WPFP2: Preventing Parent Burnout and Building Resilience with Eileen Devine
In This Episode
Today, some wisdom from a professional who has real, lived experience. Eileen Devine, LCSW, and host Kendra Wilde discuss how compassion fatigue and caregiver burnout can happen to parents and what we can do to safeguard our physical and emotional wellbeing. Parents of children with special healthcare needs (of any kind, but especially behavioral challenges) experience higher levels of stress, illness, depression and anxiety than other parents -- but this fact is too often ignored. As the adoptive mother of a child with significant neurobehavioral challenges and a professional with over a dozen years of clinical experience in supporting parents, Eileen knows this subject. When I read a moving article Eileen wrote about managing caregiver trauma, I knew I had to get her on the show. In this conversation, she explains how to recognize the signs and symptoms of stress and shares some practical strategies for filling your bucket and building resilience, so you can be the parent you want to be.
About Eileen
Eileen Devine, LCSW has over a dozen years of clinical experience and is the adoptive mother of a child with fetal alcohol syndrome. She believes that kids do well if they can and that when we understand the way a child's brain works, we then understand the meaning behind challenging behaviors. Eileen's goal is to support parents in feeling more competent and confident in connecting with their child by parenting from a brain-based perspective. When this shift happens, both parent and child experience less frustration and more success in their relationship.
Eileen's clinical practice is tailored for parents who are supporting an individual with confirmed or suspected FASD; prenatal or postnatal toxic stress exposure (substances or trauma); children who struggle with challenging behavior, are chronically inflexible, and experience a low threshold for frustration tolerance; and children diagnosed with ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, anxiety, and PTSD.
What You’ll Learn
How to recognize the signs of stress, compassion fatigue and caregiver burnout
Why stress and grief around our kids’ “invisible” challenges aren’t generally acknowledged
How understanding the meaning behind challenging behaviors can help shift your perception of stress and connect with your child
Why self-care is essential -- not selfish
How your emotional and physical wellbeing impacts your parenting
Steps you can take to move things off your plate and fill your own bucket
What Eileen does to take care of herself
Resources Mentioned
Eileen’s practice: https://www.fasdnorthwest.com/
Brené Brown’s book: Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead
Eileen’s blog article: Managing the Toll of Caregiver Trauma
Dr. Ross Greene’s Collaborative Proactive Solutions model, which is based on the premise that “kids do well if they can.”