Podcast
Thriving Adoptees - Let's Thrive
Hosted by Simon Benn · EN
Let's thrive.
Thriving Adoptees helps adoptees thrive.
What does thriving mean to you?
Healing? Post Traumatic Growth? Evolving?
Listen in as we explore what's helped adoptees do all that...
Email me at simon@thrivingadoptees.com if you'd like to have a chat about being a guest on the show.
There have been 93,000 downloads of the show since launch in April 2021.
24episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Realisations Are Everything With Cheryl Fix
3d ago00:47:55Tap to summarizeTime isn't the greatest healer because if there's no change, there's no healing. So what IS the greatest healer? Realisations. Those profound insights that help us see differently, more clearly and better. Listen in as we talk realisations, grace and space... Cheryl Fix is Executive Director of the Alberta Foster and Kinship Association, find out more at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryl-fix-4b7b36b/ https://www.facebook.com/Albertafosterandkinshipassociation/ instagram.com/afka_caregiver_support https://afkaonline.ca/ Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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Healing, Wholeness & Growth With Lynda Monk
3d ago00:43:44Tap to summarizeHealing, Wholeness & Growth. What do they mean? How do they fit together? How can we enjoy more of all three? Listen in as adoptee and social worker Lynda shares powerful insights and strategies. Lynda is an Adoptee, Registered Social Worker (MSW, RSW) Director of the International Association for Journal Writing, IAJW.org and Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) Find out more at: https://www.amazon.com/Adoptees-Guide-Healing-Wholeness-Growth/dp/1963667328/ LyndaMonk.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndamonk/ Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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Looking Forward With Richard Kingswell
4d ago00:41:11Tap to summarizeGoing through tough stuff? Really tough? Tomorrow's going to be better...Listen in as Richard shares insights on hope, optimism and persistence... Richard is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FosterVA and Extra Special Parents, organisations he established to strengthen foster care services and improve outcomes for children, young people, and families across Virginia. With a strong background in social work and decades of experience working alongside young people, Richard brings both professional depth and personal conviction to his leadership. Richard believes foster care works best when families feel genuinely supported, listened to, and respected. His leadership is grounded in relationships, transparency, and a commitment to doing what is right for children and those who care for them. Through initiatives such as The Kingswell Conversations, he creates space for open, honest discussions about foster care, leadership, and the real experiences of families and professionals in the field. Outside of work, Richard enjoys hiking and kayaking, unwinding with a good film, cooking for family and friends, and playing board games. He is also a dog lover and values the balance that time away from work brings, helping him stay grounded and connected to what matters most. Find out more at https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardkingswell/ https://www.fosterva.org/ https://www.espva.org/ https://www.facebook.com/FosterVA https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1cwslKf_116XfeZ5eyTjcA https://www.facebook.com/extraspecialparents Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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Victim - Survivor - Thriver With Jane Baker
1w ago01:02:39Tap to summarizeWhen we can see that our past and our trauma don't define us, we leave victimhood behind. Listen in as clinical social worker Jane shares learnings on what helps us move on...looking at what's going on in our heads, hearts and bodies. Jane Baker, LICSW is a clinical social worker with concentration in trauma, attachment, and family systems. With her beginnings in the field of foster care and adoption over 25 years ago, she is experienced with the unique needs of adoptive families and children with early childhood trauma. This experience now includes recovery for other life changing situations such as Veterans issues, PTSD, divorce recovery, and grief/loss. She includes EMDR, and biofeedback in addition to traditional therapeutic approaches. Connect with Jane here: https://www.adoption-associates.com/ Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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Unflappable With Renée Freudenberger
1w ago00:48:25Tap to summarizeRaising kids challenges all parents. The more trauma, the bigger the challenges. Listen in as adoptive mother Renée shares her learnings on commitment, sticking with it and being unflappable as we raise our kids to thrives Here's an extra thought from Renée... "Of all the things that I said that children need to thrive, I wish I had added fun! Children need the opportunity to explore who they are in ways that disarm their fight or flight. We always exposed our foster children, and later our daughter, to lots of different activities (sports, dance, art, theater, camps), where she could learn something new and have fun. There, she could also make mistakes and realize it was okay to make those mistakes and that she could figure out her own solutions. We call that the dignity of risk, and it certainly helps build resilience!" https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-freudenberger-6481b018/ https://www.woodfords.org/ https://www.facebook.com/woodfords Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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Filled With Joy With Valerie Marble
1w ago00:46:47Tap to summarizeDo you want more joy in your life? Who doesn't? How is joy possible despite the tough stuff - like failed adoptions? Listen in as adoptive mother and adoption coach Valerie jumps into joy... Valerie is the owner of A Step Ahead Adoption Services and has many roles within ASA. As an adoption coach, she walks alongside families as they navigate their adoption journey, as well as oversees all of the adoption coaches, and maintains close working relationships with our trusted agencies and attorneys while working to build new relationships for the future. It is very important to Valerie to keep open, honest communication with both providers and clients alike. Valerie and her husband, Bryce, have been blessed by adoption not one, but three times! They have walked through the trials of foster care, have been past clients of ASA and have experienced the heartbreak of a failed adoption before being blessed with their youngest. Her career in adoption began a few years ago as an adoption coach with ASA. Her clients always appreciated her first-hand experience and honesty. Before becoming an adoption coach, she worked for eight years in the medical field as an x-ray tech. She turned her passion for patient care into something so much bigger and targeted to a subject that is so close to her heart! When Valerie was approached about taking over ownership of the company, it was an instant YES! She has the perfect mentor, Diane Hogan (previous owner/founder of over 24 years) and team behind her to help accomplish so much in the adoption world! Adoption education, specifically education on transracial adoption, is very important to Valerie. After working with ASA, you will not only walk away with a new member of your family, but you will also be educated on how to appropriately navigate the adoption world and care for your adopted child. It is Valerie’s mission to make all families who work with ASA feel supported every step of the way, from the beginning stages of their adoption to finalization. Valerie’s past experiences give her a very unique perspective to offer all of her clients. https://www.facebook.com/ASAAdoption/ https://astepaheadadoption.com/ https://www.instagram.com/astepaheadadoptionservices/ Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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Sensitivity With Greg Franklin
2w ago00:58:06Tap to summarizeSensitivity oils relationships like nothing else. Listen in as adoptive dad and adoption lawyer Greg and I dive deep into sensitivity, compassion and communication so we cal all thrive. Adoptions and assisted fertility make up 90% of Greg's legal practice. An adoptive parent himself, Greg Franklin understands the challenges and joys of adopting a child. Adoptions involve a highly emotional area of law in which any legal misstep can cause devastating effects. With more than 25 years of adoption experience, Greg's goal is to develop a legally secure plan that serves the best interests of the child and respects the wishes and interests of both the adoptive or intended parents and the birth parents or gestational carriers. Greg works extensively with LGBT clients, and has represented clients in cases which have broken new ground in this area. Greg is passionate about adoptions — he is a frequent lecturer and author on ethics and adoption-related topics and he works tirelessly to achieve a positive result for adoption families. In his representation of birth parents, Greg will assist in locating adoptive parents, negotiating open adoption and post-adoption contact agreements, and coordinating the process with the hospital and the adoptive parents. Greg has considerable experience in the developing area of assisted fertility, including surrogacy and gestational carrier agreements, donor embryos and eggs, and in obtaining parentage and pre-birth orders. Greg also helps to create permanent families through stepparent and co-parent adoptions, grandparent adoptions, extended-family custody agreements, foster care and international adoptions. He will assist in selecting the right avenue for achieving adoption goals, including the decision about whether to pursue domestic or international adoption, the choice between agency and private adoptions, selecting home study resources, managing subsidy and Adoption Tax Credit issues, and locating post-adoption services. Find out more about Greg here: https://www.adoptionny.com Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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Self Worth With Dr Rob Scheer
2w ago00:42:47Tap to summarizeCould you do with higher self worth? Do you put yourself down? Do you see yourself as bad? Good enough? Rob aged out of foster care homeless at 18. He struggled to see his self worth. Listen in as he shares his learnings on seeing our essential goodness. At any given time, there are more than 330,000 youth in foster care in the United States. An estimated 700 children enter the system each day, and most arrive with little more than the clothes on their backs. Those who do have belongings are often given a trash bag in which to pack up and carry their life’s treasures. Rob Scheer experienced this indignity firsthand. Over forty years ago, he entered foster care and walked up to his foster home carrying a tattered and torn trash bag. He aged out of foster care at the age of 18, became homeless, and again carried his possessions in a trash bag. After graduating high school (while still homeless), serving in the military and moving on to have a successful career as a banker, Rob, along with his husband Reece, decided to grow their family by adopting from the foster care system. When his children arrived on his doorstep with their belongings in trash bags. Rob was floored. How, after forty years, were children in the foster care system still carrying their things in a bag used for trash? Rob and his family decided it was time to change this practice and the idea for Comfort Cases was born. With the vision of assembling backpacks filled with comfort and personal care items to deliver to local DCFS, the Scheer family invited their community to pack some cases. The first Packing Party was held in December of 2013 and shortly thereafter Comfort Cases was established as an official 501(c)3. To date, more than 300,000 Comfort Cases® and Comfort XL duffel bags have been distributed to children in foster care in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and now in the United Kingdom, with Comfort CasesUK launched in 2022. Rob’s ultimate goal is for every youth to receive a Comfort Case® upon entering foster care. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Comfort Cases has been featured on The Ellen Show, The Today Show, The View, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, just to name a few. In 2017, an Upworthy video featuring Comfort Cases received over 150 million views and in 2018 Rob Scheer was named one of CNN’s Heroes. Rob and Reece Scheer are also featured in Bryce Dallas Howard’s documentary film Dads on AppleTV+. Rob is the host of Fostering Change, a weekly audio and video podcast that brings in guests of prominence who discuss issues regarding foster care, adoption, LGBTQ+ and other timely and topical issues. Now in its 7th season, Fostering Change has been ranked the #1 Podcast for Adoption and Foster Care issues two consecutive years. The author of A Forever Family: Fostering Change One Child at a Time, Rob’s memoir tells the inspiring story of his journey from foster care to foster parent and his drive to rebuild a broken system. In May, 2022, Rob received an Honorary Doctoral Degree, a Doctorate of Humane Letters, from Lynn University, where he also delivered the commencement speech. Rob lives in Maryland with his husband Reece, their five children and multiple pets including dogs, goats, chickens and a pig named Penelope. https://www.instagram.com/rob_scheer https://www.facebook.com/comfortcases/ https://www.facebook.com/robscheer6 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-scheer-27482653/ https://comfortcases.org/ Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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Rising To Challenges With Ella Smith
Jun 400:41:53Tap to summarizeAdoption can present us with many challenges. But how do we rise to those challenges? Listen in as Ella shares insights on dealing with the unexpected, coming from love and much more... Ella Smith is Executive Director for Adoption Choices. Originally from Colombia, Ella moved to the USA 23 years ago to the DFW area where she has strong connections and friendships. Married to a loving husband for 25 years, they have two grown children: Christian who is a soccer coach, and David who is a pilot like his father. Ella has an extensive background working with children and families since 2008, for the last 8 years her experience has been in the adoption field, Ella is a dedicated professional with a proven track record in facilitating international adoptions and nurturing positive family relationships. Experienced in navigating complex legal and cultural landscapes to ensure successful adoptions and compliance with country accreditations. Skilled in building rapport with diverse stakeholders, including service providers, adoptive parents, single parents of either gender, LGBTQ+ parents, birth parents and government agencies. Strong understanding of the adoption regulations and protocols. Committed to upholding the highest standards of ethics and professionalism in all endeavors. Ella is dedicated to ensuring that all children find loving and caring homes. Ella holds a degree in social communication and journalism from Colombia and a master’s degree in marketing management. Now residing in the DFW area, she is passionate about advocating for children’s rights to be loved, valued, and respected. Ella is excited to be part of Adoption Choices of Texas and to meet all the bravest and selfless parents who wants to create a better future for their child. In her free time Ella enjoys traveling to her beloved Colombia, spend time with her diverse group of friends, and watching tv at home. Ella also has a service dog named Stella. https://www.adoptionchoicesoftexas.org/ https://www.facebook.com/AdoptionChoicesOfTexas/ Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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Wisdom In The Moment With Susan Silverman
Jun 300:57:48Tap to summarizeBeing told to just raise your kids doesn't sound like a great piece of advice. But it landed profoundly for Susan. She heard it as a pointer to stop trying to think too far ahead. To listen to wisdom in the moment. To stop overthinking. Who doesn't need less overthinking right? Listen in for your own aha moments. Founder and Executive Director, Susan Silverman grew up in a family that fostered older children, and getting to know kids without a permanent, loving family of their own had a big impact on her. Now, she and her spouse have five children, three were born to them and two were adopted. She is the author of a memoir, Casting Lots: Creating a Family in a Beautiful, Broken World and has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, BBC, ABC, and more. Susan has a BA from Boston University, an Ed.M. from Harvard University, and an MA and Rabbinical Ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Connect with Susan here https://www.instagram.com/susansilverman7 https://www.2nurture.org/ https://www.facebook.com/2ndnurture/ https://www.instagram.com/2ndNurture Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.
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