Calm and Connected Podcast

This is the second episode in the ‘Coping Skills for Adults’ series, today I’m focusing on relaxation strategies. It’s so helpful to have a variety of coping strategies because each one will work better for different times. This episode is all about tapping into yourself, working out what works specifically for you, ignoring what you’re told should work on social media or by other people. The beau...

Award-winning author, Maureen Healy is my guest on this week’s episode to talk all about emotions. When you think that our brains aren’t fully developed until our mid-twenties, it puts into perspective how difficult it is to deal with ever-changing emotions at the age of, say, 8 years old. My guest, Maureen, talks about her book ‘The Happiness Workbook for Kids’, and how it can help you as a paren...

It’s been a while since I recorded a solo episode so here goes! During my mini break I was thinking; what can I do to support educators, counselors, families and parents with my podcast? And from that I felt inspired to do a mini series on coping skills for adults! I thought it’s a good time of year to start this series with a new school year approaching. It’s such a stressful and overwhelming tim...

On today’s show I speak to Speech Language Pathologist Heidi Miller about all things speech related. SLP’s help children with speech i.e. the way they articulate sounds, they help with language, so the way they put words together which also encompasses social skills so what a person says, how they say it, when they say it and picking up on others peoples cue’s which for some children can be a real...

Take a long, slow, deep breath. In… and out. Doesn’t that feel a lot better? Today’s episode is all about breathing and how to regulate your nervous system. A lot of people say it and it’s just so true, the breath is so powerful and a good way to help navigate difficult situations and emotions. My guest is an expert in this field, Jennifer Cohen Harper is a mindfulness and yoga educator and she te...

I’m thrilled to welcome Wendy Snyder, a Positive Parenting educator, family life coach & advocate to my podcast this week as she has such a brilliant story of when life gets hard, how you can flip it around to a positive and loving life. Wendy had so much trouble with her daughter being so strong willed after quitting her job to become a stay-at-home mom. She was convinced she had ADHD or some...

I’m excited to be speaking to world renowned parent expert Sue Atkins on this episode of the Calm & Connected podcast. We discuss the pro’s and con’s of having an outspoken child, they may make your life difficult but don’t you want a child who can stand up for themselves? Children are naturally so curious so it’s our job as their parents to help them learn and explore the world, not dull thei...

I’m so excited to welcome Dr Lynne Kenney on to the Calm & Connected Podcast this week. We chat about all things executive functioning and how sessions differ with children in comparison to teenagers. We kept the conversation on the lighter treatment side rather than all the science-lingo heavy side. I hope you enjoy it!!  The topics we cover in this episode are; What actually is executiv...

In this episode, I invited Dr. Dawn Huebner, child psychologist and parent coach back on the show to talk about her mini book series called Mini Books about Mighty Fears. Alongside that we learn about what phobias really are, how to combat them plus… How parents tend to react to their child's fear Why comforting and reassuring can be so damaging The brain’s alarm system The best first step to take...

In this episode I discuss resting and resetting as we all head into summer. Recently I took a business class and from that I have picked up a habit of asking myself two questions every single day; What do I get to enjoy today? And an evening question which is - If I could relive this day, what would I do differently?  I noticed I would get to the end of the day, and the tasks I wished I had c...

In this week’s episode I talk to child and adolescent psychotherapist, Katie Hurley about her brand new book ‘The Stress-Buster Workbook for Kids’ which I have absolutely loved reading and learning from. Stress and anxiety isn’t something just adults experience, children do too, so the earlier we can educate them on useful coping skills and techniques, the better! In this episode we discuss the fo...

In this episode, I discuss some ways you can practice problem solving using creative prompts. As we all know, social skills are key to interacting well with others - skills such as listening, working together, being kind, watching your own personal space versus others personal space and taking turns. They all need to be learned in childhood to have a successful and fulfilling adult life. I share h...

In this week’s episode I talk to educator, parent and founder of FeelLinks; Marcelle Waldman. FeelLinks is a hands-on resource for kids that has plush emotion dolls and a journal. We had such a great conversation about how we can support social and emotional learning at home, through listening to what our kids are saying. The topics we cover are: Benefits of social and emotional learning How worki...

A lot of times, anxiety comes from feeling out of control so in today's episode I want to discuss the way I teach kids to understand what they do and don’t have control over in their lives. This is such a great skill to learn for any age to hone in the ability to keep anxiety at bay. I first learned about this strategy when I was in therapy as a teenager. It was such an eye opener for me to recogn...

Please note: On this podcast episode, we mention the topic of suicidal ideation, and there are a couple of swears in this episode. I wanted you to be aware of this in case this is hard for you to listen to, or there are younger ears listening. Enjoy the interview! Music is so amazing! There’s a good chance you’ve experienced music changing your mood from being grumpy to feeling full of life. Liste...

This week’s episode is all about recess and movement. In my opinion, we don’t value the power of movement enough; it’s so vital to help kids focus, work on social skills, be more ready to learn, and manage big emotions. In this episode of the podcast, I talk about two pieces of research that focus on the power of recess: The LiiNK project where children get 4 periods of recess per day. LiiNK stude...

Have you ever spotted an Instagram post of smiling parents who are having the most perfect life with their child and then felt shame and guilt that you aren’t nearly as perfect as them? Well you’re definitely not alone on that one! Today’s episode is all about us… the parents. I discussed with my guest, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Parent Coach; Nicole Schwarz about what happens arou...

In this episode I talk to JoAnn Crohn, former elementary school teacher and podcast host of No Guilt Mom. She is the author of Me and My Friendships, to help kids learn more about themselves and build friendships with other kids. We cover a lot of topics in the episode, including: What even is ‘too’ emotional? The social differences between middle and elementary school Finding ‘your’ people Findin...

Have you ever thought about your body when feeling a strong emotion? Where do you feel it? Is it in your chest or tingling down the back of your legs? Some people can reach adulthood before even realizing this, even though we feel emotions throughout our lives. This episode of the podcast is about just that - where do we feel emotions and why is it important? All feelings are okay, but it's good t...

On today’s podcast, I get a chance to speak with Natasha Daniels, the founder of AT Parenting Community about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Natasha’s expertise is anxiety and OCD, and we discuss what OCD can look like, when you should seek out more support, and different strategies that you should use when dealing with OCD. About The Guest - Natasha Daniels, Child Therapist Natasha Daniels is a c...

Does your child gravitate towards open-ended toys? These are toys which can be used in multiple ways dependent on your child’s imagination - like LEGO® bricks for example. This nurtures their creativity and developing skills. Today I will share five amazing open ended toys. I did cover this subject last year on my podcast but since it’s holiday time, I wanted to share a few more with you. These ca...

Anxiety is not a bad emotion, it is one that we need to keep ourselves safe in the world. But sometimes anxiety can become overwhelming to the point that it affects the daily life of the adult or child - this is the type of worry we need to work on. What better way to learn about this than with the fantastic parent coach and psychologist Dr. Dawn Huebner who teaches us how to help kids deal with w...

Have you ever thought back to how you were taught to recognize different emotions? It’s such an important social skill to not only recognize the feelings within yourself but for the people around you too. This episode is about just that - helping your children to recognize and check-in with their feelings.  I’ve learned a lot about this topic from the help of Dr. Dan Siegel and Dr. Tina Payne...

How are your child's social skills right now? As our children have transitioned back into school from remote learning, they're interacting in person again, and I'm seeing and hearing about rusty social skills. They’ve been home for a long time and haven’t had many chances of interacting with a lot of people - likewise for us adults ! In regards to school, children are facing added difficulties suc...

In this episode I speak to my guest, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Jon Cunha about mental health in the sporting world. Due to the Olympics, we’ve seen several high profile athletes such as Simone Biles, Kevin Love and Michael Phelps speak out about their mental health issues and how they’re dealing with them. We also discussed how this is impacting the children of today, how they’re looking u...