Compassionate Heart Parenting

A therapist trained in Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) shares the parenting moment she's kept private for years — and the attachment-based shift that changed how she responds to her kids' hardest behaviors. Michelle breaks down why difficult behavior is a signal of distress, not defiance, using Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), attachment science, and brain development...

Your grade-schooler shuts down after school. Your preteen slams their door and won't talk. It's one of the hardest moments in parenting — and one of the most misunderstood. In this episode, Michelle sits down with Joss Goulden — a Level 2 Aware Parenting Instructor and mother of two now-adult children, ages 22 and 20 — for a conversation that reframes difficult behavior entirely. Joss ex...

When Rebecca Sheikh lost her mother, something in her shifted beyond grief. She found herself understanding, in a deeply embodied way, just how enormous separation actually feels — and how desensitized we, as adults, have become to how big that experience is for our children. In this episode, Michelle sits down with Rebecca Sheikh — a certified Level 2 Aware Parenting Instructor and regional coord...

Just when you finally understand your child's current stage — they move into the next one, and you have to learn everything all over again. In this episode Michelle sits down with Rachel Thomas, a therapist specializing in Emotionally Focused Family Therapy — an attachment-based approach that helps caregivers show up as accessible, responsive, and engaged so children can develop secure attach...

Have you ever felt like you had to choose between understanding your child and actually holding the limit? Between empathy and authority? Between connection and correction? Allison Zangari Arnett — Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and certified Emotionally Focused Family, Couple, and Individual Therapist with over a decade of experience — is here to tell yo...

Sibling conflict can push even the most patient parent to their limit. Michelle breaks down what's really happening beneath the bickering and fighting, and offers grounded, science-backed strategies to help you stay calm, set loving limits, and guide your kids toward connection instead of chaos. Join me each week for a tail from the trenches of parenting burnout and how I (and you) can use mi...

When your child is struggling — really struggling, in a way that scares you — the hardest part is often not what is happening with your child. It is the helplessness. The fear that no matter how much you love them you cannot reach them. And what Emotionally Focused Therapy calls "attachment panic" — the state a parent enters when their child is suffering and emotionally unreachable. In t...

When the weight of parenting starts to feel like too much, it's easy to lose sight of the calm, connected parent you want to be. In this episode, Michelle explores what happens when stress takes over, how it shows up in our bodies and our reactions, and shares practical ways to find your footing again before overwhelm turns into yelling. Join me each week for a tail from the trenches of paren...

In this episode Michelle sits down with Katharina Sandizell — Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, ICEEFT Certified EFT Therapist and Supervisor across Couples, Individuals, and Families, and Certified AEDP therapist — for one of the most clinically rich and personally honest conversations on the podcast. They explore what is really happening inside parents when parenting gets hard, what the re...

What if the thing standing between you and the parent you want to be is not a technique — but the unhealed places in your closest relationship? Dennis and Kim Eames are certified Emotionally Focused Couple, Family, and Individual Therapists and Supervisors at Infinity Family Therapy — and they bring something to this conversation that no clinical training alone could provide: they have lived it. T...

Do you love your child with everything you have — and still lie awake wondering if you're the reason they're struggling? That guilt is one of the heaviest things a parent can carry. And in this episode, Stephanie Chimienti is going to help you put some of it down. Stephanie is a Registered Psychotherapist trained in Emotionally Focused Family Therapy, play therapy, and parts work — a rar...

You believe in peaceful parenting.  You’ve done the reading. You know that connection comes before correction, that empathy matters, that your child’s behavior is a signal—not a problem. And then the moment comes…  and none of it is accessible to you. If that gap between knowing and doing feels like the story of your parenting life, this episode is going to land somewhere important. Michelle sits...

When your child is at their most dysregulated — melting down, shutting down, pushing you away — the moment they need you most is also the moment it's hardest to be present. Why does that happen? And what does it actually take to become the safe place your child is reaching for? In this episode Michelle sits down with two of the most experienced Emotionally Focused Family Therapy clinicians wo...

Gaming battles can quickly turn into fear, yelling, and power struggles—but underneath it all is often a parent trying deeply to protect their child. In this replay episode, Michelle explores how fear impacts our nervous system, why gaming feels so compelling for kids, and how peaceful parenting helps us respond with calm, connected boundaries instead of panic and control. Listen the full replay e...

If you’ve ever worried that a hard season in your family may have impacted your relationship with your child… this episode will give you real hope. Today, we’re talking about something most parenting conversations avoid: what actually happens to the parent-child relationship during major life transitions like divorce. I’m joined by therapist, speaker, and founder of the Center for Growth and Conne...

Join Michelle, fellow parent, Mom of 3, and recovering yeller, in uncovering what we, as parents, need to parent peacefully, where we get stuck & why. Parent guilt is one of the most universal experiences in parenting — and one of the most misunderstood. In this episode, Michelle makes a distinction that could change everything: guilt about a specific behavior — I yelled this morning and I wis...

Does your child’s yelling, crying, or intense meltdowns leave you feeling overwhelmed and unsure? In this episode, we sit down with Helena Mooney, a certified Hand in Hand and Aware Parenting coach, to flip the script on "bad behavior". We dive deep into the science of emotional release and why "pretexts"—like a meltdown over a pink plate—are actually healthy opportunities for...

"I’ll give you something to cry about." Most of us grew up with messages telling us that our emotions were problems to be solved or inconveniences to be hidden. Even as a seasoned therapist, I fell into the trap of trying to "muscle through" my toughest parenting moments—until it led to total burnout. In today’s episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on a personal story of losin...

"If I stop criticizing myself, I’ll just stop trying." If you’ve ever felt like self-compassion is just "letting yourself off the hook" or lowering the bar for your parenting, this episode is for you. Michelle (EFT Therapist) challenges the dangerous myth that self-criticism is a motivator. Drawing on 15 years of clinical work and the latest research, she reveals why shame actu...

Do you ever feel an immediate wave of shame the moment you feel angry at your kids? In this episode, Michelle (Emotionally Focused Therapist) pulls apart the dangerous myth that "good parents" don't feel rage, resentment, or despair. Discover why your most painful emotions are actually vital messages from your nervous system—not evidence of failure. Michelle shares her personal jour...

Do you ever find yourself in that agonizing loop: stress builds, you lose your cool and yell, and then a wave of soul-crushing shame hits you? You promise yourself you’ll never do it again, only to find yourself back in the same spot tomorrow. In this episode, Michelle (Emotionally Focused Therapist) pulls back the curtain on the cycle that millions of parents live in but can’t quite articulate. W...

Join Michelle, fellow parent, Mom of 3, and recovering yeller, in uncovering what we, as parents, need to parent peacefully, where we get stuck & why. Sibling fighting is normal—but how we respond as parents makes all the difference. In this video, I share my journey from reactive anger and frustration to a more grounded, realistic approach that brought peace and clarity into our home. Learn s...

Join Michelle, fellow parent, Mom of 3, and recovering yeller, in uncovering what we, as parents, need to parent peacefully, where we get stuck & why. What if the parts of yourself you’ve struggled with the most are also your greatest strengths? In this episode, Michelle shares her daughter’s dyslexia diagnosis and how it reframed her understanding of ADHD, depression, and so-called “weaknesse...

Join Michelle, fellow parent, Mom of 3, and recovering yeller, in uncovering what we, as parents, need to parent peacefully, where we get stuck & why. Have you ever felt locked in a cage of your own making—afraid to fully be yourself? In this episode, Michelle shares a vulnerable story about shrinking to avoid rejection and how fear of not being accepted can quietly shape our parenting and rel...

Join Michelle, fellow parent, Mom of 3, and recovering yeller, in uncovering what we, as parents, need to parent peacefully, where we get stuck & why. Is isolation quietly keeping you stuck in unhappiness? In this episode, Michelle shares a personal story about loneliness in motherhood and how connection, mindfulness, and self-compassion can help you find your way back to calm. You are not mea...