Show Hope Book Club: The Connected Child

The Connected Child

“The Connected Child,” co-authored by Drs. Karyn Purvis and David Cross along with Wendy Lyons Sunshine, has helped countless adoptive and foster parents better connect with their children as they seek to love and care for them in a way that honors God. The adoption of a child is always a joyous moment in the life of a family. Some adoptions, though, present unique challenges. Welcoming these children into your family—and addressing their sometimes complex needs—requires care, consideration, and compassion. Written by research psychologists specializing in adoption and attachment, “The Connected Child” will help you:

• Build bonds of affection and trust with your child
• Effectively deal with any learning or behavioral disorders
• Discipline your child with love without making him or her feel threatened

“Parenting is, at once, a great joy and one of the hardest long-term commitments to regularly do well, especially when adding on layers of challenges inherent in bringing home a child through adoption,” Show Hope Director of Programs Justin Myers said. “‘The Connected Child’ acknowledges these challenges and provides a skillful and love-filled way of meeting our children where they are and helping them grow.”

Discussion Questions

• Before reading “The Connected Child,” had you ever heard of Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®)? If yes, what were your opinions about TBRI?
• If you are a parent, what are areas of parenting that you struggle with? Outside of TBRI, what other methods have you tried? What did and didn’t work for you and your family?
• If you are not a parent, in what ways have you interacted with children (professional setting, other family members, church, etc.)? Do you think that learning about parenting methods could be helpful? Why or why not?
• If your children joined your family through foster care or adoption, what do you know about their life before they came to live with you?
• Think about the Connecting, Empowering, and Correcting Principles of TBRI. How could you incorporate each of these three principles into the life of your family or practice?
• What about your own history and childhood experiences do you think impacted your view of nurturing? How have those impacted you today?

Join us in reading next month’s book “The Connected Parent!”