By: Dr. Karyn Purvis
Friday, March 25, 2011Watch as Dr. Karyn Purvis explains the importance of giving voice to children from hard places and how parents can do that. 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 about the importance of giving voice to children from hard places as well as practical strategies that parents can use, click here.
By: Dr. Karyn Purvis
Wednesday, March 23, 2011Watch as Dr. Karyn Purvis explains the importance of sharing appropriate levels of power with children from hard places in order to help them learn to trust and to heal. This video is part of the Insights and Gifts video series, which includes a small group discussion guide that you can download here.
By: Dr. Karyn Purvis
Monday, March 21, 2011Watch as Dr. Karyn Purvis encourages parents not to be afraid of their child’s feelings and instead allow their child to openly discuss and process their feelings. 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 Empowered To Connect resources aimed at helping parents discuss and embrace their child’s feelings, click here.
By: Amy Monroe
Friday, February 25, 2011One of the things I’ve learned in my journey as a mom is the need for me to raise the level of nurture I bring to parenting in order to help my children build trust. My children need to trust that I will consistently meet their needs in ways that help them understand that they are precious and that their voice matters. Telling them I will meet their needs helps them to “know it;” showing them (over and over and over again) helps them experience it and learn to trust.
I’ve learned that one of the best ways to accomplish this is to give my children as many “yes’s” as I can. It is through my “yes’s” that I can best give my kids this gift of trust. In order to improve in this area, during a recent Saturday at home with my kids I committed to giving them as many “yes’s” as possible. Trust me, this wasn’t easy, but I need the practice and they need this gift. Throughout the course of that day I was intentional about catching myself before each and every “no” I was about to give. As I stopped to think every time I considered saying “no,” I asked myself a simple question: Can I give my child a joyful “yes” instead?
By: Dr. Karyn Purvis
Tuesday, January 25, 2011The Institute of Child Development at TCU has created a nearly two-hour presentation available on DVD in which Dr. Karyn Purvis explains her research-based approach with children who come from what she calls “hard places.” This DVD offers a very helpful overview of the three principles that serve as the foundation of Dr. Purvis’ approach to help parents better understand how to connect with their children in order to help them heal and reach their highest potential.
In this presentation, Dr. Purvis explains how harm during the critical stages of brain growth can cause significant disruptions in a child’s development and behaviors, and offers strategies to overcome these challenges. This insightful and educational presentation is designed for parents, ministry leaders and adoption and foster care professionals alike.
You can order the DVD online from the Institute of Child Development for a price of $30 (plus shipping). To view a preview of the DVD, click here.
By: ETC Team
Monday, November 15, 2010Because of the impact of their histories, children from hard places often lack the experience in effectively communicating their needs and wants, complying with requests and instructions and knowing how to navigate basic aspects of relationships in a healthy way. At the same time, what these children need most to help them heal and learn is not punishment, but practice.
Dr. Karyn Purvis and her colleagues have developed some basic scripts to help parents (and other caregivers) teach children essential relationship skills and important life values. Rather than immediately resorting to lectures, consequences or punishments, this approach actually gives your child practice at “getting it right.” By using these scripts consistently to both teach and reinforce, you have the opportunity to correct while connecting and a result truly help your child begin to overcome the effects of his/her past and together move toward a more hopeful and joy-filled future.
By: Dr. Karyn Purvis
Monday, November 15, 2010In this brief video, Dr. Karyn Purvis explains why it is important for parents to find creative ways to help children from hard places learn life values. She also provides a helpful demonstration of one of these creative approaches involving the use of puppet play.
By: Dr. Karyn Purvis
Monday, September 13, 2010In this brief video, Dr. Karyn Purvis explains the benefits of parents sharing appropriate amounts of power with their children through choice giving, compromises and other means. By sharing power appropriately with their children, parents can teach them to communicate effectively about their needs and fears, rather than resorting to behaviors, and can help them develop a strong foundation that will serve them well as they grow older.
By: Dr. Karyn Purvis, ETC Team
Friday, September 10, 2010Empowered To Connect has created a discussion guide for the Insights & Gifts Video Series. This discussion guide was designed primarily for use in a small group setting where parents have the opportunity to share openly and learn from others. However, we believe that parents will also find this video series and the discussion guide beneficial for individual use or use as a couple.
Download the Insights & Gifts Discussion Guide free of charge by clicking here.
By: Dr. Karyn Purvis
Friday, August 27, 2010Often parents who are struggling to connect with their child find it difficult to find any real measure of hope. In this brief video, Dr. Karyn Purvis talks about the importance for parents to find even a single point of connection as way to start building a bridge so that they can begin to reach their child.