Empowered to Connect Podcast

Ok we admit - the title is a little 'click-baity', but don't we all want the secrets to caring for our tweens and teens without losing our minds!? We brought Scott Watters from Arms of Hope in today to tell us how we can do that and let me tell you - he did not disappoint! Over the years Scott has worked with Arms of Hope but also with our great friends at the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Devel...

Sheila Wise Rowe is a brilliant author, speaker, thinker and guest on today's episode! She is the author of two incredible books: Healing Racial Trauma: The Road to Resilience and Young, Gifted and Black, a Journey of Lament and Celebration (both incredible books that you should add to your library right now). Sheila joins us to define racial trauma and speaks to how we need to understand racial t...

We hear people talk about doing 'the work' all the time. In different contexts, it holds different meanings, but generally, this phrase refers to the work needed that cannot be substituted. Today, we add to our conversation about attachment from a parenting standpoint to discuss what it means and how to begin doing 'the work' as parents. To hear our episode on Attachment with Dr. Jamie DeLuna, lis...

Our latest animated video helping explain attachment cycles is live on YouTube and it got us thinking about something. For all of us here at ETC, learning about attachment theory and the attachment styles was a game changer. We all know that when it comes to parenting, there's no miracle button that makes everything easy - there are, however, pieces of information that make a radical difference in...

Today we hear from one of our favorite people and recurring guests, Jocelyn Lee. Jocelyn is a Licensed School Social Worker and joins us today to elaborate on a statement she made at an ETC event years ago. We'd invited Jocelyn to give her perspective as part of a panel discussion on Transracial Adoption and she shared this thought: Don't make your child's race a field trip. Hear the reason Jocely...

Today we welcome on Angie Grant and Jess Aaron, two of our newest ETC Cultivate Connection Facilitators! Angie and Jess join us to talk about the absolute non-negotiable importance of finding people to have community with as parents. They share personal stories of the moment they knew they needed help, how they began finding people to walk with and even the importance of seeking out therapeutic/pr...

Dr. Karyn Purvis had a goal. A big, audacious goal. A goal so big, the staff at TCU repeatedly attempted to convince her to pare it down - and we've all benefited because she didn't. Daren Jones, the Associate Director of Training and Consultations at the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development joins us to talk about WHAT that big audacious goal was and why we should all care about it.  To lea...

We all hear stories growing up of who we're like: 'oh, you've got your grandfather's charm', 'you're tall just like your mom', etc. We tend to understand those sorts of generational traits being passed down, but for some reason, the idea of generational trauma has escaped the public consciousness until recently. We wanted to know more about generational trauma and how to mindfully begin to break t...

Our guest today may be one of the kindest humans on the face of the planet. It seemed fitting, of course, that we would have her on to talk about being kind to ourselves. Christy Edwards has spent the vast majority of her professional life as a Counselor. She joins us today to discuss the reasons it is so vitally important to our wellbeing (and to those we're in relationship with) to learn how to...

Our guests today have been caring for parents for years through their organization called "The Adoption Connection". Lisa Qualls and Melissa Corkum together represent all sides of the adoption triad and join us today to talk about what happens when our compassion runs low. Lisa, Melissa, Tona and JD talk about compassion fatigue, blocked care and share their own experiences in both.  Lisa and Meli...

We talk about the effects of trauma a lot on the ETC Podcast - in fact - it's woven into almost everything we talk about at Empowered to Connect. One question, though: what  IS trauma? How and why does it infiltrate humanity the way it does? We brought Becca McKay and Tona Ottinger on the show today to discuss that very thing and you're going to love this episode. An introduction to trauma and all...

Our guest today has lived a life that is nothing short of miraculous. Tori Hope Petersen grew up in the foster care system, a bi-racial child in a confusing and volatile world. Growing up with a mentally ill mother and living in twelve different foster homes, nothing was in her favor. And yet, even with a minuscule chance of graduating college and a great risk of being homeless, jobless, and on dr...

Today two of our favorite people on earth join us - ETC parent trainers Tom and Dawn Jordi from Johannesburg, South Africa! They join us to talk about Tom's work in schools as a trauma informed school counselor and Dawn's homeschooling of their 4 kiddos during Covid, their journey into connected parenting and how the strategies and tools they learned in ETC classes and TBRI training over the years...

When it comes to parenting (and being in any kind of human relationship) - one of the most insanely humbling and difficult practices is repairing a rupture in the relationship. Maybe you've wronged the other person - maybe you were the one wronged - either way, the process of repairing often requires more than an 'I'm sorry'. Compound this difficulty with previous experiences with trauma, adversit...

Today we talk about the importance of giving our kids voice. For all humans, knowing how to negotiate to get needs met, to express to others what we need and when is a VITAL skill for survival as a human being. That is a learned skill - one that takes time, nurture and lots of practice with a trusted adult. For those of us and those of our kids who have experienced trauma, adversity and toxic stre...

Today's connecting practice will make you think - or at least that's our goal. So often we respond or react to situations in our home without filtering the situation to figure out what's REALLY going on. Dr. Rachel Peterman, Clinical Therapist and Program Manager of Safe and Secure Tennessee, joins Becca McKay and JD to discuss the importance of slowing down and thoughtfully responding to situatio...

'Being there' matters as a parent. It's a principle that transcends parenting styles and advice - 'showing up for your kids' is on everybody's list of important things to do as a parent. What if just 'showing up' isn't enough, though? What we know as humans is that it is possible to be physically with someone without feeling like they're emotionally present. THIS is what we're talking about today...

We've got big news and we recorded a SPECIAL episode of the Empowered to Connect Podcast to tell you all about it! Tune in to hear about our holistic integrated therapeutic clinic, our partnership as an Ambassador Organization for the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development, the NEW PARENTING CURRICULUM called 'Cultivate Connection' and how you can partner with us at Empowered to Connect to he...

As former doubters, we'll admit - this was a tough principle for some of us to learn. How can your kids respect you if you play too much? We're so glad you asked! This episode reveals all the things traditional parenting DIDN'T teach you about play - how it can be used as a tool to help your kids regulate, to help build connection and attachment, how play can become a tool to help de-escalate unwa...

Our latest Connecting Practice is one that can be applied to a ton of different parenting scenarios. How do we help our kids grow? It's certainly not by just telling them 'they should act their age' or by shaming them in comparison to other kids who can do x, y, or z things at their age, we know that. There must be a method we can use as parents to help them (and us) grow and develop skills, right...

Has it ever felt to you like you just couldn't figure out what your kid needs in a moment? If this is you, today is your episode. We gathered some brilliant therapeutic minds to ask them what we need to know about meeting our child's physical, emotional and sensory processing needs! Hear from Speech Pathologist Annie Cornell, Occupational Therapist Luz Wolfe and Clinical Therapist Stela Sinanaj wh...

Today's episode is a foundational one. In the world of connected parenting, one of the primary ways we give our kids what they need is to balance the amount of nurture and structure given. Stereotypically, 'traditional' parenting tends to rely on an intense amount of structure, but can lack on nurture - while 'new age' parenting tends to rely on very high nurture, but lacks boundaries and structur...

Today we begin walking through all of the connecting practices from our new parenting curriculum called Cultivate Connection! We begin with one of the most foundational practices in this form of parenting: Being Curious. SO often we jump immediately to assigning blame or emotionally reacting to situations or behaviors we encounter as parents...when sometimes what's needed is to put on the detectiv...

If you're choosing to parent differently - you're going to hear about it. Friends and family have questions, onlookers give you free advice - it can be overwhelming to say the least. It's helpful, therefore, to pause every now and then and ask yourself: Why do I do this?  After over 3 years of research, writing and editing, the ETC Team has completed a re-write of our 9 week Parenting Course and w...

Did you know that between 62%-92% of people with eating disorders have experienced trauma in their past? The research is alarming and for those of us with kids who may have experienced some kind of food insecurity or have what we might see as 'out of the ordinary' food habits, it can be paralyzing. That's why we wanted to have our friend Whitney Trotter on the show. Whitney is a registered nurse,...