150 Parenting Foster Kids & Adopted Kids
Foster care and adoption present difficult dynamics with issues similar to blended families. How do you help a child cope with ambiguous loss or connect as a parent when children act out from prior wounds? The loss that results from separation from a first family carries deep wounds that manifest themselves in misbehavior. Many children can’t verbalize their hurts, and families don’t have access to all the pieces of the puzzle. Love isn’t enough to fix the brokenness in a child, particularly when trauma is part of the story. Listen to Ron Deal’s conversation with Jenni Lord for answers to these complex issues.
Show Notes
- Pre- order Ron's new book: The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself
- Learn more about Jenni and Chosen
- Ron's speaking schedule
- Get our monthly newsletter
- Learn more about blended family resources
- Get The Summit on Stepfamily Ministry, All-Access Digital Pass
About the Guest
Jenni Lord
Jenni Lord passionately champions family healing through authentic connections. Founder of Chosen in 2008, she empowers adoptive, foster, kinship, and biological parents within the child welfare system, fostering children’s trauma recovery. Jenni’s leadership at Chosen aims at shifting mindsets from scarcity to abundance, catalyzing systemic change by prioritizing well-being. Beyond her organization, she influences policy reform at state and federal levels, addressing orphanhood mentalities and attachment dynamics. An inspiring speaker, Jenni promotes healing through connection, family restoration, and systemic change at events and conferences.
About the Host
Ron Deal
Ron L. Deal is one of the most widely read and viewed experts on blended families in the country. He is Director of FamilyLife Blended® for FamilyLife®, founder of Smart Stepfamilies™, and the author and Consulting Editor of the Smart Stepfamily Series of books including the bestselling Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages® and Becoming Stepfamily Smart (with Dr. Gary Chapman), The Smart Stepfamily: 7 Steps to a Healthy Family, and Preparing to Blend. Ron is a licensed marriage and family therapist, popular conference speaker, and host of the FamilyLife Blended podcast. He and his wife, Nan, have three sons and live in Little Rock, Arkansas. Learn more at FamilyLife.com/blended.