Adoptive Family Success Podcast

Yolanda discusses basics about Hyper Vigilance and the impact on our adopted children. She also cautions what else it can look like, how it can impact our child’s life three suggestions on how to help our children with exhausting Hyper Vigilance.

Yolanda suggests 5 things you can do today to help you understand what is will be like to parent a child of color. These five suggestions, if followed, will bring you huge steps towards being the parent you want to be to your new child and the parents your child needs.

Yolanda acknowledges that fathers often feel they are not the primary parents, and sometimes they are right. What Yolanda reinforces is the very strong importance and influence fathers have in their child's life, even when they don't realize it.

Yolanda discusses WHY Love is Not Enough when parenting our very complex kids and what to do instead to help your new family be successful. If you take the advice Yolanda provides, you will feel much more prepared when your child comes home.

Yolanda shares a unique way to look at the role of parents as “containers” to help their children heal.

Yolanda answers the simple question, yet confusing answers to what fees are associated with adopting a baby with an agency or an attorney.

Yolanda explains the little shared phenomenon of attraction between uniting birth family members and suggests ways in which to avoid this occurrence    

Yolanda shares the joys of adopting a teen as well as the differences then adopting a younger child.    

Yolanda discusses why children with early loss and trauma in particular need parents to fully take on the parental role and not that of a buddy or friend. She draws from her contact with parents who tell her they don’t have the relationship they want with their child.    

Yolanda discusses the wonderful and realistic ways in which an adoptive parent can breastfeed their baby or young child. 

A very emotional tribute to and recognition of our children’s birth moms.    

Yolanda discusses the very real and necessary considerations when choosing the learning and caretaking environments for our children with very difficult and complex histories.

Yolanda discusses the norm of openness in adoption today and how it can be of benefit for all parties.    

Yolanda discusses a question that is part of every home study process. The question is what will the caretaking arrangements when you bring your child home. Also discussed arethe benefits of a parent staying with the child to build the new relationship.    

Yolanda discusses an inquiry she is hearing from parents much more often. Cautions and considerations are proposed as well as suggestions to do it the healthiest way possible.    

Yolanda discusses the unfortunate fact of scams in adoption with cautions and warning signs. This episode was inspired by a magazine type show that did a story on this topic.    

Yolanda pulls from her own recent life experiences with her children and discusses the given that our children need to learn to deal with their grief in healthy ways. She combines this common belief with a discussion of how differing cultures deal with grief differently and how that can impact our modeling and teaching of processing grief.    

Yolanda gives tips on how to critically look at websites that represent adoption services from organizations, agencies and individual practitioners.