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Additional Training

DDP Parent Labs

Advancing the trauma and attachment skills of our families through education, practice, and peer support.
What We Do
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Helping Children with Trauma Heal and Thrive

The DDP-PPL program has been designed to meet an unmet need in the community to more comprehensively support children with histories of developmental trauma heal and thrive. It is aimed at giving support to the parents and caregivers with the knowledge that this level of therapeutic parenting often requires practice, patience, and perseverance rarely required from other parents. As such, it can be a lonely, exhausting, and confusing existence.

We believe that a parent/caregiver who feels valued and empowered to keep taking the risk of offering love, care, consistent presence, and boundaries to their traumatized child can change their world. We also know that as human beings with needs and dreams of their own, they cannot (and should not have to) do this alone.

This training and support program was designed to address:

  • Exploring the challenges in order to understand ways to build emotional connections with the children, resulting in trust, reciprocal and attached relationships that can support increased security and reduced levels of shame and distress
  • Understanding how to provide behavior support (vs behavior management) while building these new, trusting relationships
  • Exploring the dangers of Blocked Care and Blocked Trust, the function behind each defensive state, and how to move back into relationships with more joy and satisfaction
  • Understanding the significance of adult attachment history and how this intersects and impacts parents/caregivers caring for traumatized children

This program is available in small group settings and is completed within five (5) two-hour sessions, generally provided once per week. Parents and caregivers will learn new information and participate in individual/group activities to experience the difference a therapeutic parenting model can make for everyone in the family. Parents will network with other parents to provide informal support and validation, possibly forming relationships that will extend beyond the training period.

Eligibility

  • Parents who are working hard to meet the needs of the children/youth in their home, however, not families in active CRISIS with disruption on the horizon. Those in full crisis will not receive the immediate support (for de-escalation and stabilization) they need from this training and will be connected with a more appropriate service
  • Foster/Adoptive/Guardianship/Relative Parents who are currently caring for a child (ren) who are, or have been, in foster care as a result of having been impacted and shaped by childhood trauma
  • Residency or court jurisdiction: St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Jefferson, Franklin, Warren, St. Charles, Lincoln
  • Ability to attend all five (5) sessions, currently offered virtually
  • Willing to participate in a pre-service assessment and complete pre and post-surveys

To enroll or learn more about the DDP PPLs, contact Anne Zink at annezink@foster-adopt.org or by phone at 314-806-2025.

*Participants will receive a certificate of completion at the final session. If you are interested in counting the training for in-service hours, please consult with your licensing worker.