Confessions of a Parent Coach

Is it possible to ALWAYS communicate well with your child? In this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent Coach, I will show you how looking at communication as a spectrum allows us to: ♦ Communicate healthily even when we're upset and dysregulated. ♦ Become more aware of ourselves and our needs, even in hard conversations. ♦ Increase our level of responsiveness to our children, becoming better...

On this week's episode of the podcast, I talk to my client, Mark, about his experience of fatherhood, receiving coaching, and being a member of my Dads' Group. When Mark started working with me, he was struggling to help his daughter through epic (and I do mean epic) tantrums that could last for hours!!! Today, he is able to not only handle his daughter's tantrums better but has managed to practic...

What is different about fatherhood vs motherhood? What makes dadding different? A few weeks ago I posted this on Facebook and got some depressing responses: "Moms carry the mental load. Dads just do the thing that is now." "Fathers get a lot of credit for exceeding relatively low expectations." "There are a lot more moms out there worrying about falling short than fathers." "Momming is a never end...

Parenting from an understanding of yourself and your child. Have you heard of the Enneagram? I was first introduced to this incredible tool about 13 years ago, and it has completely transformed my own personal work and my parenting. When most people first hear of it, they think of it as a personality test, but it is so much more than that. In this week's episode, I will walk you through the 9 Enne...

My clients say it better than I can. A few weeks ago, a mom in my coaching group, Allie, logged onto our weekly call and wanted to share some wins before she asked her coaching question. The way she described her work, the results she created with her children, and how she had managed to make it all happen was so perfect, so inspiring, and so comprehensive I knew I wanted to share it with you any...

Half-baked is the best we can hope for. Have you ever looked at your child in their messiness, their ineptitude, their lack of executive functioning, their selfishness and impulsivity, in other words, in their childishness, and wondered - How on earth is this child ever going to manage in the real world? I hear variations of this question all the time, and this week, I answer this question, share...

It's not about you! It's another one of my tough love lessons this week on the Confessions Of A Parent Coach podcast. Listen in as I share a huge blunder when I was definitely making some things about me and getting in the way of my kid, big time. As parents, we sacrifice for and think of our kids so much. It might seem impossible that we could make anything about ourselves, but the truth is that...

What if happiness is your most powerful parenting skill? On this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent Coach, I'm sharing stories from 2 of my clients who created big change with their kids, simply by raising their own self concept. I'll teach you how the way you see and feel about yourself impacts every aspect of your family's ability to function. Can you imagine feeling so solid in yourself...

I'm supposed to be compassionate, but what if I don't feel sorry for my kid?! This happens all the time! We might buy into the idea that loving consequences delivered with neutrality is the way to go. But that doesn't mean we actually FEEL loving or neutral! On this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent Coach, I'll teach you how to hack into your empathy, even when your kid is on your last ner...

Remember Potty Training? Maybe it's a distant memory, or maybe it's still coming up for you - but in this episode of Confessions of a Parent Coach, I'm going to have you cast your mind to that time because there are great parenting lessons in there that apply to ANY aged kid and to ANY misbehavior. Listen in to learn what those lessons are and how to use them to transform whatever chronic misbehav...

Do You Worry About Your Child's Grades? On this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent Coach, I'll tell you a secret: I put very little stock in kids' grades! Listen in to learn why and see what I focus on instead. School is a stage on which ALL facets of a child's development and growth play out, and looking at the whole picture is so important. Instead of grades, let's address what's beneath...

It's not fair!!! How many times (a day!) do you hear this from your child? On this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent Coach, I will tell you exactly how to respond to this complaint. (Spoiler - do NOT say either of these things: "Life's not fair," or "Fair doesn't mean equal.") Parenting is so much easier when you have a response to chronic issues already in your toolkit. Are you ready for...

If you can master these 2 skills, you are winning at parenting! On this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent Coach, I will tell you the two skills YOU ALREADY HAVE that are pure magic with kids. You have to listen to hear what they are, aren't I sneaky? ;) How fabulous would it be to know you're already carrying around some killer skills in your parenting toolkit and be able to actually USE t...

Are consequences really the best strategy? Aren't they just a way to control and punish? Listen in to learn: Why one of the most fundamental elements in healthy relationships (boundaries) DEPENDS on consequences. Why consequences are NOT a manipulation tool or a power play. How consequences can teach values, cooperation, or internal motivation when they are used healthily. If you are equating cons...