Empowered To Connect

Archive for “Adoption Preparation”

Focusing on Food & Nutrition

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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

As Dr. Purvis points out in The Connected Child, nutrition is important for all children — and especially so for children from hard places. Dr. Purvis explains, however, that “it’s not always obvious that a child is missing out on complete nourishment.”

Recognizing that many adoptive and foster families face various food and nutrition-related issues, the Spoon Foundation and the Joint Council on International Children’s Services have launched a new online resource — www.adoptionnutrition.org — that focuses on nutrition for adoptive and foster families.

What Every Adoptive Parent Should Know

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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

In order to truly understand children from hard places — what they have experienced, the impact of those experiences and how we can help them heal and grow — it is important that we understand some of the basics. That’s why we have put this collection of eight Empowered To Connect videos together — to introduce (or re-introduce) you to some of the most important basics that we believe every adoptive parent can benefit from.

Click here to watch all eigth videos.

Educating Others to Help Your Child

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Thursday, September 8, 2011

Building a solid team to help you care for your child is critically important. Watch as Dr. Karyn Purvis encourages adoptive and foster parents to build a team and offers suggestions on how they can effectively educate and prepare that team to speak with “one voice” as together you love and care for your child.

It Takes a Team

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Thursday, September 8, 2011

Adoption and foster care bring new children into our families and we open our arms to receive them. What we might not expect is the way our circle may enlarge beyond our immediate families. Since adopting our children, our world has expanded to include many others who have become very important in our journey and in our lives. We have learned that parenting children from “hard places” takes more than Russ and I can give on our own; for now, it takes a “team.”

Let me share some of the members of our team in the hope that it may encourage you to think about the
support your family needs.

Counting the Cost of the Journey

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The adoption and foster care journey is filled with joy, blessings and beauty. But it is a journey also marked by loss, pain and challenges of various kinds. As a result, parents must be mindful to ‘count the cost’ of traveling this journey.

Watch as Dr. Karyn Purvis encourages parents to ‘count the cost’ as they engage the adoption and foster care journey in a way that leads to true hope and healing.

ETC Conference – Sept. 23-24 in Nashville

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Monday, May 30, 2011

Empowered To Connect, together with Show Hope, hosts the Empowered To Connect Conference, which has provided hope and help to many adoptive and foster parents as well as church ministry leaders and adoption/foster professionals.

The next Empowered To Connect Conference will be held on September 23-24, 2011, in Nashville, Tennessee at Brentwood Baptist Church. Online registration is open and the early bird rate is available through Wednesday, June 1.

Visit www.etcconference.org for more details and to register online. And, for a limited time, 1/2 off registrations discounts are available due to a generous grant from Focus on the Family. Simply use the code FOCUS when registering online to receive this discount.

New DVD: Trust-Based Parenting

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Friday, May 27, 2011

TRUST-BASED PARENTING: Creating Lasting Changes in Your Child’s Behavior is the latest DVD release from TCU’s Institute of Child Development, and is currently available at a substantial discount for a limited time. The Trust-Based Parenting DVD offers in-depth training for parents of children with trauma-based behavioral issues, and is a must-have for adoptive and foster parents, church ministry leaders and professionals.

What is the Created To Connect Study Guide?

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

In June 2010 we published Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child. Our hope was this study guide, which follows The Connected Child chapter-by-chapter, would be an encouragement and provide additional insight for Christian adoptive and foster families.

In less than one year we have distributed 6,000 printed copies of the study guide, and more than that same number of people have downloaded the study guide online. We have heard from dozens of churches that are regularly using the study guide in support groups and discussion groups. Likewise, many agencies and countless families from across the country have turned to the study guide to find hope and help.

Created To Connect Study Guide

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Created To Connect: A Christian’s Guide to The Connected Child is a study guide designed to help illuminate the biblical principles that serve as the foundation for the philosophy and interventions detailed in The Connected Child.

Watch as Dr. Purvis briefly explains the heart behind Created To Connect:

Click here to download (free of charge) the entire study guide or chapter-by-chapter. You can also find out more detail about how to purchase printed and bound copies of the guide.

Explore Your Expectations

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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Watch as Dr. Karyn Purvis talks about the importance of parents exploring their expectations and motivations, as well as the impact that their own history can have when parenting children from hard places. This video is part of the Insights and Gifts video series, which includes a small group discussion guide that you can download here.

For more resources to help as parents explore their motivations, expectations and histories, click here.