4 Resources for Every Adoptive Parent
Let’s be real: Parenting is hard. No matter the context or circumstances, the challenges of parenting are true across the board. Is it hard? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. For the children Show Hope serves, many have experienced trauma and early attachment injuries. This means the healing process for these amazing children can be complex and challenging to navigate.
Parents, if this sounds familiar, know that you are not alone. Thankfully, there are communities to offer support, encouragement, and advice, and there are a number of resources readily available that provide research-based, practical help.
Here are four resources for every adoptive parent you won’t want to miss.
Hope for the Journey
Through proven, trusted content, Hope for the Journey—Show Hope’s online learning platform—explores the fundamentals of TBRI® (Trust-Based Relational Intervention®) across five sessions, chock-full of knowledge, insight, and practical tools. Rooted in research and neuroscience, the Connecting, Empowering, and Correcting Principles of TBRI will guide you to a better understanding of your child’s or teen’s needs and equips you to adequately meet those needs.
The Connected Child
Much of our work in Pre+Post Adoption Support is owed to the incredible life and work of Dr. Karyn Purvis, and this book is the cornerstone of it all. “The Connected Child” is beloved by many in the adoption community and considered a trusted guide and place of help.
In this book, Dr. Purvis, Dr. David Cross, and Wendy Lyons Sunshine seek to help parents of children impacted by early trauma build healthy and connected relationships so that healing can occur. Called “A tremendous resource for parents and professionals alike” by the National Council for Adoption, we cannot recommend this book enough.
Bonus Resource: “Created to Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child” is a companion workbook to help you better understand and implement the principles learned from “The Connected Child.”
Healing Families Series
TBRI is the motivating force behind the work and resources of the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at TCU. The Purvis Institute has put together a number of resources for learning the basics of TBRI, and this series is a great place to start.
The Healing Families Series combines expert analysis with real-life examples to teach practical skills to parents and professionals. The lessons are broken up into sections, which make this series great for busy parents who may need them the most. Through the course of this series, you’ll gain an understanding of the foundational elements of TBRI.
Wounded Children, Healing Homes
Published in 2010, “Wounded Children, Healing Homes” addresses the reality of unmet expectations that many have experienced in the adoption journey. Early attachment injuries create unique circumstances, and working through these circumstances doesn’t always go as planned.
This book offers encouragement, validation, and solutions for some of the challenges of parenting. Many have found glimmers of hope in its pages.
