Welcome to what we are learning in our Divine Nest Support Group. We aim to provide connection, learning and support for individuals navigating through tough issues in foster care. Just in case you’re interested, we meet every Thursday from 6 pm to 7:30 pm at NorthRoad Church, 49 College Campus Dr., in Moscow Mills. The dates for our upcoming sessions are from January 11 to February 29, 2024. And don't worry about dinner and childcare, they are provided. Register here.
Weekly Travel Plans
Our support group gatherings have a theme and this session is all about our foster care journey. We have a weekly travel plan, where we cover different topics to help you navigate through the complexities of foster care. These topics range from understanding your motivations and expectations, dealing with loneliness and criticism, managing relationships with biological kids, understanding the concept of love in fostering, and learning to work with the “team” involved in foster care.
Guidebook to Foster Care
Our sessions also provide a guidebook to help you understand and handle the challenges that come with foster care. This week we started with motivation. Motivation is the reason why we do something or act in a certain way. We all want to do something that really matters. That is why most foster parents said yes to fostering. However, just wanting something usually isn’t enough. You need to question your motivations and understand why they alone may not be sufficient. Don’t get me wrong. Motivation is a key ingredient but not the sole factor. We also discussed what else you might need to successfully navigate through the foster care journey.
Planning the Journey
In our support group, we also talked about having a plan for the journey. Most trips typically go smoothly, but sometimes things happens along our journey that impacts our trip. So we need to have a plan! Most often we begin questioning our motivation when something doesn’t work out like we think it will. Maybe you’re frustrated so you tell yourself “I am in it for the right reasons!” but it doesn't seem to help. Maybe the team makes a decision we don’t understand so we question our motivation causing it to waver.
We also talked about insights that we need to help us when our motivation is wavering. and how to handle the specific issues related to foster care. This week we discussed in our weekly session how we also need skills like patience, flexibility, resilience, communication, and humor. We need tools that come from training like TBRI, Beyond Consequences, and other trauma based curriculum. Lastly, we need experience that comes from both failures and successes. A couple additional ideas given at the group was having a support system is key, taking care of yourself, and having more knowledge about the legal system.
Conclusion
Our foster care support group aims to provide a supportive and learning environment for individuals involved in foster care. We understand the challenges and complexities that come with foster care, and we are here to help you navigate through them. Join us in our weekly sessions and embark on this journey of learning and self-discovery.
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