by GIFT Coach | Oct 17, 2013 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Gayle Swift, Blogs by Joann DiStefano, General Discussion, Post Adoption Challenges & Behaviors
Before your child joined your family and you and your child’s birth parents chose Open Adoption, it probably seemed fairly simple. You developed a plan that suited your child and both sets of parents. The reality of Open Adoptions, however, often becomes more...
by GIFT Coach | Sep 18, 2013 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Gayle Swift, Blogs by Joann DiStefano, General Discussion, Post Adoption Challenges & Behaviors, Strengthening Family Relationships
Last week we discussed the toxic effects of “Black Box” conversations: words that are so destructive that parents must commit to never speaking them. This week we want to focus on the conversations that others express within hearing distance of our children. Adopted...
by GIFT Coach | Apr 13, 2013 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Gayle Swift, Blogs by Guests, General Discussion
ABC, Adoption and Me – Becoming a Family in Joy An Adoption Book for Children What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Celebrate the gift of family and with a gentle and safe approach, soothe the authentic losses at adoption’s roots. Who or what inspired you to...
by Sally A | Mar 6, 2013 | Blogs by Gayle Swift, Blogs by Joann DiStefano, General Discussion
Invisible Fences—Holding Me In or Holding You Out For the month of March we will explore the role of boundaries in family life. For many of us, our first experience with boundaries is the crib in which we slept as babies. It served to keep us safe, to define the...
by GIFT Coach | May 15, 2011 | Adoptive Parenting Skills/Tool, Blogs by Joann DiStefano, Difficult Discussions, Foster Parenting, General Discussion, Post Adoption Challenges & Behaviors
As a parent, and especially one who has adopted two children, I have come to believe that boundaries and manipulation are two sides of the same coin. It had been my belief that boundaries are the wall that we put up in order to feel safe within ourselves. Without that...
