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What are the unique pitfalls and blessings of committing to Fost-Adopt status? Is it right for you? Since I consider it the most complicated of the three options (Adoptive Parenting, Foster Parenting, and Fost-Adopt Parenting) I’d like to focus on that today. Before we jump into this, let’s visit the concept of Concurrent Planning which... Read More

I got my hat handed to me last week when I mentioned the importance of SELF CARE. Someone who has repeatedly impressed me with their understanding and commitment to kids from hard places spoke up and said, basically, “When I hear that term, I immediately feel like a failure. Call it Maintenance and it doesn’t... Read More

I cleaned out a storage unit recently. When I closed my house in Phoenix and built my little cottage in Flagstaff, I had to downsize in a big way. I let the furniture go when I finally accepted that it wasn’t smart to be paying to store it, but it took another 5 years to... Read More

In about 400 B.C., Hippocrates wrote an ancient version of the title of this blog. He went on to say that food could also be the source of illness. We now have research to support his assertions. Our American Diet is killing us. Slowly, but no less certainly, shortening our lives and making us miserable.... Read More

This idea has many shapes: Choice Overload, Post Event Collapse Syndrome, Analysis Paralysis, and Information Overload but they all have this in common: more of something than one can effectively handle. I just got back from an Alaskan cruise. Never wanted to go on a cruise but the chance to see a glacier was too... Read More

  Transitions are part of life. There is this very cool concept called the Liminal Space. It is that period between the end of one experience and the beginning of the next one. Think being single then married, married then widowed/divorced, employed then unemployed. Think about being a teen for whom food is purchased, a... Read More

If Dissociation is a disconnection between surroundings, one’s thoughts, memories, or actions then it is familiar to all of us. I remember seeing Jaws (Spielberg) for the first time. At the end of it, my date was unable to stand up for a while. He had been so wrapped up in the story, the terror,... Read More

Foster parents have a unique role in a foster child’s life. It is, by definition, a time limited relationship. Can love happen when the end is inevitable? Does the transient nature of a relationship imply anything about the quality of the commitment involved? I’d like to explore two concepts here:  love and relationships. The quality... Read More

I’m no expert in the field of neurology but I wrote my Master’s Thesis on Adolescence and spent many years of my career working with them and their parents as a therapist. There is an opportunity during this time to make a huge difference in the life of a young person because their brains are... Read More

One’s mental health is a fluid element of life. It includes our emotional well-being, our social relationships and our inner life, our sense of self. We come into the world with a brain more or less ready for the world then our experiences, both prenatal and upon delivery, begin to leave their marks on it.... Read More