by Sally A | Dec 18, 2019 | General Discussion
Feeling short of time or finding it difficult to concentrate? You can listen to this blog post. Parenting demands unparalleled amounts of love, time, and energy. Adoptive parenting is like traditional parenting on steroids. Often, adoptive parents face...
by Sally A | Mar 20, 2013 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, Post Adoption Challenges & Behaviors, Strengthening Family Relationships
The unsettling behaviors of our traumatized children can trigger our own traumas and beliefs. We unconsciously activate our defense systems and shelter behind our walls. This may cause us to second guess our ability to parent. Perhaps, we may even respond with...
by Sally A | Mar 13, 2013 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool
This is GIFT’s second blog post to explore the role of boundaries in family life. In discovering how the world works, we’ve all encountered the proverbial bare-hand-on-hot-stove experience. Pain makes an effective and persuasive learning channel and...
by Sally A | Oct 30, 2011 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Sally Ankerfelt, Foster Parenting, General Discussion
Here at GIFT Family Services, we speak about creating “intentional” adoptive or foster families. One important aspect of being an intentional family is having a vision with goals and values rather than making things up as we go along. Being intentional...
by Sally A | Jul 24, 2011 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Sally Ankerfelt, Foster Parenting, General Discussion, Post Adoption Challenges & Behaviors, Strengthening Family Relationships
Not long ago, I returned from work to find my soon-to-be 20 year-old daughter frantically washing her clothes. Just that morning, she had called to announce that she was heading back to the birth family and town she left behind eight short years earlier when she...