Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Welcome to the Griffith Centers Podcast. Once again, we're so glad that you are listening in. You want to find out more about what Griffith Centers is all about. Tanya Saucy is here.
[00:00:16] Speaker A: Hi, everyone.
[00:00:17] Speaker B: I'm Cory Lopez.
You and I just get together and we talk a little bit about all of these amazing things that Griffith Centers does.
We are headed down the path of learning more about what GC is able to do and also learning more about you and the people that help you and the people that you asked to help and the teammates and things like that. It's so fun. We're going to talk about something that's really difficult here. I'm already setting myself up here. I don't want to cry during this broadcast.
I see the things that you do and some of the stories you've told me off the air, and we don't have to get completely into all of those stories, but one of the things that I think the Griffith Centers is able to do very well and they always need more help on is foster care.
And when it comes to kids and families trying to keep them together, and sometimes that doesn't always work in the real world, and you have to go through a lot of paperwork through that.
There's a lot of trauma associated with it. There doesn't seem to be a manual or a book or a way to help the kids, help the parents deal with something like that. And you guys have to see that every day.
Tanya, there's.
You're trying to figure out a way to make that challenge just a little bit easier.
Is that the right. The best way to describe it when we talk about a relinquishment and you maybe tell people what a relinquishment is when it comes to kids and moms and dads.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Sure. Thank you. You know, as we. As I mentioned earlier in our other podcast, our goal is always reunification of families. No doubt about it, 100%.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: You guys say it all the time to us, all the time. To anybody that comes in, you say it all the time. That we want to keep the families together, which I think is amazing.
Yes, that's a thought. But you guys verbalize it all the time. And so when I talk to people about Griffith Centers and they ask about foster care or they just ask about.
That's why we enjoy working so much with you guys, I always make sure that I point that out. I go, the main goal is to keep families together. And that's just an amazing issue.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: Well, thank you.
And, you know, and. And as you mentioned earlier, you know, unfortunately, that doesn't always happen.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: Yeah, life happens, doesn't it?
[00:02:47] Speaker A: Right, it does. And, you know, sometimes your parents are faced with the most difficult decision they ever have to make in their life. I would imagine. And. And being told that when I. When I do relinquishment cases.
Relinquishment.
You know, some. You know, sometimes parents are unable, for whatever reason, not to be able to take care of their children. And sometimes they choose. Relinquishment can either be voluntary or involuntary.
So at our agency, we work with parents that have to make that difficult decision where they're going to voluntary relinquish their rights, which means they give up their parental rights.
And I've worked on both sides of those. I help support children when relinquishment happens, but I also support parents and caregivers that are also having to work through that difficult process.
You know, I think our parents are sometimes lost and missed in terms of the anguish that sometimes they go through when they have to make that decision. And often it's even an act of love where parents realize that I want my child to have a good life, and I still am not in a place or I need more help or more support to get there.
And it comes, in a lot of instances, it does come from a place of love.
And I think sometimes that's missed. And also for children to understand.
[00:04:34] Speaker B: Oh, sure, you can imagine.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:37] Speaker B: It's hard for me to imagine, but.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: Right. Yeah.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: But to sit there and have your parent say, I can't take care of you anymore.
I have to let you go and I love you.
[00:04:49] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Wow.
So when it.
On the legal side of things, there's a lot of paperwork you have to go through.
[00:04:57] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: For all of this to happen.
We seem to have that down pretty well. I mean, there's challenges to it, but that's the black and white that comes with it.
What happens with the kids leading up to it, what happens to the parents leading up to it. That's something that.
And you talk about, as we've talked about, you're writing a book that's going to come out really soon, too. But that's some of the things you're already talking to. Well, certainly your clinicians that are here at Griffith Centers, but also trying to kind of think outside the box here a little bit, too.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: Right, right. Which is really the trauma informed part. It's setting a standard of care is understanding how do we support parents, how do we. What does life look like after relinquishment?
Because as we Know, sometimes kids, they want to know where they came from, who they are. Right. And so those are conversations I have with my parents. You know, what do you want life to look like? And if you could possibly imagine, and let's say whether it's 10 years or six years and your child wants to understand, you know, it's like going back to that.
Last visit where we're talking to our kids and what do they want their children to remember about themselves, about their life and why they made this difficult decision.
You know, I just, even though it's probably the scariest and most difficult thing a parent can do, I always encourage them to take that difficult step because it's good for them and it's also good for their children.
And then on top of it is being able to support their grief through the process, making sure that they have the resources, you know, to help them continue to strive towards getting better, you know, getting, you know, building, building their life and healthy life when their kids come looking for them and just making sure that they have the support and the resources to be able to navigate that difficult conversation.
But also life after this. And what does that look like?
So there's a huge trauma informed part to this that's so important and it's.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Not being addressed necessarily.
And when I say and, and, and this isn't even an opinion, I just, in my mind I'm thinking there's no right or wrong way to do this. Right. There's no instruction book that comes with this.
That's the challenge that you're trying to make a little bit better, make it a little bit easier, right?
[00:07:41] Speaker A: A hundred percent. So there is the book that's coming out that really is more. Shares the story and experiences that children go through, parents go through.
It's a story.
The next part, soon to come. I've already started doing some training, have. I'm in a wonderful partnership with Caring for Denver, who really supported this mission.
And the trauma informed model that we approach, that we put together really talks about the needs of the children going through this because, you know, it's such a difficult process. You often have children that are already dealing with complex trauma and then all of a sudden they have to navigate, you know, whether it's voluntary or involuntary termination.
What does that look like, their grief process, potentially through that sometimes they're seeing their parents up until the end and sometimes there's unknowns of what that's going to look like afterwards.
Yeah, it's incredible. I'm a, I'm a child therapist, play therapist. I Do my cpp. I know you asked me once about my acronyms. Right.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: I know you have a bunch of them.
[00:08:50] Speaker A: Child Parent psychotherapy, which is I.
[00:08:52] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:08:53] Speaker A: I work with both didactically parents and children. And again, you know, supporting the parents. Trauma, the child's trauma, and helping them navigate and work through that. Right.
And so I, you know, helping children have the skills and tools and process their grief through that is a really critical piece of termination.
And then on top of it, often our kinship providers that are going to adopt or adopt, you know, it's like, oh, you know, how do I help my child navigate through their grief process after relinquishment happens?
And so the training model that we put together really helps professionals in the field really understand from a therapeutic aspect, a trauma informed aspect.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:44] Speaker A: How to support our children, our parents and our permanent caregivers through the process.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
That's going to be a big book. Right. That's got to be.
And you're probably going to be able to add to it as you go, right?
[00:09:57] Speaker A: Oh, I'm learning all the time. I'm learning from my parents, I'm learning from my children, I'm learning from professionals. Whenever I go in to do a training with Department of Human Services or caseworkers or my guardian at Litems, I'm always learning from them as well. And so, and, and, you know, so, yeah, I, I expect that's, that's the reason why we haven't launched the training manual yet is because I still think that I'm in a phase of still learning more.
[00:10:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:26] Speaker A: And, you know, hopefully we'll have it, you know, I'm hoping maybe next year we'll have a. Just a solid manual ready to go.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: 2026.
[00:10:34] Speaker A: I know. Exciting.
[00:10:35] Speaker B: I think that would be absolutely amazing.
It'll be a living document though, won't it?
[00:10:42] Speaker A: Yes, it will be.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: I mean, it really.
No kids the same.
No family situations the same. No parents the same.
The wonderful providers that end up having to take this being into their lives and help them work through the trauma too. I'm sure they've got plenty of stories as well. It's such a complex issue.
Kudos to you for tackling it.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Well, thank you. And my team, it comes from.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:09] Speaker A: A lot of heart and I hope the book, the book really, I hope, touches people's hearts because they're real stories about, from the children's perspective and parents perspective. It just, I think it builds awareness and hopefully empathy towards this process.
[00:11:30] Speaker B: That's interesting. You say that for folks that are Listening. I know that you're listening because you want to know more about Griffith Center. Do you want to know more about. And the title of the, of this particular podcast is about relinquishment and the challenges that are there. But it's hard for me to think that people wouldn't have some kind of empathy for it. But at the same time, there is a real, oh, things don't work out.
You know, parents, they can't take care of their kids. They'll just go into the system and, you know, and that's it. That's all they see.
Watch too much news these days. And that's kind of where the story ends.
And there seem to be some tragic ones that are out there. You and I talked off Mike. There's a lot of really great stories that you can celebrate now that have happy endings. Maybe not the happy endings that are traditional, but happy endings that are out there. And I think with this, with this manual to be able to get to those happy endings, you're lessening the challenge a little bit. It maybe makes it a little bit easier, which is really all you're going to ask for sometimes in these situations. Does that sound abs.
[00:12:48] Speaker A: Absolutely. Absolutely. And in fact, as I was sharing, you know, off the podcast with you, I've been doing this works in, in my, you know, privately working with children. And all I do is take, you know, I take, I get the calls and there's, you know, a child that's often moved from placement to placement.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: And work with those children. And I've done that and parents, you know, for the past and permanent caregivers.
And I was sharing with you earlier, my oldest, my oldest kid, ona, is now 23 with two children who was unable to live at home.
There was time period in her life, maybe in and out, but I'm so proud of her. I mean, she's raising two beautiful children and she's living a good life. And yeah. I could just go on about that's my oldest one. And then I just have just other great stories. Even children who've reconnected with their parents.
So. Yeah. And children that have been able to thrive and success stories with parents and looking forward to sharing more of those with, with the public.
[00:13:55] Speaker B: That's going to be.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: Yeah. With our community.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: So amazing to talk about. I want to go back to your oldest kiddo that you talked about and you and I talked off the podcast, but I, I was going to ask you. And you answered the question.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: Has two children and is a wonderful mom.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: I nice Job therapist. Oh, you know, nice job, community around her. Nice job, you know, team that has come in to help. I mean, I think that is really something because that trauma can continue on and on and on, right?
[00:14:31] Speaker A: Absolutely. And I just, I want to give, I want to give the client the most credit because it takes resilience. Right. I mean, incredible resilience. These children amaze me. People say to me, how can you, how can you do this work? Tanya.
Just makes my day.
You know, sometimes on the administrative stuff with Griffith. Right. You know, as we talked about earlier, it's, you know, administrative stuff is tough, but there is nothing that makes my day more than to see a little kiddo running down the hallway who's, hey, you know, Miss Sassy. Miss Sassy. And to see that smile and to know what they've gone through and to know that their hearts can heal and build the kind of resilience that they do. And I think if I could share that gift with therapists and they could feel that and know what an impact and difference they make. Oh my gosh, that would be my, my greatest gift is to share that.
[00:15:37] Speaker B: Oh, that's great.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: With other professionals in my field.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: You talk about these, you talk about these stories. You talk with the kids running down the hallways. It makes me think the first time that I, that I met you a couple years ago, we got to meet foster family, these great kiddos, and you always seem to come up and talk about the stories. I'm glad you're putting them down in the book. I'm glad you're sharing some of those because it really get puts up, it puts a face to.
The trauma, the bad things and the good things, things that are out there in the world that kids have to deal with and parents have to deal with on a daily basis, that if you and I weren't in the, in this business, we were just working in whatever people that are out there don't see and maybe intentionally don't see.
It puts face and voice to these challenges. That and the success stories that are out there too, right?
[00:16:47] Speaker A: Oh, 100%.
Could I share one of my funniest stories?
[00:16:50] Speaker B: I would love that.
[00:16:51] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. I have to share. Okay. So I had a little six year old boy with red hair. Cutest thing you could imagine. With freckles.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:17:00] Speaker A: And I'm sitting in my office.
[00:17:02] Speaker B: Isn't that required? If you have red hair, you're going to have freckles, though.
[00:17:06] Speaker A: Yeah. So funny. Right? Isn't that true?
So it was kind of scary though. But It's. It's still a story that has meant a lot to me in my career.
Police found him. He was walking on Thornton Parkway along the side.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: Oh, geez.
[00:17:22] Speaker A: And he had his black helmet on. He had a black bike helmet with a red, you know, red spike top.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Oh, sure.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: And the police pull over. He's got his. He's got a stingray pillow and his, you know, superhero backpack. And he says, you know, police are like, son, where are you going? Oh, I'm going to go see my therapist.
They were. And they said, where is your therapist? Oh, I know where she. I know where her office is. It's right around the corner over there. And they were like, well, this is dangerous. You know, you shouldn't be walking on the road. Where do you live? He goes, oh, I'm gonna go see my therapist.
So the police get him into the car, and they bring him to my office. I'm sitting there, pops his head through, and he looks at me and he says, I told the police I just needed to talk to my therapist.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: So.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: And then as we were talking to him, he goes. He laughed. And he says, I don't need to leave here. There are snacks, there's a bathroom, and there's toys.
Anyway, although I was very honored, I did talk to him about safe choices and that if he needed to talk to his therapist, what was the appropriate and safe way to do that?
[00:18:34] Speaker B: I.
[00:18:35] Speaker A: But just. Just wanted to share, like, you know, just the beautiful story. He was in foster care, and he.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: Just decided it was time to talk to his.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: Needed to have a session. Yes. I just wanted to say how I just. This is why I love the kids that I work with.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Just imagine my. My son is 6 years old, so I'm just thinking of.
I can see this little man walking down the side of Thornton Parkway, shocks of red hair coming out from underneath the mohawk of the red and the black bicycle helmet.
I just need to see my therapist. That's the best.
[00:19:16] Speaker A: Yeah. Unfortunately, this little guy had a real hard time.
[00:19:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:20] Speaker A: Yeah. His. Yeah, his siblings. I worked with all three, and the two kids were successfully adopted into a beautiful home. And I still stay in touch. They call me. His little issues might pop up from time to time, but it's. You know, it is. It's. Yeah. He ended up circling back at our day treatment facility down in Colorado Springs years later.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:19:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: So.
Better.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Good.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Yes. And I have to say, he had a. I don't know, guardian at Litem or attorney that absolutely love this young man. And I don't know.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: How could you not?
[00:19:59] Speaker A: I just love this young man. Do you know he let him call him every day.
[00:20:03] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:20:04] Speaker A: To do a check in. So that just tells you when you talk about a community and heart to support children. It takes a village.
[00:20:12] Speaker B: Yes.
Yeah, I don't think we've said that yet in the podcast, but it takes a village. I think that's the best description that there is out there for this.
Give me. And they're all different.
Griffith Centers gets a call and says, we got a problem.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: Kids can't stay with the family.
What happens?
It's not just Griffith Centers. I understand there's a lot of partners involved in this that are trying to do the best that they can.
Boy, there's a lot of work that goes into it to try to keep the child safe, the family safe. You've got to find. You've got to find people that will take the child in if there has to be a separation for a certain amount of time.
There's no typical. But can you walk me through kind of how that process works for people to understand that? Boy, there's a lot of hands involved in this. Right?
[00:21:10] Speaker A: There is. And I think, you know, taking a step back to also understand from a child's perspective that that that child has been taken away from everything that they know. Sometimes we say it's just the parent, but it's really not just the parent. It's everything. It's their school that they go to, the friends, their grandmother, their grandfather, their dogs may be at home, their animals.
And so when you really think about that, that's huge, huge for children. And so, you know, when I'm supervising or training therapists, that's one of the things that is really important to me, that my therapists that are working with these clients, that they really understand what that's like for a child to lose everything on top of whatever complex trauma they also experienced.
[00:22:02] Speaker B: That's their whole world.
[00:22:03] Speaker A: That's right. That is right.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: Because they're not worried about politics, money, job, career, other kids. And I know that sounds silly. We may be talking about a six year old potentially, or whatever, but that's their whole world.
[00:22:21] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:22:22] Speaker B: I.
I just can't imagine losing something in my whole world.
Boy, that's the first thing. You should walk in as a therapist. Right. And go, this child is devastated.
[00:22:39] Speaker A: Right. And really, truly understand that. Right. And be able to meet that child where they're at, because it's confusing too. Then all of a sudden we've got, you know, we can. We can step back. But I also don't want to forget our parents going back into relinquishment counseling. I want to also think about, you know, I. In my.
In my, what, almost two decades, you know, of doing this work and working with parents, too.
You know, I often find that my parents all have a story to tell, and often, you know, whether it's their own generational trauma, whether, you know, they're struggling with addiction.
But one of the things that my parents tell me is they love their kids and they're also devastated and they're in a. Also just. It's a. It's a hard world. It's a hard world.
And, you know, I think it's equally as important, too, to understand and have compassion for where they're at and what they're going through, because that compassion and support and help hopefully can also help them engage more in their treatment to get better. You know, but it's. It's. Overall, it's a very tragic thing.
But going back to our ecosystem of programs that we have to support that, you know, our, you know, our foster parents are people that we, you know, we do home studies, we interview. We're trying to find families that are willing to create that safe environment and loving environment for children to navigate this system while their parents, hopefully, are working towards.
Working towards reunification with their children. Right.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: Which is always the goal.
[00:24:30] Speaker A: Right.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: Always in the beginning.
[00:24:31] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: Always the goal. I think it's important that people know that.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:24:38] Speaker B: I.
I wasn't surprised by it, but as many times as it's talked about when. When you and I talk about foster care or I talk with people here at Griffith Centers about foster care, it's always brought up like it's. It's top of mind. That's the initial goal. Sometimes things don't work out.
Your team thinks about that going in.
[00:25:00] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:25:01] Speaker B: I just want to point that out to people. I don't think they realize it. It always shocked me because I was like, well, of course it would be. Why wouldn't it be Right?
[00:25:08] Speaker A: We always want our children to find their way back home.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:11] Speaker A: And parents to find their way.
[00:25:12] Speaker B: The best.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: Right. Always.
It's always the best.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: Okay, okay, Keep going. I wanted to. I always.
And I'm going to do it. Probably every time we mention it on the podcast as we go along, you say reunification.
That's the goal.
[00:25:27] Speaker A: Right.
[00:25:28] Speaker B: That's the. That's the end game. That's the win. Right. That's the ultimate win.
[00:25:33] Speaker A: Right. And then at Griffith, we offer, like, again, you know, an ecosystem of support for parents.
I, I actually enjoyed in my younger days, which helped me build like sort of this full lens of what everybody's going through, you know, the whole full, you know, systems of what parents have to navigate. But one of, one of the jobs that I really enjoyed was not only doing the family working on the tra, the trauma and the CPP work, but even just doing supervised and therapeutic visits, which is when children get to, parents get to start, to get to start to see each other and they do visitations.
[00:26:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: And working with my parents and helping guide them, you know, through everything. They have to also navigate through and, and watching those interactions between parents and children and, and seeing that love, you know, between them. And so that's why I said when we get to the end and sometimes parents that aren't able to. Successful or they make that choice to say, you know, I, I want to give my child this better life, you can imagine how devastating it is.
You know, it's, it's a, it's a really difficult thing to, to be able to watch that whole process and go through that whole process.
[00:26:50] Speaker B: I think it means a lot that you're thinking about them and say the therapists don't. But I mean, in this, in this model that you're envisioning and trying to help other therapists, families, kids, parents navigate through, you're thinking about the parents too. Because so often you think about, I mean, we think about the kids, rightly so. Oh my God, this is devastating for the kids.
Imagine the parents too. So it's very well rounded, I guess, is what I'm trying to say about what you're thinking in the model. You've taken a lot of time to think about this and work this through.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. And then of course, we can't, we can't forget about our foster parents and our permanent caregivers because no, you know, they, you know, it's. How do they help in a trauma informed way support children that are dealing with their emotions, you know, whether they're acting out or however they're managing this, their emotions through this process. Right. And making sure that they have the support, the skills and the tools and healthy narratives. Right. When because children ask questions, they want to know what's going on, they don't like your answer, they're going to come to me. Right, right. And they're going to be looking for the answer that they feel most comfortable with.
[00:28:05] Speaker B: Right.
[00:28:06] Speaker A: And so that's why it's important is that the professional team, the permanent caregiver, the parents, we all are saying the same thing so that kids can feel supported and not confused as they're also navigating this process.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: What a wonderful group of care providers that you have.
I mean, imagine you have, mom just said goodbye for, I don't know, it could be forever. Don't know.
I'm only eight years old. I don't know. But mom just said goodbye and this is the termination meeting and this is it.
And now I'm going to live with this other family and I imagine taking someone in like that and the.
You want to help, you want to do all of these things.
You're kind of starting to give a roadmap here of this is how we can help them work through this trauma.
[00:29:08] Speaker A: You know, and going back, I try not to use the word goodbye. You know, I usually try to tell my children. I think that's great.
[00:29:14] Speaker B: A lot of people should.
[00:29:15] Speaker A: Yeah, right, right. I mean, and it's. But it's a great. Right. It's a great. When you talk about trauma, informed care, how do you navigate that? Because. Right. We don't. We can't predict the future. We're not fortune tellers. But what I do tell my children is that, you know, once your heart, you know, and your mind is old enough and strong enough, you'll be able to make some of those more independent decisions on what you want to do. When did you become an adult and you become older? Right. You'll be able to decide what you, what you want to do so that they have, so that they know that there's still some control and some choice making as they get older. Just right now we know that we need to be in a safe environment, you know, to be able to thrive and grow until you can make those decisions on your own.
[00:30:00] Speaker B: You're really trying to empower them, aren't you?
[00:30:02] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:30:04] Speaker B: And those little boogers are always going to be asking questions and they want some answers.
[00:30:09] Speaker A: You better believe it.
[00:30:09] Speaker B: Give them some answers.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:30:13] Speaker B: You can empower them with that knowledge.
That's amazing.
[00:30:17] Speaker A: And also support professionals and parents on also those healthy words and narratives and healthy words to be able to tell children.
And, you know, that's a very important piece too.
[00:30:34] Speaker B: You and I talked a little bit and I don't know if we want to get too far into it.
And I kind of said it in the beginning, though.
Well, we got the paperwork down.
Right. We got the black and white down. How to do. I mean, there may be difficulties, but. Sign here, sign here, notarize here, do this.
Why hadn't anybody thought of this before?
The gray areas, I mean, isn't that.
I'm sure that people have thought of it.
Did you think it was going to be this hard to do, though, to try to put something like this together, to put this model together? And I know you're still working on it, but I just.
To me, I know you guys talk. I know therapists talk together and there's no right way or wrong way, but you really tried to give a good path to help out the people that you're caring about.
I just wonder. I mean, it's 20, 25, for God's sakes. Therapist Centers has been around for almost 100 years, you know, and you know, there have been these bad stories that turn into good stories and bad stories that maybe don't turn out so well, but all of you know, I'm sure other people have thought about it.
Is it harder than you thought it was going to be? Because I'm just thinking, God, trying to put down some way to navigate all of this and do this.
[00:31:55] Speaker A: Corey, I can answer that.
[00:31:57] Speaker B: I think that's the longest question.
[00:32:00] Speaker A: No, it's a good question. And my heart in this is truly, is to not only support the children's and families, but also whatever I have learned, I want to be able to share my knowledge to new licensed professional counselors, new licensed social workers, LMFTs, you know, professionals, caseworkers that are coming into the field.
I just want to be able to share my knowledge and just to make an impact and hope it makes a difference. That is really. And when you're trying, when it comes from the heart, you take experience and you take heart.
That's. It's easy.
That part is.
[00:32:50] Speaker B: That's awesome.
That's awesome.
That's amazing. Because you're tackling a subject here that from the outside looking in for me, I think there's so much heartbreak.
[00:33:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:02] Speaker B: There is relinquishment, my goodness.
But as you've said to me, there are success stories out there.
[00:33:15] Speaker A: Oh, there is lots of them. There is.
There really is. And that's. I think that's right. Any therapist that's in this line of field and, and any. I think any therapist is, you know, I shouldn't say just in, in this particular field. Right. Just in the work that we do, there's always hope on the outcomes. Right. It's the, it's the wonderful outcomes that drives us to do the work that we do.
[00:33:38] Speaker B: That's perfect.
And maybe you can help them get there a little bit easier with this model that you're putting together that in the beginning, make it a little bit easier, Set them up, set them up on a path to success. When I say them, I mean everybody, kids, parents, providers that are taking over in the interim, your clinicians, you, in some cases, because you're very hands on. Maybe it makes the journey a little easier.
[00:34:12] Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you, Corey. That's the goal.
[00:34:14] Speaker B: That's amazing.
[00:34:15] Speaker A: That's the goal. And also encouraging more, even though it's difficult work, is encouraging therapists that want to do this work too. So that's what I'm hoping for.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: There are people out there that have a big heart like you. I know there are.
And it takes a strong, I don't know, a belief in. Like you said, there's good that's going to come out of this and to see the positives, I think that's really something. Boy, as a therapist, you better have it, because otherwise you're gonna.
You're gonna go home and you're gonna drink and you're gonna pass out, or you're just gonna go home and just pull the covers over your head and just not want to get out.
So you certainly have to have that positive attitude, don't you?
[00:35:01] Speaker A: Absolutely. And hopefully, one of these days, as we move forward into a different podcast, I would love for maybe to talk to one of my kids that would be willing to do this or one of my parents that would be willing to share their perspective. Because I think even my parents that have relinquished the tough really had a tough journey through that.
I think, you know, just talking to them, I know some of them would love for everyone to hear what it's like from their perspective and what, what they go through and, and not be and. And have a voice along with my.
[00:35:34] Speaker B: Children and how they come out the other side.
[00:35:37] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:35:38] Speaker B: That. That would be amazing.
[00:35:40] Speaker A: Okay, I would love to do that.
[00:35:41] Speaker B: It would be amazing. We will. We will. We will do that. I know we'll be talking about the programs here at Griffith Centers and talking more with the people that operate some.
[00:35:52] Speaker A: Of that stuff, too, as I call the true heroes of my company.
[00:35:56] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:35:58] Speaker A: I just have an amazing team. I just, I love. I want to share, you know, their passion as well.
[00:36:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, thank you, everyone, for tuning in and listening as we continue on this journey. There's going to be more down the road.
If you want to know more about what Griffith Center's done does, you can go to griffithcenters.org Phone numbers are there as well.
If you're interested in being a stakeholder or a donor or you want to just know more about Griffith Centers. That's a really great place to go because can't do it without the help of some wonderful people that are out there that support Griffith Centers already as well.
[00:36:35] Speaker A: Oh, gosh, I couldn't have done this without caring for Denver. So truly grateful for.
You know, they're just that they loved what we're doing. So thank you for caring for Denver.
[00:36:46] Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. Well, good to see you. I can't wait to talk to you again. And I made it through, and I didn't cry, but, boy, I got that sinking feeling. But there's help out there.
You're putting together a wonderful roadmap. I really love what you're doing, and you've got a great team around you. It's so fun to talk to you all the time.
[00:37:04] Speaker A: Thank you. It was a pleasure, as always. Thank you so much, Corey.
[00:37:08] Speaker B: All right, we say goodbye for now. We'll talk to you again real soon here on the Griffith Center. Thank you.
