Smart Family Podcast

When we think about travelling we imagine going to exotic places and great weather! But while that may be true (hopefully) for part of the trip, often there are challenging times as well - both enroute and at your destination. This is especially true when you are travelling with kids, and even moreso when they are anxious, inflexible or neurodiverse. With travel plans gaining steam again, you migh...

For some families camp is a sure sign of summer and a childhood staple. For other families - maybe not so much. What are camps all about anyways? Is my kid ready for camp? How do camps develope their leaders? These are legitimate questions and we throw them like a sticky smore at Rich Birch - camp director extraordinaire and leadership expert. You will discover how camps are much more than just pl...

There were two times during their earlier years of married life when our guests, Alisa and Tony DiLorenzo, were contemplating divorce. They were feeling emotionally disconnected and their sex life was flatlined. But they were both engaged just enough to try something they never had done before. It was a decision they made about their sex life that sparked a turnaround. That was many years ago, and...

Ever been perplexed at a boy's behaviour? If so, you'll appreciate this conversation with counselling expert David Thomas which we had exactly 2 years ago. He has been counselling kids and families for years, with a focus on boys. David has a lot to share about how boys develop and communicate, what makes them tick and how to understand their hearts. This episode really resonated with listeners an...

Episode 34 with child psychologist Mona Delahooke was posted a year ago and remains our top episode on the show. No wonder - Mona's straightforward explanation of why children behave the way they do really resonated with so many listeners. Based on concepts from her book Beyond Behaviors, Mona gives us practical advice on how to address challenging behaviours. She explains why what we see is just...

Episode 28 with Dr. Russell Barkley on ADHD was so popular with our listeners, we wanted to feature it for our new listeners. Know someone who's dealing with ADHD in their family? Do your friend a huge favour and share this episode! Our guest deals with these questions: What is ADHD exactly? Aren't all kids normally a little hyperactive? Can it be due to too much sugar in the diet? Should my teena...

We loved this conversation with Dr. Natasha Beck (well-known as @drorganicmommy or drorganicmommy.com ) because she covers a broad range of super-practical topics, especially for parents of young children. If you've been a parent of a toddler for a minute, you know how challenging it can be to instil healthy eating habits. In this episode, our guest challenges many of the underlying assumptions we...

This bonus episode follows our conversation last week with Dr Anita Federici. We take a more in-depth look at the medical issues associated with eating disorders with Andrea Logan, a Nurse Practitioner on the front lines of the pandemic-related eating disorder surge. We discuss the recent trends observed by Andrea and her team, and how the team works together with the patient and their family to a...

One of the most drastic impacts of COVID 19 on mental health has been the surge of eating disorders. For many people, eating disorders are hard to understand - eating just seems like such a basic and usually pleasurable human need. How does someone not see the impacts of disordered eating on their physical health? How does an eating disorder start? Do teenagers choose not to eat? How can we possib...

How would you respond if your child said they wanted to be an artist when they grow up? It seems like we tend to think of art as a hobby and might even steer our kids away from being artists. World renowned artist Cbabi Bayoc has a different message: encourage creativity in your kids and it will help them grow in all areas of their lives. Furthermore, if you want your children to make a difference...

In this episode, we have the privilege of hearing from a divorce attorney who has a fresh take on financial planning prior to taking your vows. Atlanta attorney Aaron Thomas maintains that couples benefit from a meaningful process of financial disclosure and negotiations prior to marrying, because compared with prior decades, the financial implications of marrying these days tend to be more comple...

So pleased to welcome leadership expert Kadi Cole to the podcast. Do you have a child in whom you see leadership potential? Are girls being held back from leadership by thoughts within their own head? If you have a budding leader at home, you will love our conversation with leadership expert Kadi Cole. We examine why risk taking and decision making is so important for kids to experience and learn....

Wow! Episode 50! And what a privilege to add another expert voice to the podcast. Today we talk with mental health therapist and children's book author Christina Furnival. She speaks from her own experience and research on the topic of boundaries. We shouldn't expect our kids to be friends with everyone - there are limits. In fact setting limits shows others what we value and who we are. How do we...

Ned Johnson has decades of experience as an expert tutor working with teens and parents on standardized test performance. In their book, The Self-Driven Child, he and Dr. William Stixrud share the postures and practices that help kids optimize their performance, while nurturing their relationships with their parents. Hear more about how considering yourself to be a consultant as opposed to a manag...

We are so pleased to have marriage and family therapist Ron Deal back with us to discuss the blended family. If you are in a position of preparing to blend families with your new partner's family, or adding a step-parent to the mix, what are some pitfalls to avoid and issues to discuss? We ask all the tough questions: What do we call each other? Should we plan a wedding (and how?) What if there's...

When a spouse complains about their partner's level of desire for sex, there are common misunderstandings. Did you know there are different but equally valid types of sexual desire? We loved the opportunity to sit down again with Dr. Michael Sytsma (second-time guest; see also Episode 3) for a science-based and super-practical conversation largely focused on original research he conducted along wi...

"The brain is an organ sculpted by experience." In this episode we sit down with Dr Ed Tronick, a pioneer in the field of child psychology and Dr Claudia Gold, a pediatrician expert and advocate for the study of parent-infant mental health. We've delved into the importance of early experiences before but in this episode we look specifically at one of the most powerful paradigms in child psychology...

Whether it's helping your kids with college tuition or having the financial margin to help your kids start off in life, getting your family finances in order is key. In today's culture we are constantly bombarded with messages to spend, spend, spend and accumulating debt, rather than making sustainable decisions for long-term success. Financial expert, author, speaker and podcaster Anthony ONeal s...

"Every teenager is a walking bundle of questions." If you have a teenager - guaranteed! - your teen has questions that may leak out, or remain bottled up. Kara Powell and Brad Griffin of the Youth Fuller Institute did research prompted by their passion to help parents and others who work with young people to better address our teens' tough questions. While your teen's questions may be broad and va...

"Most things that seem complicated are actually just hard." This is a central idea that grounds Dr. Anita Phillips' work as a trauma therapist and life coach. Marriage is a primary relationship where the impacts of trauma - often trauma that occurred prior to the relationship - show up. And when it does, labelling behaviours and laying blame may come easily for the other partner., However, untangl...

In this episode Smart Family Podcast co-host Dr Rob Meeder tackles common questions about behaviour and mental health. With over 20 years experience as a pediatrician, and now with a practice devoted solely to families and children dealing with behaviour and mental health issues, Dr Rob is well-equiped to talk about topics like behaviour, stress, trauma and resilience. Plus find out more about com...

When you tell your child, "Don't let me catch you doing that again!", will they stop? Or will they just try harder the next time to make sure they don't get caught! That's one of the issues our parenting expert Alfie Kohn uncovers as problematic in the conditional parenting approach. He advocates for an approach to parenting that values children for who they are and not simply how they behave. Koh...

The paradigm of understanding behaviour is shifting. Where we used to just see positive and negative reinforcement as our only options to address misbehaviour, we are now urged to consider how stressors lead to stress behaviour. Join us in this extremely informative episode as we talk with Dr Stuart Shanker about reframing the behaviour we are seeing in our children (and everyone else too). He wil...

If you want to know more about how to support your infant, child or teen's development in the context of the underlying neuroscience, this interview with an expert Infant, Child and Teen Psychiatrist will shed welcome light. Dr. Clinton combines her decades of clinical psychiatry practice with her passion to serve as a knowledge translator of the advances in neuroscience to offer practical and imp...

Has stress over finances taken a toll on your relationship? Today's guest, Stephanie Sims, has drawn from lessons learned over many years of personal and client experience to establish her life's calling: helping others manage their finances and make progress toward debt-free living. In this episode, Stephanie shares invaluable insights and perspectives that will help you see budgeting, for exampl...