Confessions of a Parent Coach

What is your default coping style? This week on the Confessions Of A Parent Coach podcast, we're doin' it for the 'gram (the Enneagram, that is)! I'll go around the 'gram with you to talk about the three different coping styles of the nine Types: Externalizing, Repressing, and Internalizing. Understanding which is your default style is SO POWERFUL in parenting. Are you an internalizer, making ever...

WAIT! This week on the Confessions Of A Parent Coach podcast, I'm talking about this acronym that has been bounced around in corporate, communication, and coaching circles for years. It stands for: Why Am I Talking? And I recommend you run it through your mind almost every time you're about to open your mouth around your kiddo. Listen to the podcast to explore: · The many answers to this question...

It's important to have agency, ok? Have you ever said things like, "5 more minutes of screentime, OK?" or "You can stay up 15 minutes later, but then no fighting about bedtime, OK?" This is just one example of how we find ourselves putting our kids in charge and literally asking for their permission instead of the other way around! We often relinquish our agency in subtle ways, and that can really...

A superhighway...to disaster? This week on the Confessions Of A Parent Coach podcast, I'm talking about the idea of rewiring our brains. I's a big part of what's happening in coaching, but what does it really mean? Your habits and defaults are well-trodden neurological pathways, which make them superhighways that we use to zip from impetus to reaction at lightning speed. Unfortunately, those react...

Do you have a fantasy of who you should be? Most of us do - we have an idea of how we should think, react, behave, or feel if we were the best version of ourselves. But unfortunately, that person doesn't exist. They are just as fake as a character in a novel. The person you're trying to be is as real as Anne of Green Gables or Princess Buttercup. She is nonsense. But we often have a deeper, more i...

Parenthood is mostly unknowns. In this week's episode of Confessions of a Parent Coach, I'm talking about how we deal with uncertainty, worry, and fear in parenthood. Listen to hear: • My own stumbling block when it came to this concept (I was paralyzed by uncertainty), • One tool to combat our craving for certainty and future information, and • The only thing you need to know to parent well, no m...

Meet Stacey. In this week's episode of Confessions of a Parent Coach, I'm sharing an excerpt from a session I did with one of my clients, Stacey. It's very common that a few months into my work with a parent, I have a moment like the one in this recording - where things are going SO much better than before- that we celebrate and reflect. We're so lucky that Stacey was open enough to share her cele...

Are you interacting with a fantasy or with reality? In this week's episode of Confessions of A Parent Coach, I'm sharing a concept I've been exploring with my clients and in my own personal work lately. It's the idea that most of the pain we experience in life comes from more aligned with our fantasy of life, than with real life itself. I'll walk. you through this concept, and give you concrete ex...

"A part of me really wants to go, but another part says I'm crazy!" Have you ever said stuff like this? Well, according to a kind of coaching called Internal Family Systems, you are exactly correct when you talk about having different parts of yourself! In this week's episode of Confessions of a Parent Coach, I'll give you an introduction to IFS - what it is, how I use it in coaching sessions with...

Are you doing your work? What does that even mean? Growth WORK, shadow WORK, self WORK, deep WORK, soul WORK, emotional WORK, healing WORK...what the hell is THE WORK? On the podcast this week, I talk to two incredible moms, Ally and Johnna about their experience doing THE WORK on the Fall Retreat. What do these terms mean to us? What happens when we do it? Does it have to feel like work? What if...

Ever feel like you're parenting through a fog? Like you've been hibernating so long you've forgotten sunshine? Listen to this week's episode of Confessions of A Parent Coach, where I'll talk about Spring energy - it's not just about sprucing up your house, closet, or garden! Over the long Winter, it's natural for us to slip into autopilot, drift away from what makes life sparkle ✨ (friendships, m...

Is it an excuse, or is it legit? Both! Families desperately need parents to give to themselves, but so many things get in the way. Why might you miss out on what would be transformative or even life-saving for you? Lack of child care? Finances? Busy-ness? Guilt? Mistrust that others can take care of things? They're all real concerns...and they're all surmountable if we refuse to be stopped. On the...

It gets worse before it gets better. Have you ever heard this expression? It might sound cynical, but it's really true and I help clients go through this hard truth with their kids all the time. If you've ever implemented a new parenting skill with your kid and watched their behavior go straight into the toilet, this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent Coach is for you! The truth is that whe...

Does your partner seem totally crazy sometimes? This week, you get to hear my hubby Mike describe my behavior as totally insane, not once, but multiple times :) Mike (Type 2) and I recorded an episode to describe what it's like to have the Enneagram in your marriage. How do a 1 and a 2 gel, and where do we clash? How do we use the Enneagram to navigate those rocky moments and reach a new level of...

What is it like to parent a child who really GETS themselves? This week, I am sharing something incredibly special with you - my daughter! Gigi sat down with me to talk about her Enneagram Type (4) and what it's like to know her Type, know my Type (1) and experience her childhood with the Enneagram woven into the parenting she receives. People ask me all the time how the Enneagram can help with pa...

How do your relationships become what they are? Back in the '30's Karen Horney was a psychologist who saw Freud's penis envy theory as the nonsense it was (barf) and went her own way (badass). She identified 3 main ways people try to get what they need. Later, her theories were overlain on the Enneagram and we can see that each Type's stance plays a HUGE role in how people show up in their relatio...

Want to hack your brain? I've been talking a lot about the Enneagram lately, but do you have a clear idea of how to really USE it? Listen to this week's episode of Confessions of a Parenting Coach to see how each Type relates to ambition and goal-setting, and how to use that knowledge in your favor. It's a great example of using the Enneagram to hack your brain! Understanding the way you work lets...

Are you a head, heard or gut type? It's another Enneagram episode this week in the Confessions of a Parenting Coach podcast! You know, the Enneagram loves the number 3 (it's the magic number, after all) and this week I'm talking about the three triads. They explain so much about why we do what we do! Why do some people struggle to take action while others go for things without a second thought? Wh...

Have you ever heard of spiritual bypassing? It was a new term to me when I began my Enneagram training and it helped me see on a whole new level the Enneagram's ability to impact people in meaningful ways. Listen to this week's episode of Confessions of a Parenting Coach to learn: ♦ What spiritual bypassing actually is ♦ Our need for both psychology and spirituality to really, truly grow ♦ How bot...

So much more than a personality test: A personal roadmap This week's Confessions of a Parenting Coach episode continues my Enneagram series, leading into my April workshop here in Denver: The Living Enneagram - Your Personal Roadmap. Feeling lost in life is normal—whether it's lost about what direction to take on a particular decision or lost in a more existential way, we've all been there. It may...

What your kid wants you to know: Decoding your child with the Enneagram How many times do we ask ourselves unanswerable questions as parents? What does this kid need from me? What's going on inside them? What do I need to know that I'm missing? Why are they doing what they're doing? Wouldn't it be awesome if we could answer some of those questions? In this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent...

Leap before you look. Did I say that wrong? Nope! In this week's episode of Confessions of a Parenting Coach, let's explore why looking before you leap is a TERRIBLE strategy! I will walk you through what the Enneagram calls your Centers Of Intelligence (the head, heart, and gut) and help you see why the head center keeps us stuck when we over-utilize it. Getting where you need to go in life and i...

Why discipline a child whose misbehavior isn't their fault? When I get this kind of question, I know that a parent thinks of discipline as punishment, and changing that mindset can be a revelation for most parents. Most of us were raised to think of the world in terms of blame, fault, guilt, crime, punishment, etc. But great parenting transcends this kind of reductive approach. In this week's epis...

How can you tell when you've gone too far with someone? Have you ever felt yourself ramp up with excitement in a conversation with your child, only to realize that they seem to be on a different planet, not plugged into your message at all? Especially if the conversation is about a mistake they made or a lesson you want to teach, your child could be feeling emotionally flooded. In this week's epis...

Growth is painful. Is there any other way? We use the expression 'growing pains' all the time, but how much of your energy and attention goes toward avoiding or helping your kids avoid the tough times we need to grow? In this week's episode of Confessions of a Parenting Coach, I explore the Cycle Of Growth and specifically discuss resistance—the experience we all have when facing growth. Listen in...