The Heartful Parent Podcast

Parenting in public can be HARD. Rachael Fritz, founder of Parenting on Mars, joins me and we discuss parenting in public spaces. Rachael, a mom of three and a former preschool teacher, brings her wealth of knowledge to the table, sharing practical tips and heartfelt advice for handling challenging parenting moments outside the home. In This Episode: Maintaining Boundaries in Public: Rachael discu...

Today, I want to chat about something that might not be the picture-perfect family life we often imagine: divorce. We all envision a loving, committed partnership raising happy kids, but for many, that's not the reality. If you're in a relationship that's run its course or has turned negative, you might be wondering if staying for the kids is the right choice or how to move forward. I recently spo...

Hey there, Heartful Parent podcast fam! Welcome back to another enriching episode of the Heartful Parent podcast. And to our newcomers, a warm welcome! Whether you discovered us through the recent Safe Parenting Summit or stumbled upon us by chance, I'm truly grateful for your presence and excited to dive into today's conversation.   Parenthood, partnerships, and our professional endeavors—they al...

Hey there, lovely listeners! Get ready for another episode of the The Heartful Parent Podcast. Today, we're joined by Trunnis Goggins, a parent, educator, and all-around awesome human being.   After the devastation of losing his oldest daughter, Trunnis slipped into a world of confusion and darkness. However, with soul-searching, he was able to rediscover his purpose and strive to help others deal...

Have you ever been so distracted by your phone that you've missed important moments in your child's life?   Today's guest knows just what that feels like. Joey Odom joins me to talk about phone distraction and how it impacts our children's lives.    Joey missed his son's first soccer goal because he was looking at his phone, he had a realization: his phone was getting in the way of his best intent...

Hey Heartful Parents, As we wrap up April, I wanted to share a fun topic: Using Music in Parenting. Today's guest, Samantha Foote is a board-certified music therapist that explores the transformative role of music in parenting.  During our conversation we talk about: Crafting emotion-based songs using GarageBand Creating playlists for different emotion states Using Drum talks to facilitate non-ver...

Hey Heartful Parents, Today, I've got a guest on the show who's tackling a topic that's not always easy to talk about—pornography. Yep, I said it. It's a subject that often gets swept under the rug, especially when it comes to conversations with our kids or within our own relationships. Let's face it, discussing porn can be uncomfortable, even controversial. But here's the thing: when we dig into...

Hey Parents,   When was the last time you read to your kids?  You're going to want to drop everything and listen to today's episode all about fostering connections and breaking stereotypes through storytelling.  I'm sitting down with the wonderful Bunmi Emenanjo and attorney, an entrepreneur, an author and my friend. And you may remember her from last year's Safe Parenting Summit.  Bunmi is going...

Hey Heartful Parents!  Today we are sharing a past interview with Melissa Griffin. Melissa was part of our Safe Parenting Summit in 2023 and as we gear up for the second annual Safe Parenting Summit I thought it would be great for you to get a sneak peek of what you can expect when you join this year's Safe Parenting Summit. Drawing from her years in Human Resources, Melissa "HR Mom" Griffin is pa...

April's here, and you know what that means - Testicular Cancer Awareness month! So, for our latest episode of The Heartful Parent we're diving deep into a story that'll hit you right in the feels. I had the privilege of chatting with Nancy Balin, who wears two hats: she's the Executive Director of The Family Jewels Foundation and, lucky for me, a good friend. Together, we unpacked her stepson Jami...

We hear the term self-care a lot, even I talk about it in the work I do with parent coaching. How can self-care really help us be better parents? My conversation today with Siris Raquel Rivas-Verdejo gives us a glimpse into a world of how to prioritize joy and self-care, framed around her experience of growing up with two siblings with special needs. Siris is a Family-Child coach, and she does wor...

Putting kids on social media -- is it social behavior or exploitative BS? Well it depends. And I brought in two of my favorite fellow podcasters and parent coaches to talk all about it. I welcome Casey O'Roarty and Amy Lang back to The Heartful Parent Podcast today to talk about the #Kidfluencers movement and all the things that are wrong with this use of social media to exploit children.  This co...

Could you use a couple more tools in your toolbox for managing and reducing stress or shifting the energy around your parenting? My guest on this episode of The Heartful Parent Podcast is Rosalyn Acosta, an Energy Healer and Eco-Wellness Travel Planner, who is also the founder of Live, Heal, Travel.  Rosalyn and I dive into the practice of reiki, which I know we've maybe heard of, but possibly don...

Welcome to the Podcast, Jonas Keating! I'm so thrilled to have my husband, one of my very favorite people, on The Heartful Parent Podcast for this episode. He is such a good sport and truly a great podcast guest! He not only answers all my questions, we even have one from our six year old, which turned out to be the hardest question for both of us.  Jonas shares with us how parenting is different...

You've heard me say it at the start of every episode: we were never meant to do this alone. Parenting, that is. Finding the support she needed was what saved this week's guest's relationship with her daughters and got her on a much better path in parenting. Providencia Lopez is a former client that I had the pleasure of working with when she found herself newly sober and in a very tough spot with...

First of all, I'm so grateful to all of you, Listeners, for being on the podcast journey with me for one full year of episodes! I'm proud of the episodes I've been able to bring you and have so much more to offer. Today's guest is no exception. I am thrilled to have Lori Sugarman-Li, a fellow Certified Fair Play Facilitator and Family Coach, join me for a great conversation today. We dig into the...

Do you know any narcissists? If you do, I'm sure just reading or hearing that word triggers a reaction in you. Did you know there is actually healthy narcissism? Now, before you skip past this episode because of the word narcissism , please hear me when I say you will find the conversation in this episode more fascinating and applicable than you probably expect. I sure did.  Dr. Mary Ann Little is...

Did you know that feng shui is the art of creating a harmonious and healthy home? You might be a skeptic, and that is okay. But if you stop and think about it, your relationship with your space (home, office, bedroom, etc) impacts everything. Maybe it's hard to relax with a lot of clutter. Maybe you can't unwind in your bedroom because it's also your office. Maybe your kitchen table is full of kid...

Most of us wonder what we can do to raise happy, successful kids; the answers aren't always obvious or easy!  In this solo episode, we are digging into what the research shows about raising securely attached kiddos who thrive socially, emotionally, and cognitively from preschool through adulthood. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the answer starts with us: how we show up is key.  To help parents do that...

Can you relate to feeling angry, exhausted, overwhelmed? I'm betting every parent has! And maybe you've even lost it on your kids or your partner. Cue the shame spiral. We've truly all been there, but we can't let our shame get the best of us! On this episode, I have the pleasure of talking about all things overwhelmed, angry, and exhausted with Emily Hughes, a Conscious Parent Coach, Somatic Ther...

Sugar Dating?? Have you heard of this? If you have a teen, tween, young adult, or someone who is going to grow into one, you'll want to hear this! My good friends and colleagues, Amy Lang and Casey O'Roarty, and I are talking about something just a little disturbing today, and that is the concept of Sugar Dating.  We dig into what it is exactly, how it is being facilitated through the internet, wh...

Parenting is hard, and I strongly believe we are not meant to do it alone. In this episode of The Heartful Parent Podcast, Mara Berrios and Mayna McVey join me for a powerful conversation about the reality and challenges that come with parenting a child with a rare condition and/or with special needs.  Mayna's nine year old daughter is diagnosed with Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis (CRM...

New Year's resolutions are not really my thing, but I do like a reset around this time of year. So as we start 2024, I'm asking these questions (for myself and for you): What do you want for yourself, as a parent, professional, a friend, a human? What do you want for your partnership (if you're parenting with a partner)? What will make 2024 feel like a success to you?  And what are you willing to...

Did you know that emotional intelligence, over IQ, is more predictive of success in careers and relationships? There are four important elements of emotional intelligence, and my guest today, Dr. Joanne Light, is going to dig into each of them. Joanne is an Parent Empowerment coach along with being a mother and grandmother. She is also a retired college administrator and counselor with experience...

Do your kids listen?! I'm guessing you've had moments where you feel so frustrated that they just aren't listening! My guest for this episode is Tehmina Fahad, who is a fellow parent coach and mom, focuses her work on overcoming challenging behaviors to feel more calm and connected to our kids.  Tehmina and I explore the fact that no matter where we live and are parenting from, we are all trying t...