Standing Strong
Parents and Caregivers, join us for our Standing Strong Conference September 13-15, 2021 – Virtual This conference is designed for parents & caregivers of children impacted by trauma or struggling with attachment challenges, anxiety or neurodiversity that impacts their learning. Helping our children get the supports, services and care that better enable their learning is […]
Focusing on Attachment: What Else I Didn’t Know
What happens once you know? What comes after “you don’t know what you don’t know,” anyway? Well, now, I think it’s “when you know better, you do better,” but that is now, not then. Back then, it took several steps. First, I had to grasp that I had more to figure out about my amazingly […]
You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
“You don’t know what you don’t know” In my parent group for those whose children think differently, a favorite phrase is “you don’t know what you don’t know.” This phrase has come to reassure me as I look back over the years. I carried guilt that I could never do enough and worried that I […]
Two Words: Attachment Insecurity
Trying to do everything right I never imagined that two words, “attachment insecurity,” could have such a distressing and at the same time life-affirming effect on a person. My son already carried a diagnosis thought of as hard-to-parent. I felt like I was already there, bearing that heaviness alongside him. We had endured some of […]
#TSS 2021–Thank You!
Thank you for the conference… This Mom can’t say thank you enough for the Trauma Sensitive Schools Conference in February 2021. What a great experience to join with others who are passionate about finding answers, having hard conversations, and learning heavy things. There is nothing worse than traveling a tough, unexpected road silently and alone. […]
On Being an Anti-Racist White Mom
The Atlanta shootings It’s been a few weeks since the news broke about the shootings at 3 spas in the Atlanta area. Watching this unfold on my TV, sitting in my Atlanta suburban home, I was confounded. Now…so many days later…I still am. Was the shooter racist? Was this a hate crime? The news media […]
Questions to Consider When Selecting an Attachment or Trauma Therapist
Many professionals will say they are familiar with working with children with attachment disorders or trauma problems. The following are suggested topics to consider when deciding on which professionals to work with. * What training has the therapist received? How many hours of supervised training in attachment therapy? What specific trauma training have they received? […]
A Different Normal
What do I mean, “different normal”? A few years back, I went to a retreat for moms with kids who had experienced trauma and had issues as a result. Two moments really stood out from my first such retreat. The first one happened while we were all getting to know each other. We were laughing […]
Of Hats and Children and This Coming August
So many hats… The teacher hat Like so many of you, I wear a number of “hats” every day. Since March, I’ve worn the teacher hat often. This isn’t foreign to me—I spent ten years in early childhood education—but being Teacher-Mom is a whole new classroom! Two of my students have autism. For them, communication […]
Rehoming: Who’s to Blame?
The story By now you may have read the headlines such as “YouTuber Myka Stauffer Reveals Adoption Dissolution 2 Years After Welcoming Son Home from China.” You may have even viewed the original adoptive parents’ tearful YouTube video about the “rehoming” of their son, Huxley. This video and the story it tells create big feelings […]