Jeanette Yoffe- From Foster Care to Adoption to Trauma-Informed Therapist Jeanette-ically Speaking
04/08/22 • 61 min
In 1999, Jeanette took her New York theater background and wrote a one-woman play about growing up in foster care and adoption called, “What’s Your Name, Who’s Your Daddy” which was later turned into a book and audiobook. With a desire to create what she wished she could have received as a child, she began to work tirelessly to help other families. Now with over 20 years of experience, she provides mental health education and support as a psychotherapist, foster care social worker, clinical director, and trainer for L.A. County Child & Family Services and the Department of Mental Health. She teaches parents, social workers, and therapists all about adoption and foster care challenges, trauma-informed parenting, the impact of pre-adoption trauma, grief and loss, and open adoption.
Jeanette provides support to adult adoptees searching for long-lost family members as well as assists in family reunification. She is a Court Appointed Reunification Expert for Los Angeles Superior Court in cases involving children at risk for separation. She is also the Executive Director and Founder of Celia Center (named after her birth mother), a non-profit support center that meets the critical needs of all those connected by Foster Care and Adoption and all those who serve the community of Foster Care and Adoption in Los Angeles and beyond. She’s just published her first children’s book, “What is Adoption? For Kids.” Her YouTube channel, Jeanette-ically Speaking (with a J) is a fabulous resource for adoptive parents, biological parents, adoptees, and anyone looking to learn more about the foster care and adoption challenges and joys.
SHOW NOTE LINKS:
Jeanette-ically Speaking YouTube Channel
Children’s Book- What is Adoption- For Kids
What’s Your Name, Who’s Your Daddy- A One Woman Play About Growing Up in Foster Care and Adoption
CONNECT WITH US!
PLEASE JOIN:
*Dear Family Members, the Private Facebook Group
WAYS TO HELP THE PODCAST:
*PLEASE Leave a 5-Star Review and Subscribe!
Thank you! Your support means the world to me. Wishing you love, happiness, and good mental health always.
In 1999, Jeanette took her New York theater background and wrote a one-woman play about growing up in foster care and adoption called, “What’s Your Name, Who’s Your Daddy” which was later turned into a book and audiobook. With a desire to create what she wished she could have received as a child, she began to work tirelessly to help other families. Now with over 20 years of experience, she provides mental health education and support as a psychotherapist, foster care social worker, clinical director, and trainer for L.A. County Child & Family Services and the Department of Mental Health. She teaches parents, social workers, and therapists all about adoption and foster care challenges, trauma-informed parenting, the impact of pre-adoption trauma, grief and loss, and open adoption.
Jeanette provides support to adult adoptees searching for long-lost family members as well as assists in family reunification. She is a Court Appointed Reunification Expert for Los Angeles Superior Court in cases involving children at risk for separation. She is also the Executive Director and Founder of Celia Center (named after her birth mother), a non-profit support center that meets the critical needs of all those connected by Foster Care and Adoption and all those who serve the community of Foster Care and Adoption in Los Angeles and beyond. She’s just published her first children’s book, “What is Adoption? For Kids.” Her YouTube channel, Jeanette-ically Speaking (with a J) is a fabulous resource for adoptive parents, biological parents, adoptees, and anyone looking to learn more about the foster care and adoption challenges and joys.
SHOW NOTE LINKS:
Jeanette-ically Speaking YouTube Channel
Children’s Book- What is Adoption- For Kids
What’s Your Name, Who’s Your Daddy- A One Woman Play About Growing Up in Foster Care and Adoption
CONNECT WITH US!
PLEASE JOIN:
*Dear Family Members, the Private Facebook Group
WAYS TO HELP THE PODCAST:
*PLEASE Leave a 5-Star Review and Subscribe!
Thank you! Your support means the world to me. Wishing you love, happiness, and good mental health always.
Previous Episode
Dear Ukrainian Grandparents,
Dear Ukrainian Grandparents,
When I watch the senseless human suffering in Ukraine with tears in my eyes, it’s as if my dear Jewish-Ukrainian grandparents' history is being repeated. My family was the lucky ones who were able to escape as is evidenced by me, their granddaughter and great-granddaughter whose Ukrainian blood runs through me and is here today to be able to podcast/write this without fear of censorship.
Seeing mothers rushing out of Ukraine with babies in their arms fleeing harm to find safety and peace to live freely is exactly what my great-grandmother had to do with her son, my grandfather more than a hundred years ago. My beloved grandfather was born in a shtetl, a village on the outskirts of Kyiv. Think of Fiddler on the Roof and you’ll get a good idea of the life his family led. Grandpa’s family was forced to flee because of the Russian pogrom, creating a stream of refugees looking for a home, displaced people looking for a safe place to lay their heads at night without fear of massacre.
The Ukrainians are living through a crisis that shocks the system like no other. Reports of young children and even animals in zoos hearing sirens going off puts them into a state of pure fright, a heightened state of stress. As a mental health advocate, it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, war is very bad for everything, especially mental health. Plain and simple it’s traumatic with a future of PTSD.
It’s impossible to equate the experience of living through war to that of watching it unfold on a screen but the people in Ukraine and around the world are watching the crisis unfold through traditional news outlets and social media. The stream of information is powerful because it forces us to pay attention and it gives us a window into the experiences of the people there- but it’s a lot to process and it is especially harmful to our youth. With footage and photos from Ukraine flooding social media and misinformation spreading rampantly, the implications for public health continue to grow and continue to need to be addressed.
As a granddaughter, daughter, and mother I know one thing for sure... family is everything. My heart is with all the grandparents, parents, and children of Ukraine. I can not begin to imagine the fear and grief gripping the families on both sides of this conflict and so I will continue to pray that this chaos stops and that one day the Ukrainians and Russians will know peace and be able to have children who all can write their own stories or letters without censorship.
Please listen to this short solo-podcast to hear what I’d like to tell my dear Ukrainian grandparents and great-grandparents and the current grandparents, parents, and children of Ukraine.
SHOW NOTE LINKS:
Rachel’s Family Photos and Corresponding “Dear Ukrainian Grandparents” Personal Essay
Ways to Help the Ukrainians Now
Ways to Help the Ukrainians Now
CONNECT WITH US!
PLEASE JOIN:
*Dear Family Members, the Private Facebook Group
WAYS TO HELP THE PODCAST:
*PLEASE Leave a 5-Star Review and Subscribe!
Thank you! Your support means the world to me. Wishing you love, happiness, and good mental health always.
Next Episode
Dr. Jonathan Goldfinger- Nationally Recognized Pediatrician on the Need For and Right To Mental Health Care
Dr. Jonathan Goldfinger is a nationally recognized pediatrician and an advocate for mental health services for children and families, including in minority and low-income communities. His inclusive approach to health equity and policy has transformed countless lives.
He joined Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, an 80-year organization, as the CEO just months after the pandemic began in June 2020. Didi Hirsch is a national leader offering free mental health, substance use disorder, and suicide prevention services. They’re pioneers in specialized therapy and support groups for children, adults, and families while also offering crisis residential facilities. Dr. Goldfinger’s personal connection to Didi Hirsch’s mission stems from his own intergenerational trauma, including behavioral health challenges in family and friends, experienced from a young age. With the support of nurturing grandparents, parents, and other adults, he developed strength and resilience that gave him hope and a desire to help others by combating structural stigma, poverty, and racism.
With a BA in Philosophy from Columbia University, Dr. Goldfinger completed his MD and MPH (Masters in Public Health) at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and did his residency and fellowships at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He brings his expertise in intergenerational trauma, integrated care, and health technologies into a more humane, team-based, digital age. As Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Innovation at the Center for Youth Wellness, he oversaw national and statewide collaborations and research addressing childhood trauma, including parent mental illness and substance use, child abuse, domestic violence, and discrimination. Before that, as Chief Medical Officer of ZERO TO THREE, he led a National Office to scale HealthySteps integrating behavioral health and primary care for parents and young children through transformative partnerships with health systems, communities, government, and philanthropy.
Dr. Goldfinger currently serves on the California Office of the Surgeon General and Department of Health Care Services’ Trauma-Informed Primary Care Advisory Committee, has published with the CDC among other publications, and has won numerous awards and honors for his advocacy and public health research. Dr. Goldfinger lives with his accomplished, beloved wife and two adorable boys.
SHOW NOTE LINKS:
Suicide Hotline- 800-273-8255 or 988 (starting July 16, 2022)
CONNECT WITH US!
PLEASE JOIN:
*Dear Family Members, the Private Facebook Group
WAYS TO HELP THE PODCAST:
*PLEASE Leave a 5-Star Review and Subscribe!
Thank you! Your support means the world to me. Wishing you love, happiness, and good mental health always.
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