Dr. Kalyani Gopal is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 25 years' experience specialising in working with foster parents. She regularly contributes to Foster Focus magazine offering expert advice. She is on the Lake County Child Protection and Child Fatality Team and is an international speaker on foster care and child abuse. She is President and Clinical Director of Mid-America Psychological and Counselling Services in Merrillville, Indiana and supervises five outpatient clinics in Indiana and Illinois. She is President, Clinical Psychology of Women, APA, Division 12, Section IV and lives in Merrillville, Indiana, USA.

• Quotes from Foster Children. Preface. Introduction. 1. The Motivational Stage – First Things First! Know What to Expect. 2. The Planning Stage – About Your Family. Are You Prepared? 3. The Welcoming Stage – Getting to Know Your Foster Child. 4. Displacement Trauma. 5. The Adapting Stage – Attachment and Protecting Your Foster Child. 6. The Educational Stage – Parenting Issues and Much More. 7. The Empowering Stage – Successful Evidence-Based Strategies. 8. The Letting Go/Adopting Stage. Resources and Useful Addresses. Bibliography. Index.

Dr. Gopal has been a lifeline for many children in foster care and their parents and foster parents for many years. [She] is also a well-known speaker and has blessed the National Foster Parent Association with numerous workshop presentations at our annual education conferences. In Foster Parenting Step-by-Step: How to Nurture the Traumatized Child and Overcome Conflict, Dr. Gopal… writes as if she were sitting across the table from you and explaining the incredibly many aspects of foster care and foster parenting. My recommendation is to read the book from cover to cover, taking time to mark those areas that you know you will want to refer to time and time again as you welcome additional children into your home. This new book provides insights and recommendations that will be beneficial to all who chose to provide foster care and/or kinship care.