?

How do I parent kiddos with a trauma history?

How do I become a trauma-informed parent?

What about kiddos with neurodiversity?

How can I not take my kiddos' behaviors personally?

How can I make peace with my past and be a more present parent?

How can I leave the traditional parenting model behind?

And the biggest question of all is, can I *really* parent the way my kiddos need? Whether you’re parenting kiddos who came home to you through adoption/foster care, or kiddos with a neurodiversity(or both), this is the show for you.

Celebrating with kiddos with trauma histories and neurodiversity looks a lot different than neurotypical celebrations.

When raising kiddos with trauma histories/neurodiversities it is easy to get caught up in meeting physical needs.

In her article “Hopes and Prayers," Joyce Maynard describes what happens to many of us.

“We’re so consumed with the feeding, the dressing, the buckling into our car seats, the finding of bathrooms, and the counting of heads,” she says, “that we sometimes forget that there is any greater mission to raising children than making sure the crusts are cut off the sandwiches and that everybody gets a balloon.”

When raising kiddos with trauma histories/neurodiversities, this is especially dangerous. It is easy to get stuck in the rut of feeding and clothing children and trying to deal with each phobia or medical issues, reading articles on attachment, talking to other parents about what to do, etc.. It becomes exhausting and overwhelming. All the joy is sucked out of life when there is no celebration.

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I share ten tips on how to plan your own family events and practice the habit of celebration!

Kelly Edwards of 90 Minute School Day joins me today to talk about -healing, growth, and resilience in homeschooling.

Kelly shares:

I’m just thrilled to help parents in homeschooling make the transformation that I feel like I stumbled down the mountain and up the mountain and through the woods in the dark to get to myself. That’s really where the 90-Minute School Day came from: coming alongside parents who are either considering homeschooling or have already been homeschooling, make the shift in their homeschool from a top-down approach to being relational with their children as the foundation and going from there. Grab a cup of coffee and listen to this valuable conversation about homeschooling!

Dr. Jerrod Brown returns to the podcast to teach us about "The Gut-Brain Health Axis"

Dr. Jerrod shares -

"This is a topic that I’ve been doing more and more work on over the last handful of years. I became interested in this because in most of the cases I’ve consulted on over the years where the client has had a really severe mental health problem or a neurodevelopmental disorder or extensive trauma histories or drug and alcohol problems there’s something going on with the gut that isn’t working properly. As I dug deeper into this topic, a good handful of years ago, there’s a huge connection between digestive health issues and emotional/behavioral problems. That’s that gut-brain health axis."

Grab a cup of coffee, a notebook, and a pen, and learn with Dr. Jerrod!

Our culture is what directs us on a daily basis. Our adopted/foster kiddos come to us with a culture already intact.

Culture – the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.

Sometimes culture requires you to meet ridiculous standards to fit in and your child feels the shame and guilt for being wrong 😑 or different.

Have you noticed that dysregulation from children is much less tolerated in society?

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I dig into how to counteract the culture and finish up with adult attachment styles.

What about being spiritually prepared? Although the emotional and spiritual components are often intertwined, there is an aspect of spiritual preparation that stands alone.

When a Christian decides to become a missionary or start a ministry, training takes place. Often it involves Bible college or leadership training at church. Missionaries study the culture of the people they are going to serve. They learn the language, habits, and customs of the people. Why? Because we understand that no one should ever enter the mission field without being thoroughly prepared.

Most of us entering the adoption/foster care world and/or raising a kiddo with neurodiversity do not receive this type of spiritual training unless we seek it out.

Grab a cup of coffee and join Kathleen as she digs into this topic and shares some answers from a survey on this topic!