Let's Talk: A Foster Adopt Minnesota Podcast

In this episode, Eileen Devine, licensed clinical social worker and founder of Brain First Parenting, shares how we can support individuals with challenging behaviors by moving away from rewards and consequences and toward a deeper understanding of the brain-behavior connection. Eileen also shares her personal experience of raising a daughter who lives with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. (27 min...

Foster parents should be aware that fire-setting can be a serious and potentially dangerous behavior that requires careful attention and intervention.  It’s crucial to understand the child’s reasons behind fire-setting, including curiosity, impulsive behavior, or underlying emotional issues.  Understanding the causes, signs, and appropriate responses can help foster parents manage this behav...

This is an important question as families consider caring for children and teens in foster care. While there are no certain answers, it’s vital to consider all the ways a family could change and different experiences families may encounter. Charley Joyce and Rick Delaney have helped numerous families prepare for the uncertainties and changes that come with providing foster care, and today they wil...

In this episode, we are joined by Scott Yeomans , who shares his story as a kinship caregiver, acknowledging the unanticipated commitment, emotions and decisions he and his family have faced. (32 mins) June 4, 2025 This podcast is eligible for a Certificate of Completion if you complete a Post Podcast Test The post Commitment Through Uncertainty appeared first on Foster Adopt Minnesota .

Unfortunately, the life experiences of foster youth have often been impacted by abandonment, trauma and neglect. These experiences can result in youth being chronically scared and coping by wanting constant reassurance and protection from safe adults who are often foster parents. In this podcast, Dr. Rick Delaney and Charley Joyce will discuss backgrounds that create this neediness, implications f...

In this episode, Britt Frank –therapist, author, speaker, and adjunct professor—shares tools and insights from her brand new book, Align Your Mind. Listen in as she brings us personal stories, practical tips, and new ways of navigating all the different parts of ourselves. (26 mins) May 7, 2025 The post Align Your Mind appeared first on Foster Adopt Minnesota .

In this episode, Rick Delaney and Charley Joyce focus on the behavioral and emotional challenges children in foster care and families experience within the school system.  Tune in to learn how school-related issues impact foster parents and their interactions with their children, and how parents can advocate for their child’s educational needs and rights. (55 mins) April 23, 2025 This podcast is e...

In this episode, we are joined by Holly Guyer, Mark Watkins and Sandi Falck . Holly, Mark and Sandi are siblings who were adopted at birth. They share their story–from what they were told by their parents in childhood, to the information they learned along the way, to connecting in adulthood. They also share how the adoption law change in Minnesota helped them learn more information about th...

Ellie Krug is a former civil trial attorney, nonprofit leader, radio/podcast host, author and national speaker on human inclusivity. Most of all, she is the parent of two Korean-born adult daughters, one of whom Ellie lost when she came out as transgender in 2009. Our interview will touch upon the challenges of being an adoptive parent years after the adoptive child comes home, but will particular...

Rick Delaney and Charley Joyce will define what is meant by anger and aggression directed at mother figures in foster care. We will learn how they determined this can be a dynamic in foster care, describe what the anger/aggression looks like, possible reasons for the anger and some considerations in how foster families might respond. (56 mins) March 12, 2025 This podcast is eligible for a Certific...

In this episode, we are joined by award-winning science journalist Donna Jackson Nakazawa . Donna is going to share with us the latest research on Positive Childhood Experiences, why they are so vital for us to understand and practical ways to incorporate them with the children in our lives and in our communities. (48 mins) February 26, 2025 This podcast is eligible for a Certificate of Completion...

Visitation can be a very difficult process for youth in foster care, foster parents and birth parents as well. We will hear from Charley Joyce, MSW and Rick Delaney, Ph. D . as they share the important, yet difficult ways visitation fills a vital role in reunification and maintaining connectedness to birth parents. Considerations on how foster parents can support foster youth in the visitation pro...

In this episode, we are joined by author, clinician, and adoptee advocate Cam Lee Small . Cam will share an overview of what it means to be Adoption Literate, outlining how we can best support those impacted by adoption in our families, schools, and communities. (28 mins) January 29, 2025 The post Adoption Literacy appeared first on Foster Adopt Minnesota .

As we all know, the foster to adoption process doesn’t magically happen.  We will hear from long-term social workers and colleagues from St. Louis County, Char Matheson and Katie Rodel about their day-to-day work.  Char and Katie have reputations for excellence in serving the adoption, foster care, and kinship communities, often going above and beyond to ensure Minnesota children have the permanen...

In this episode, we are joined by Heather Simonich . Heather is the Director of the Center for Holistic Health at Concordia College in Moorhead. She has 8 years of experience as an operations director at PATH, a foster care and adoption agency in North Dakota. She will be sharing with us what it means to view the world through a trauma-informed lens and practical strategies to use every day when c...

In this episode, we are joined by Beth Syverson , adoptive parent and founder of Unraveling Adoption, an organization that seeks to connect and support in growth and healing those who have been touched by adoption. The holidays can be a time of intense and often conflictual feelings, and Beth is going to offer some insights and strategies on how to navigate the holidays with grace and ease. (22 mi...

In this episode, we are joined by Jana Battagler , a licensed professional clinical counselor at Empower Counseling in Fargo, North Dakota. Jana is going to tell us all about overstimulation in parenting: what it is, how we got here, and ways to minimize our activation and empower us to take care of ourselves while caring for children. (40 mins) December 4, 2024 This podcast is eligible for a Cert...

Join Rosilynn Morris as she shares her reflections on working as a Therapist in an organization that primarily served Native American children, teens, and adults. Discover how she learned to integrate Indigenous knowledge with evidence-based treatment to create a holistic approach to healing (24 mins) November 20, 2024 The post Connections, Compassion and Culture appeared first on Foster Adopt Min...

In this episode, we are joined by Ariana Krecklau , who is a therapist at Empower Counseling in Fargo, North Dakota, and who has experience working as a treatment foster care case manager. She will share with us what attachment is, why it is important, and how we can work to build strong attachments with the youth we serve. (28 mins) November 6, 2024 The post Safety and Empowerment Through Attachm...

In this episode, we will learn why self-harm, diagnoses, when they should stop, interventions and how understanding is the key.  Guest Bruce O’Leary shares how to be supportive without reinforcing the behavior.  Bruce is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with an MA.  He has been trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), CBT, Internal Family Systems Theory with Complex Tr...

If you have been brave enough to be a foster or adoptive parent, then you will agree that it comes with a cost. Yet many of us continue to put ourselves back into the battle zones willingly because the children we love desperately need safety and compassion. This hurts and can extract parts of our soul when things get difficult.  It often can take years to recover and heal from these wounds. In th...

For many, back-to-school means sitting in a classroom for a majority of the day.  Mya Zavaleta is checking in to see how the first few weeks of school are going!  We will dive into the importance of getting children moving and outside. In this episode, Mya will provide practical tips, expert advice about how to reset your mindset, and ways to refresh your routines as we transition from summer to i...

Daniela Coats , Licensed Masters Social Worker, joins us from Texas to talk about her personal experiences growing up in a home that fostered and adopted as well as her work as a therapist and trainer supporting the entire foster family. She will share about lessons offered in her new book, The Day Lily Turned (Un)Invisible, on ways we can support and value birth children in foster families. If yo...

Greg Luce is back to share valuable information about intercountry adoption. Hear from Greg how Congress could fix a loophole that denies US citizenship to thousands of intercountry adopted people, what help is available for intercountry adoptees who have no records of entry into the US, and The Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2024. This is the latest bill introduced in the 118th Congress on June 4, 20...

In this episode, Meg Flynn joins us to talk about ways to incorporate joy into our family lives. As a therapist and trainer for over twenty-five years, Meg has a vast array of knowledge and experience in working with children and families. We’ll discuss ways parents and caregivers can create delight and find deeper connections in the family system. (29 mins) August 14, 2024 This podcast is eligibl...