Welcome to the Adoption Parenting Playbook: The Loss Your Child Carries Home

Welcome to the Playbook: The Loss Your Child

0:00 Adoption Parenting Playbook, a nervous system guide to calming meltdowns and building connection. Welcome. My name is Maxine Golden. This book is intended for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individualized therapy, medical advice or professional evaluation. Whatever stage of the journey you are in right now, this playbook was written for you if you are still waiting for a placement. This playbook will help you to prepare your home, your expectations and your own nervous system before your child arrives.

0:34 If your child is already home, whether it has been three weeks or 12 years, this playbook will help you understand what is happening underneath the behaviours you see and give you concrete tools to build safety and connection one day at a time. This playbook draws on the same frameworks used in at the centre for parent coaching, brain spotting and therapy, polyvagal theory, trust -based relation intervention, attachment science and somatic body -based approaches to regulation. It was written specifically for adoptive foster kinship and court -involved families because parenting a child who came to you through loss ask something different of you than parenting a child who has never known disruption.

1:19 This playbook is organised in three parts across 19 chapters. Part one, preparing for the placement, chapters one through three. For parents who are matched, waiting or newly placed, it covers what to expect, how to set realistic expectations and how to build your support team and your own capacity before day one. Part two. life after placement chapters 4 through 19. For the day -to -day of parenting, whether your child has been home for a week or for many years, it covers the core frameworks and then walks chapter by chapter through the specific challenges adoptive and foster families run into most often.

2:02 Part three, sustaining the journey. the daily practices, the parent's own regulation and guidance on when to bring in professional support. So this playbook stays useful for the long haul, not just the first hard week. You do not need to read this cover to cover before it's useful. Skim the contents, find the chapter that speaks to what is happening in your home this week and start there. Come back to the rest as you need it. A note on what this playbook is and is not. This playbook is educational.

2:35 It is meant to build your understanding and give you tools to use in the moment. It is not a substitute for individualized therapy, a trauma assessment or crisis support. Every child and every family's history is different and some situations need a trained clinician working alongside you. If you notice escalating safety concerns for your child or another family member, prolonged withdrawal, self -harm or levels of crisis that does not respond to the tools in this playbook, please reach out to a licensed therapist right away.

3:10 The chapter, When to Seek Professional Support, near the end of this playbook, walks through what that can look like and how our practice can help. Part one, preparing for placement, setting expectations and building capacity before your child comes home.