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
Episode 101: Entering Foster Care and Confronting Sexual Abuse
Episode 100: Spotting Child Abuse and Neglect after COVID-19
BONUS: Big Family Dynamics: Thriving in a Supersized Family
Episode 99: The Battle for Control in Foster Care: A Life Surrendered to God
Episode 98: Life with Infertility: Considering the Jump into Foster Care
Episode 97: Connecting With Your Spouse: Setting Priority As Foster Parents
Episode 96: Meeting Your Biological Parent: Expectations, Joys, and Disappointments
Episode 95: The Summer Struggle: Establishing Routine for Your Foster or Adoptive Family
Episode 94: When Your Children Don’t Look Like You: Understanding Black Hair Care
Episode 93: Moved From Relative to Relative: A Journey Toward Healing After Trauma
Episode 92: When You Can’t Step Away: Life After Foster Parenting
Episode 91: When Obedience Leads to Growth: Stepping Out in Faith as a Dad and Husband
Episode 90: When Foster Care Leads to Adoption: Processing Big Emotions
Episode 89: Caring for Teens in Foster Care: The Story of One Teenage Mom
Episode 88: From Teacher to Parent: Fictive Kin in Foster Care
Episode 87: Beyond Exhaustion: Creating Breathing Room as a Foster Parent
BONUS: Expecting the Unexpected: Finding Purpose in the Long Wait or Failed Adoption
Episode 86: Life in Foster Care: What It’s Really Like
Episode 85: Good Grief: Navigating Loss in Foster Care
Episode 84: More than Coffee: Using Business for Kingdom Purposes
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