Child welfare workers are often placed in the difficult position of needing to protect vulnerable children while supporting caregiver recovery. Perhaps the old idiom, “stuck between a rock and a hard place” characterizes these dueling responsibilities. Parents and caregivers in the grips of an addiction or struggling with mental illness need broad support to live their way into recovery, AND, children need to be protected. The work of child welfare is supporting the whole family toward health and wellness where each member has their important needs met.
In order to support the entire family, child welfare workers can help fill the gap between parent and child by being hopeful in the midst of despair, speaking truth with understanding, balancing choice and accountability, and trusting the process with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Episode 1: Hope in the midst of despair
Join Steve Carlson, PsyD, from the Center for Practice Transformation in this guided meditation. This meditation will acknowledge and honor the role of hope in our work with caregivers who are in the grips of a life situation that seems hopeless. In the mystical sense of the word, hope is not just wishful thinking. Hope is a life force that rests on a steadfast belief in our human capacity to change, even with an incomplete vision of what we will be.
Episode 2: Truth with compassion
Steve Carlson, PsyD, from the Center for Practice Transformation leads another meditation in this episode called Truth with compassion. Today we will ground ourselves in Satyagraha, which is the Sanskrit word for “holding onto truth.” This meditation will support our ability to respond to anger and another’s reactivity with truth, understanding, and compassion.
Episode 3: Freedom and responsibility
Steve Carlson, PsyD, from the Center for Practice Transformation dives into the topics of Freedom and Responsibility. Although we usually cannot choose our circumstances, we are always free to choose how we respond and our attitude. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. This meditation will help support our capacity to respond to our clients mindfully, believing in their inherent ability to find their way.
Episode 4: Trust with healthy suspicion
Join Steve Carlson, PsyD, from the Center for Practice Transformation for the final podcast of this series: Trust with healthy suspicion. Common sense tells us we cannot trust and mistrust at the same time. And yet, when it comes to working with substance use disorders, this is an essential skill. A famous biblical phrase captures the important shared stance of mistrust and trust: “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves”. Today’s meditation will support our capacity to fill the gap of honesty and deceit with our unwavering commitment to truth and compassion.