Bill Porter, MA has 20 years of experience in providing counseling, support and advocacy to at-risk children, youth, and families. Bill joined the Gladney Family in 2013 and he spends most of his time leading his team in providing “best practices” to adoptees, birth families and adoptive families. Bill has been trained through the Trust-based Relational Intervention TBRI® at Texas Christian University and has provided clinical supervision and consultation in evidenced based programming. Bill received his Bachelors of Arts in Religion from Southern Nazarene University and his Masters of Education in Counseling from North Texas University.

Safety:

A child has to feel safe physically and emotionally. We underestimate fear and anxiety. If you are never available for your child as a safe base, then you're not doing your job as a parent.

Connection:

Find ways to engage with your child even though you might be rejected. One of the most important things to remember is that it's never your child's responsibility to find ways to connect with you. It's your responsibility to find ways to connect with your child. What does your child like? What does your child want to do?

When you have your safety and your connect working, then you get to do the other parenting stuff like correcting.

Resources:

The Power of Showing Up, by Daniel J. Siegel MD, Tina Payne Bryson PhD, et al.

Gladney University

The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connection, and Courage, by Brené Brown