Stable Moments Podcast

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 s...

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 mont...

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. 

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

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

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

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. 

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,...

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...

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 member...

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 he...

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 build...

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 st...

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...

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 Moment...

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...

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 Marria...

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 attachm...

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 work...

Too many kids age of foster care without a place to live, an education, a job, or even a drivers license. Pamela Bress, Founder of Ready for Life Brevard, shares her experience as an attorney fighting for basic needs for young adults aging out of foster care and how that drove her to start a wrap around program, to meet all needs of this population, so they can become healthy, self-sufficent adult...

Rebekah was adopted at birth to a white family, in an all white community. She talks to us about how it felt to be the only black girl, how it impacted her ability to develop a sense of identity and how it didn't prepare her for being Black in America. Her perspective allows us to understand what matters to transracial adoptees and how we can be better inclusive of our childrens' cultures. Follow...

Dr. John Degarmo is the author of several foster care books, including the new book The Little Book of Foster Care Wisdom: 365 Days of Inspiration and Encouragement for Foster Care Families, the best selling book Faith and Foster Care,  as well as the foster care children's book A Different Home: A New Foster Child's Story.  He is the director of The Foster Care Institute , and acts as a...

In this episode we sit down with Tonja Tristan Johnson who has adopted 7 children and fostered countless more. Her and her husband moved from a smaller suburban house with two cars to a farm house and a 12 passenger van. She shares the importance of giving children a place to land. She tells her children they should never feel lucky to have been adopted. She instills in them that they deserve a fo...

In this episode join Dina Shale as she shares how her child trauma history inpired her to find healing through horses, and ultimately open The Way of the Horse to serve others. She explains the benefits of equine therapy as opposed to talk therapy and how she doesn't focus on dredging the past back up and reliving trauma. Rather she equips people to stay attuned to the parts of us that are seeking...

Erica Shubin is a mom of 5 chidren, three biological and two children from Ethiopia. When her black son and daughter wanted to ask neighbors about picking up some odd jobs to make extra cash, Erica hesitated to let them go, because she worried about how the world would respond to the color of their skin. Against her gut feeling she let them go, they were 9 and 11 and ended up with an officer at he...