Class Summary: Attachment
Last night in class we talked about attachment and how all of our positive attachments stem from our first/primary positive attachment. It was interesting to hear about how attempting to sever the ties or attachment with a child's birth family will actually sever the child's attachment to you and your family as well. I think its a great perspective to keep going into this. I know a lot of people foster because they wish to adopt and that desire can sometimes lead to them intentionally or unintentionally weakening the relationship with their child's primary family. I think its good that we are forced to see the damage that causes early in the process so there is no confusion about whether advocating for a birth family is in the best interest of the child.
Friday, November 11, 2016
Friday, November 4, 2016
"How would you feel about fostering a teenage mother?"
My first home study is officially in the books. I was so nervous before hand. Turns out it was all for nothing. My licensing worker didn't care how clean my house was, she wasn't intimidating, she didn't ask to go through the drawers in my house. She did however pose a very poignant question "How would you feel about fostering a teenage mother? We have a very hard time placing teen moms because a lot of people will take a baby or a teenager but most don't want both, and the baby usually isn't in foster care so it can be a very tricky situation to navigate at times." I have no clue how to parent a teenager. I have no clue if I would be good at it. I do know that helping to end bad life cycles is exactly why I went into foster care. I have seen good people be bad parents because they repeat the choices and lifestyles of their parents. I have seen young girls not understand what being a caring and nurturing mother entails because their mother didn't model any of those behaviors. So I'm considering it. I plan on speaking to a few different foster parents who have made this decision to get advice and a realistic picture of what it entails. I do think it will be completely worth it if it is something I have the competence to do.
PS-MAPP Class 3
Class Summary: Maturational and Situational Losses
Becoming a loss and grief expert 101 was the basic synopsis of class 3. We talked a lot about how we experience losses maturationally and they don't have the same negative effects that situational losses have because the gains outweigh the losses in almost all instances. We talked about how foster children grieve and what behaviors come along with that grieving process. We talked about how to aide in moving forward in the grieving process in a productive manner and how its important to recognize triggers in your own life. Grief and loss isn't something you're really forced to study much unless you choose to. Its interesting to examine what loss does and can do to us and how getting stuck in the grief cycle can be detrimental to our health. Its interesting that grief and loss is a human experience that is shared across continents, genders, races, religions and cultures.
Next up attachment :)
Becoming a loss and grief expert 101 was the basic synopsis of class 3. We talked a lot about how we experience losses maturationally and they don't have the same negative effects that situational losses have because the gains outweigh the losses in almost all instances. We talked about how foster children grieve and what behaviors come along with that grieving process. We talked about how to aide in moving forward in the grieving process in a productive manner and how its important to recognize triggers in your own life. Grief and loss isn't something you're really forced to study much unless you choose to. Its interesting to examine what loss does and can do to us and how getting stuck in the grief cycle can be detrimental to our health. Its interesting that grief and loss is a human experience that is shared across continents, genders, races, religions and cultures.
Next up attachment :)
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
PSMAPP Class 2
Class Summary: Strengths and Needs
Class numero dos was all about identifying strengths and needs. Your own families strengths and needs. Your foster children's strengths and needs. Your personal strengths and needs. Everything you do well or will help you in your foster care adventure gets listed as a strength. Things that you need to work on or need resources for in order to develop are needs. We all have both. Sometimes the things we think would be a weakness actually are a strength in this world because they help you relate to the kids you care for. Its interesting to read all of the case studies and try to pick apart the needs of the children based on their behaviors. Every behavior is expressing a need. Sometimes they are obvious, sometimes they are convoluted but there is always one being expressed. That's what I took away from the class, to look at the need instead of the behavior. Fulfill the need, stop the behavior.
Tomorrow night is my first home study, here's to hoping I pass with flying colors :)
Class numero dos was all about identifying strengths and needs. Your own families strengths and needs. Your foster children's strengths and needs. Your personal strengths and needs. Everything you do well or will help you in your foster care adventure gets listed as a strength. Things that you need to work on or need resources for in order to develop are needs. We all have both. Sometimes the things we think would be a weakness actually are a strength in this world because they help you relate to the kids you care for. Its interesting to read all of the case studies and try to pick apart the needs of the children based on their behaviors. Every behavior is expressing a need. Sometimes they are obvious, sometimes they are convoluted but there is always one being expressed. That's what I took away from the class, to look at the need instead of the behavior. Fulfill the need, stop the behavior.
Tomorrow night is my first home study, here's to hoping I pass with flying colors :)
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