I read this while I was completing an internship with CPS a few summers back. It is an unbiased, informative, interesting and extremely useful book. I enjoyed reading this and tried to read it as more than a guide, but moreso a collection of knowledge.
Worth the purchase for everyone interested in this topic.

I am in the initial stages of adoption. This book helped to open my eyes to things in the process and after that I had only heard about. It was wonderful to be able to get the perspective from people who have been there and done it multiple times. It also brought up things that I had not yet thought about. A wonderful resource for anyone looking to foster and/or adopt.

If you are a foster or adoptive parent, you likely have heard of Kristen and Mike Berry. They are everywhere and market themselves well. This book will be full of information that you need, hopefully, you will have already come across most of it. However, their personal experiences will be enlightening for sure. Is this the only book out there with this information? No. Will this book be a helpful resource? Absolutely.

The publisher made a copy of this book available via Netgalley for review. This is my honest opinion.

Kristin and Mike Berry are the leading experts in the Christian foster care world, and this book displays their expertise. As with their other books, they use personal anecdotes and practical examples in their writing. In this book, they specifically deal with issues of trauma and its effects on the brain. You won't be in the foster care world long before realizing how important it is to understand this issue. I'm so thankful the Berrys are so open and knowledgeable about this issue.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Made me cry. Loved the in-depth look at how the brain reacts to chronic trauma and what that means for adoptive families. Good dose of hard reality ... and hope.

As a Key Worker for Looked After children in a school and a Supported Lodgings provider for teens in the foster care system, this book appealed to me as another approach to looking at the minds and emotions of children with deep trauma and attachment issues. I have come back to this book several times over the past 6 months and despite thinking I was incredibly knowledgeable about Attachment Theories, I have learned something new from every chapter.

Well written, clear to understand and heart wrenching at times.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

As an adopter, I found this book invaluable. It provides an honest insight into trauma and how it manifests itself in the behaviour of children. Using real-life examples also reminded me how important connecting with other adopters, sharing experiences and supporting each other is.

I'd recommend this book to anyone considering adoption or fostering.

I really enjoyed this book, I feel like it lays out different concepts in accessible ways. As a therapist, I want to get a copy of this book to have on hand to be able to refer to clients.

Securely attached is a handbook intended for those that care for children - both adoption and fostering.
This book is of interest as some of the tips can be used in the classroom. It is beneficial to all teachers to understand how trauma and ACES (adverse childhood experiences) can impact a child and subsequently affect your teaching and their learning.

Having a toolkit with strategies and interventions can only enhance one's knowledge. The book is very well written, easy to understand and follow.

This is a must-read for all educators.

I've always been curious about attachments especially in terms of fostering and adoption. This book offers brilliant insight from current fosterers and adopters, with a lot of backup from the professionals who have many years of experience working with trauma.

I found this book enlightening, and it has fundamentally changed the way I view trauma and victims of it.

For context, I am neither a parent, nor am I close to parenthood. However, I am someone interested in psychology, attachment styles, trauma, and am considering adopting children in the far future. I enjoyed this book, and learnt a lot from it. The authors supplied scientific facts, bolstering it with their own personal experiences to provide a well-rounded exploration of the topic.

Would highly recommend for anyone interested in the topic, especially those considering fostering or adopting kids!

*𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯*

𝘈𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘐𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮. 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰-𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰-𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭; 𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴.

A great resource for those considering or currently in foster care and/or adoption.

Honestly, due to state required training (differs by states) you may or may not cover the topics discussed in this book. But it is a great reminder and refresher as we consider trauma and the effects of said trauma. I would recommend any family considering foster care and/or adoption to read this book.

This would be an excellent handbook for anyone dealing with the challenges described. It combines personal anecdotes and experiences, brain research, and proven practices for psychological health to bring healing and care to the most vulnerable of our children as they adjust into a secure new home. It is also of general interest to realize, as the first chapter describes, that we are all affected by some kind of trauma (even if it is only a house move). To become more understanding of the effects of chronic trauma and more compassionate and knowledgeable in our response is an important task of our time, and relevant to everyone. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy through Netgalley for review consideration.

I kindly received this for free for the purpose of review.

As I am in the process of becoming a foster carer, this book was invaluable. It provided hands-on exercises as well as full detailed backgrounds to potential causes of behaviour. If you work with children with any sort of trauma, this is a must read.

Their experience is telling from all the different situations discussed and it was great that real life examples could be used.

The honesty of this book is very welcomed and nothing is sugar coated. Not yet jumping into the system, it did leave me a little anxious as it highlights situations and behaviour I could come across and hadn't yet thought about. This ultimately is a good thing as it prepares you as the reality or hardship is not normally shared in this way.

I am sure I will read this book again and again when in the midst of difficulty to navigate through. The science and background is easily understandable and the book easy to navigate.

I am not a follower of faith, but this isn't required, just mentioned a few times.

I received this free for the purpose of review. These authors have researched and also lived out the suggestions they make.

I found the book helpful as it relates to foster/adopted children. They first helped me to understand that
trauma is a very real thing and even infants have a small mark on them based on their birth family and life in the womb.

I also found the book outstanding as it relates to parenting in general. Too many times I have corrected the behavior without asking the question, "What happened or why did you do that?". Toddlers depending on their age, may not be able to answer the question but even those ages we can observe and discern things like, hunger, tired, wet diaper and other physical surroundings. Even toddlers as they tell you what happened you are showing care for them, not just correcting behavior. The goal is to show and express love and show compassion even in discipline. SPOILER ALERT: "THIS HURTS ME MORE THAN IT DOES YOU", save for a much older child when you can explain the term.

Now, a foster or adopted child suffers much trauma; drug addict, alcoholic, abuse in family, abandoned,
and so we the parents have to start and build the foundation of being able to communicate rather than correct. Everything you do as a foster or adoptive parent will be tough but face it every day life is tough if you want to do the right thing.

So, parenting both biological and adoptive parents have but one solution that works every time:
As the Lord God to give you wisdom and cry out for your own heart to be softened to Jesus and courage to do the right thing.