Individual Therapy for Foster Parents and Adoptive Parents
Online Therapy in South Carolina
Being a foster parent is one of the most rewarding and exhausting things you’ve ever done.
Most people don’t understand what you’re going through. It’s a complicated, nuanced system you're living in as a foster or adoptive parent.
You opened your heart and your home with a desire to care, a longing to offer love and stability for children and families in a season of hardship.
But it isn’t quite what you expected. Maybe some days feel pretty normal for you. You get to know and love this child, or children, in your care. You enjoy family time.
Then some days are filled with turmoil. Visits trigger hard feelings for your child. More intervention is needed, and it seems like you spend more time at appointments than you do at home. The turnover in caseworkers has everyone feeling confused, and you never know what to expect. You go to court hearings, ready to advocate for the children in your care, but you get overwhelmed, anxious, and leave feeling more uncertain and worried than before.
You might be overwhelmed with so many big feelings. You worry how your foster child is feeling, how they’ll be able to process everything they’ve experienced. You also think of your own family; parenting can bring up difficult feelings about your own childhood.
You feel sad for your foster child's family- the biological family. And- it’s hard to admit- but maybe also anger. It’s a confusing experience, to know a child is hurting and to hurt for them, but also hurt for their family and the barriers and systemic brokenness that led to foster care intervention. You hold hope, grief, and everything in between, while knowing so much is out of your control.
Maybe you can’t quite put your finger on it, but you’re feeling disorganized, exhausted, and stressed. You’ve probably heard of secondhand trauma before- it sounds intimidating, but it can be very real, and it’s something to be aware of. You are working hard to be trauma-informed and provide the best care for your child. But you’re often taking the brunt of their feelings and their trauma responses.
So whether you’re trying to keep your calm in a tantrum, or trying to offer supportive listening as they ask all the hard questions, you also have to care for yourself, and find ways to cope and manage your own emotional experience as you see your child hurting.
You try to hold space amidst the chaos for the good too. You love your children. You’re filled with joy when you see them growing and enjoying life. It’s a blessing when they begin to trust you, to allow you to hold this unique place in their story. It can be easy to focus on the negative, but there’s positive in this journey too.
You chose to be a foster parent for a reason. It’s a strange experience- to enter into a broken system, with the hope of helping, yet feeling limited.
And if you're an adoptive parent, that doesn't mean the struggles are over.
As an adoptive parent, chances are you've already navigated (or still are in) so much of the system. There may be some relief on the other side, but there's also grief. You've made a commitment to your children, and you're so full of love, while knowing your children have still been through pain you can't fully understand. Adoption doesn't mean everything is magically perfect. There's resolution, there's a path forward, but there are still complexities that can bring parenting challenges and overwhelm you.
You need support.
You need- and deserve- a space all to yourself.
But what does it look like for you to get support, when so many things feel out of your control?
You’ve learned that you can’t be a foster or adoptive parent in isolation.
You might feel limited in what you can do, restricted in what you can say. You’re hurting and working hard and you can’t do this alone.
Your needs as a foster parent are unique, and therapy is a personal, individualized experience where you can get what you need.
You deserve joy, peace, and calm, in the midst of the chaos within and around you.
I’m here to help you navigate the ups and downs of your foster care and adoption journey. It’s a unique experience, and I understand just how challenging and complicated it is.
Therapy will be a safe place for you to process your feelings. You hold space for everyone else to feel all the things, and you deserve that too. There’s no guilt or shame here for your hard feelings, questioning, and worrying.
Counseling also helps you navigate the trauma of the foster care system. You’re afraid of burning out, of experiencing trauma yourself and struggling to cope. You need support in knowing how to deal with this, and how to truly care for yourself and maintain your own needs as you give so much of yourself to those you love.
Therapy can also be a safe place for you to work through all the parenting challenges. Maybe you need to brainstorm new techniques to help your children grow, learn good choices, and manage their emotions in healthy ways.
Therapy for foster parents and adoptive parents is support specific to your needs and your experience. It's trauma-informed care that can help you as you help your family.
You deserve a space to bring all the emotions and needs that come with this unique parenting journey.
Online therapy for foster parents and adoptive parents
Get the support you deserve in your foster and adoptive journey. Book a consultation now to learn how I can help.
