Many agency workers who serve the foster care community choose this path out of a passion for helping others. But transitioning into this challenging career can often be a very overwhelming experience. Even when workers are doing their best, they can start to feel like they’re not doing enough and that they don’t have a support system to fall back on in their times of need.
Brian Gazdziak is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker as well as a foster and adoptive dad. He has spent years providing specialized mental health therapy to help people, such as those in the foster care community, cope with life challenges. As someone who has experienced foster care from the perspective of both an agency worker and a foster parent, Brian has unique insights and empathy surrounding the topic of these complex relationships.
In this episode, Brian shares what it’s like to work with children and families in a hands-on capacity, how churches can provide much-needed support to foster care workers, how to build a better relationship with case workers, and so much more.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/brian-gazdziak-226/
Join Team 3:10: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/team310
No matter the season of parenting you’re in, there’s one thing every parent needs to prioritize—mental health. Not just your child’s, but your own, too.
It’s easy to look at the behavioral or emotional struggles our children are exhibiting and start thinking of ways to “fix” them. What’s harder is looking inward and asking ourselves what steps we can take to nurture our mental health so we can show up for our kids in the best way.
Joining me today is Michelle Nietert, an author, a speaker, and the Clinical Director/Founder of Community Counseling Associates. She’s also a follower of Christ, a wife, and a mother to two school-aged children who puts her mental health knowledge to use every day as she seeks to nurture a happy and healthy household.
In this episode, Michelle teaches us how to support our children through life’s challenges, how to help children who’ve experienced trauma find hope, joy, and light in life, how to work prayer into your children’s lives as they grow up, and so much more.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/michelle-nietert-225/
Get 10% off your first month of BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/tfi
Cami Haussler’s childhood was marked by turbulence. By the time she was 10, both of her parents had passed away. Her formative years were filled with a long string of life changes, and it seemed like every time she got close to a caregiver, they would leave her.
Eventually, Cami was adopted by her grandparents, but despite the love they showed her, Cami often struggled to let them in, fearing that they too would pass away and leave her alone again.
Today, Cami’s experiences have come full circle—she’s now an adoptive parent who has fostered 12 children and taken on a core role at a private child placement agency.
In this episode, Cami openly shares how the emotional struggles of her childhood molded her into the woman she is today, how her mindset as a foster and adoptive parent had to expand into one of grace and selflessness, the biggest challenges from her experience as an adoptee, how to avoid developing a “savior complex” as a foster parent, and so much more.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/cami-haussler-224/
Get 10% off the Who Loves series with code "forgottenpod": https://www.wholovesseries.org/
Katie Faris knew that motherhood wasn’t always going to be smooth sailing, but she was more than ready to deal with temper tantrums and dirty diapers. What she wasn’t prepared for was receiving the news that three of her children had been diagnosed with a serious medical condition.
Katie’s story is deeply touching to me. She’s a pastor’s wife and a writer who has shared her journey with others through books like God is Still Good: Gospel Hope and Comfort for the Unexpected Sorrows of Motherhood and He Will Be Enough: How God Takes You by the Hand Through Your Hardest Days.
Woven through both books is her own family’s story as well as stories of others who found God to be trustworthy in the midst of their perplexities.
In this episode, you’ll hear how Katie has walked hand in hand with God through all the ups and downs of her journey, her advice for relying on your community, the power of prayer when hope is hard to find, and so much more.
Show Notes: https://theforgotteninitiative.org/katie-faris-223/
Get 10% off your first month of BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/tfi