Mandy Taylor, Adoptive Parent and Foster Parent Retention Specialist at Bethany Christian Services in Grand Rapids, MI shares her experience developing a Post-RPC Training Support Group. Mandy leads a monthly meeting where concepts and ideas from the RPC are reviewed. The group also explores how this knowledge can be applied to their current parenting. Additionally this podcast discusses the importance of creating a space for parents to give and receive validation, generate camaraderie amongst parents, and provide one another with tangible parenting suggestions. The group is built upon the premise that if healing is done through the context of relationships, then resource parents too need supportive relationships as they act as agents of healing for their children.

Chris Foreman, MSSW, former foster care consultant, shares how delivering this curriculum to her foster parents not only helped them understand and respond more effectively to a variety of challenging behaviors but in the long run, actually reduced her workload. Over time, the number of crisis calls she received dropped, and she was able to comfortably manage a higher caseload.

Kimberly I. Fielding, EdD, ACSW, shares a metaphor she uses to differentiate the types of stress as they relate to traumatic stress. For example, the first type is positive stress—how it is desirable and motivating. Tolerable stress is about working through the challenges. Toxic stress transitions toward undesirable and counter-motivating stress. It is also differentiated from traumatic stress to assist helping professionals identify and respond in more fine-tuned ways. This podcast includes how to use a common prop—the facilitator’s own hands—to share this important information regarding the types of stress.

Rebecca Mataya, treatment-level foster parent shares how using a trauma lens – and listening for clues – helped her realize that extremely challenging bedtime behaviors weren’t about defiance and were easily addressed once she created psychological safety. This 4-minute podcast is an excellent illustration of how concepts taught in the RPC can be applied at home.

Kate Murray, Ph.D., and Chaney Stokes, Trainer, answer questions about how to recruit and prepare facilitators with lived experience when utilizing the curriculum: Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma: A Workshop for Resource Parents (commonly referred to as the RPC). The podcast addresses: concerns of exposing a potential co-facilitator to triggers; the risks of having a co-facilitator over-share; and the amount of time it might take to train and support someone with their own trauma history. Also discussed is their personal advice and experiences on why they invest time into preparation and debriefing; how to acknowledge one another's "hot buttons"; and what tools to use to keep in sync and be supportive of one another to successfully blend clinical, professional, and personal experience for the benefit of all.  
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Liz Sharda, LMSW, shares that it is not enough to talk about trauma informed care principles when delivering the RPC; facilitators must also model these concepts within the training environment if they hope to be successful in helping families develop a trauma informed parenting approach. In this podcast, an NCTSN member who trains facilitators in this curriculum talks about modeling the principles of Safety, Choice and Control, Connections and Managing Emotions, and Self Reflection as a critical piece of effectively delivering RPC. Referenced in this podcast: Walking the Walk: Modeling Trauma Informed Practice in the Training Environment. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2014.

Barbara Wojtach, LCSW, is the Program Director for the Foster Adoptive and Kinship Care Educations Program, FAKCE, a program of the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office at Grossmont College, in San Diego, California. FAKCE along with the County of San Diego Children's Services decided to move to a trauma-focused pre-service training program for foster and adoptive parents in the fall of 2012. With permission from the NCTSN, they set out to adapt the RPC curriculum to make it relevant for a pre-service training. In this podcast Barbara discusses the implementation of the revised curriculum called TIPS, Trauma Informed Pre-Service, which occurred in July 2013. She also discusses the changes made to the RPC curriculum, the structure of the pre-service training and the response of participants and instructors regarding the revised curriculum.