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Trustwork Series - Caregiver/Teen

Rebuilding Trust, One Conversation at a Time

Length: 3-hour dual course (10 youth lessons + 10 caregiver lessons) | Tools: Journaling prompts, conversation guides, trauma-responsive strategies, and printable resources | 
Access: Included in Family Reset™ Facilitator, Builder Plus, and Youth & Caregiver Partnership memberships

When trust breaks, families don’t need perfect words; they need a shared language for healing.

The Trustwork Series – Caregiver/Teen Edition brings together two transformative programs; Say It Anyway for youth. Steady in the Storm for caregivers, creating a connected learning experience designed to rebuild communication, stability, and safety.

Youth learn to express emotions honestly and confidently, while caregivers learn trauma-responsive strategies to guide that growth with empathy and calm. Together, these courses transform how families, mentors, and professionals connect after conflict or hardship.

Who This Is For

  • Foster youth ages 10+ and the caregivers who support them.

  • Foster parents, kinship caregivers, and adoptive parents.

  • Child welfare professionals, youth mentors, and educators.

  • Youth programs and family-centered organizations seeking trauma-informed dual training.

Why It Works

Because trust can’t be taught in theory; it has to be practiced in relationship.

The Trustwork Series blends trauma-informed care, social-emotional learning, and family systems insight into a single experience. Both youth and caregivers learn in parallel, developing shared skills that close the communication gap and replace conflict with understanding.

The result is what every family deserves: connection that lasts, even through the hard days.

What You’ll Learn

For Youth (Say It Anyway):
How to express feelings without fear, frustration, or shutdown.
How to rebuild confidence and self-advocacy through healthy communication.
How to manage big emotions using practical, real-life regulation tools.

For Caregivers (Steady in the Storm):
How to recognize trauma responses and de-escalate tension safely.
How to create emotional safety through structure and consistency.
How to guide conversations that repair, rather than repeat, conflict.

Together:
How to establish shared trust language between youth and adults.
How to strengthen bonds through empathy, respect, and honest dialogue.
How to maintain stability and communication long after the course ends.

You can’t force trust; it’s grown, one honest conversation at a time.
Start your Trustwork journey today, and rebuild connection from the inside out.

Trustwork Series: Steady in the Storm

  1. Introduction

    3 lessons
    1. General Disclaimer
    2. A Clinical and Personal Reflection
    3. Introduction to Steady in the Storm

  2. Week 1 - PART I: THE STORM ISN’T WHO THEY ARE

    4 lessons
    1. Chapter 1: What’s in Your Cup?
    2. Chapter1 Quiz: What Trauma Really Looks Like
    3. Chapter 2: Sponges and Spills
    4. Chapter 2 Quiz: Sponges and Spills

  3. Week 2 - PART I: THE STORM ISN’T WHO THEY ARE II

    4 lessons
    1. Chapter 3: You’re Allowed to Be Angry
    2. Chapter 3 Quiz: You’re Allowed to Be Angry
    3. Chapter 4: Who’s Driving the Car?
    4. Chapter 4 Quiz – Recognizing Trauma Responses

  4. Week 3 - PART II: WHAT TO DO IN THE MOMENT

    4 lessons
    1. Chapter 5: The Respect Reset
    2. Why It Feels Personal (Even When It Isn’t)
    3. Chapter 6: Don’t Let the Old Stuff Write the New Story
    4. Interrupting Generational Patterns with Awareness, Not Perfection

  5. Week 4 - PART II: WHAT TO DO IN THE MOMENT II

    4 lessons
    1. Chapter 7: How to Be Heard (Even When They Shut Down)
    2. Communicating Through Emotional Armor
    3. Chapter 8: Apologizing Doesn’t Make You Weak
    4. Why Accountability Builds Trust Faster Than Authority

  6. Week 5 - PART III: THE LONG GAME OF TRUST

    4 lessons
    1. Chapter 9: It’s Not Just Attitude, It’s Overload
    2. Understanding the Signs of Emotional Flooding and Sensory Shutdown
    3. Chapter 10: Staying Present When You Wanna Dip
    4. How to Stay Regulated During Difficult Moments

  7. Week 6 - PART III: THE LONG GAME OF TRUST II

    4 lessons
    1. Chapter 11: When They Hurt You and You Can’t Say It
    2. Making Room for Your Own Grief and Powerlessness
    3. Chapter 12: Forgiveness Isn’t Fake
    4. Letting Go Without Pretending It Didn’t Happen

  8. Week 7 - PART III: THE LONG GAME OF TRUST III

    3 lessons
    1. Chapter 13: Boundaries Aren’t Drama
    2. Chapter 14: Healing Isn’t a Solo Sport
    3. How to Set Limits Without Guilt, Chaos, or Shutdowns

  9. Week 8 - PART III: THE LONG GAME OF TRUST IV

    2 lessons
    1. Chapter 15: You’re the Author Now
    2. Loving Them Well, Even if You’re Only in One Chapter of Their Story

  10. Final Words:

    2 lessons
    1. The Story Continues, Together
    2. Appendix: Tools + Resources

Trustwork Series: Say It Anyway: A Real-World Healing Guide for Foster Youth

  1. introduction

    3 lessons
    1. General Disclaimer
    2. A Clinical and Personal Reflection
    3. Introduction to Say it Anyway

  2. Week 1 - Part I: Real Doesn’t Mean Ruined

    2 lessons
    1. Chapter 1: What’s in My Cup?
    2. Chapter 2: What They Said About Me

  3. Week 2

    2 lessons
    1. Chapter 3: When I Yell or Hide
    2. Chapter 4: What I Wish They Knew

  4. Week 3 - Part II: Truth Doesn’t Have to Hurt You

    2 lessons
    1. Chapter 5: Who Am I If Nobody Stays?
    2. Chapter 6: I Don’t Know How to Calm Down

  5. Week 4

    2 lessons
    1. Chapter 7: I Still Want Rules, Even When I Fight Them
    2. Chapter 8: I Didn’t Mean to Hurt You

  6. Week 5 - Part III: Feeling Big Is Not a Problem

    2 lessons
    1. Chapter 9: It’s Not Just Attitude, It’s Overload
    2. Chapter 10: I Want to Leave But I Also Want to Stay

  7. Week 6

    2 lessons
    1. Chapter 11: When You Hurt Me and I Couldn’t Say It
    2. Chapter 12: I Don’t Know How to Forgive That Yet

  8. Week 7 - Part IV: You’re the Author Now

    2 lessons
    1. Chapter 13: Boundaries Aren’t Walls
    2. Chapter 14: Healing Isn’t a Solo Sport

  9. Week 8

    3 lessons
    1. Chapter 15: You’re the Author Now
    2. A Note from the Author
    3. Appendix: Tools + Resources