Reid Connect-ED

S8 E7: Healing Trauma Through Play w/Steve Gross, MSW, Founder, The Life is Good Playmaker Project In this episode, Alexis and Gerald speak with Steve Gross, MSW, founder of The Life is Good Playmaker Project to discuss the value of play as it pertains to creating a context for healing amongst children who have endured trauma and stressors in their life. Steve shares personal stories of his format...

S8 E6: Using Music to Improve Movement for Parkinson's Disease w/Dr. Terry Ellis Gerald and Alexis are joined by Dr. Terry Ellis of Boston University to discuss her cutting edge research on how music can be used to help individuals with Parkinon’s Disease to improve their walking and quality of life. In this episode, Dr. Ellis shares foundational knowledge about what Parkinson’s Disease is, how it...

S8 E5: Making the Most of College Courses In the age of AI where information and knowledge can be found in a split second, this episode dives into the purpose of a college course and shares wisdom, ideas, and strategies from experience in the classroom both as a student and as a professor. In this discussion, Gerald and Alexis break down a college course. More specifically, they discuss the way in...

S8 E4: A Deeper Connection with Our Dogs and Ourselves Grace Chon is an acclaimed photographer and author, former art director in the advertising industry, podcast host, and is on a journey to help people recognize and appreciate that natural world through consciousness, creativity, and connection. In this episode, Alexis and Jerry come together with Grace to discuss the way in which we perceive a...

In this episode Alexis & Jerry meet with Adam Lewis, M.A. - head of school at Catholic Memorial High School in Boston, MA - to discuss the current landscape of supporting adolescent boys. We have an in depth and thoughtful dialogue about the pressures that adolescent boys feel these days. We consider ways of engaging with boys to address their vulnerabilities from a place of respect, genuine c...

S8 E2: Character Development w/Dr. Scott Seider and Dr. Shelby Clark In this episode, Gerald and Alexis spoke with Dr. Scott Seider and Dr. Shelby Clark on the topic of developing character, with a context of how to develop character within schools. We dive into the key insights and lessons from their research on the topic, found in their new book: Character Compass, Second Edition: Four Direction...

In this episode, we are joined by two professors from Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education who specialize in the research and practice of sport and performance psychology - Dr. Edson Filho and Dr. Carly Block. We discuss a number of topics relative the mental side of performance; starting with the field of sport & performance psychology and it’s practitioners, the idea of Flow, pe...

S7 E10: Athlete mental health In this episode, Alexis interviews Gerald about the topic of athlete mental health. Gerald shares his wisdom and perspective from his expertise as a licensed psychologist along with his training and vast experience working with athletes. Given the increased awareness that athletes, too, experience mental health challenges just like the general population, this intervi...

S7 E9: Reading and the Brain w/ Dr. Maryanne Wolf In this episode, Alexis and Gerald were honored to be joined by Dr. Maryanne Wolf, one of the leading experts on the science of reading. Dr. Wolf shares a tremendous amount of knowledge and wisdom from her extensive career and experiences, as she continues to advocate for the needs of all students as it pertains to their development of and apprecia...

S7 E8: Preparing to Launch into the Workforce In this episode, Gerald and Alexis discuss how young adults can make the most of their years after high school, whether in college or not, to prepare for their future in the workforce… to be ready to launch! Life changes in so many ways once you leave what may feel like living in a bubble during childhood where there are fewer interactions and experien...

In this episode, Gerald and Alexis explore the experience of social anxiety for the second time on this podcast. In this discussion, we try to normalize social anxiety as it relates to the internal human drive for connection. We provide context and nuance as to how and when social anxiety can become triggered. Gerald describes how he addresses social anxiety for his patients in psychotherapy pulli...

S7 E6: Disabilities & Accessibility w/Dr. Luis Pérez and Mia Laudato In this episode, Alexis and Gerald have an in depth discussion about the topic of disabilities and accessibility with two experts in the field of education and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) - Dr. Luis Perez and Mia Laudato. We get into many topics. We start by discussing the way in which accessibility is such a prominen...

S7 E5: The Negative Impact of Hazing In this episode, we are hoping to shine a light on the topic of hazing with an expert on the topic, University of Maine researcher and professor, Dr. Elizabeth Allan. In this very nuanced discussion, we aim to bring the experience of hazing to the surface. We will discuss the nature of hazing, the historical context of hazing, psychological factors that contrib...

S7 E4: Youth and Social Media Use In this episode, Jerry and Alexis speak with Dr. Alison Yeung about how youth engage with social media. This episode broaches topics of mental health, child development, education, parenting, and psychology. Dr. Yeung is a family physician from Kitchener, Ontario who has spent the past decade becoming acutely aware of how youth are struggling in new and unpreceden...

S7 E3: Autism and Executive Functions w/Dr. Susan Faja In this episode, Gerald and Alexis are joined by Dr. Susan Faja - clinical psychologist from Boston Children’s Hospital - to discuss executive functions among individuals on the Autism spectrum. In this valuable discussion, you will learn how executive function challenges present in ASD, the individual differences among the ASD population, how...

S7 E1: Parenting anxious youth w/Dr. Meredith Elkins and Dr. Julia Martin Burch In this episode, Gerald and Alexis sit down to chat with child psychologists who have expertise in parenting anxiety youth - Dr. Meredith Elkins and Dr. Julia Martin Burch. Anxiety has been a term used more often than ever in the past few decades, with mental health awareness making large strides. However, at the same...

Many aspects in life can feel intense or overwhelming. In a world where so much can seem unpredictable and uncontrollable, we can anticipate that feeling distressed is inevitable. As we kick off season 7, episode 1 starts off with a discussion about one aspect of life we can learn to improve and strengthen - self-regulation . The conversation starts by reflecting upon themes and common challenges...

S6 E9: Athlete-Centered Skating w/Garrett Lucash We had the honor of sitting down with competitive figure skating coach, Garrett Lucash, to talk about his athlete-centered approach to coaching figure skaters. Garrett is a former competitive figure skater himself, with countless accolades as one of the best skaters in the world during his prime (see his bio). However, Garrett’s meaningful journey e...

In this episode, we are joined by Tom Hanicak - artist, educator, art therapist, and beyond - to discuss what it means to allow artistic expression to flow through us all. Tom shares his personal journey of not understanding his own creative energies as a child and ultimately finding his way into an art therapy program, in which he was able to harness and connect his passions for creative expressi...

S6 E7: The Psychology of Athletic Coaching w/Dr. John McCarthy What goes into coaching in sports? Is it more than x’s and o’s? Is it more than just yelling orders at players to do what they are told? What is the psychology that is involved within coach-athlete relationships? What are the educational principles of teaching and learning that are part of coaching? What are the systematic and cultural...

S6 E6: Embracing the Journey w/ Meditation Teacher Fez Aswat In the turbulent moments of life when deep questions or difficult experiences can shape our reality, meditation can serve as a vehicle to ground us to explore and feel presence, return to our breath, and is also an opportunity to grapple with the internal conflicts or curiosities that arise. For Alexis, she has been privileged to work wi...

S6 E5: Bringing Creative Ideas to Life w/Music Producer Mike Midura What does it take to pursue a career in music production? In this interview, we get a behind the scenes understanding of what it's like for a music producer to bring creative ideas to life in a studio. We are joined by the incredibly talented Mike Midura of @CyberSoundRecordingStudios When creative people bring Mike their ideas an...

S6 E4: Being Enough - Exploring Perfectionism w/Dr. Ellen Hendriksen When will it ever be enough? When will I be enough? These are the questions people with perfectionistic tendencies ruminate over, oftentimes without definitive answers. In this incredibly informative and insightful interview, we expand upon our original episode on perfectionism (S2E3) with a top expert, Dr. Ellen Hendriksen, who...

S6 E3: Fostering Engagement in Learning w/UDL expert Allison Posey. In a world of checks and boxes, especially in work and learning, our goal is to have listeners think about what is possible to transform their own lives. The way we engage in all we do is often a choice, but the transformation and level of engagement can be increased when we have appropriate access to the possibilities. In this ep...

It's not every day that someone dedicates their life to playing harmonica… but when they do, they can do something extraordinary. Shane Sager has proven himself to be a unique sound and masterful musician on the harmonica. To boil down Shane's life to just being a harmonica player would be an understatement, so we took the opportunity to traverse so many parts of his interests, experiences, and wi...