BONDED

Dr. Patty and Lizzie sit down with two faculty leaders from Sunflower Creative Arts in Delray Beach, Florida — a nature-based, play-centered early childhood school with over 30 years of supporting young children and families.

They explore how gentle, relationship-based separation supports secure attachment, why play is essential for healthy development, and how early childhood education can become a space not only for children’s growth — but for parental healing and transformation as well. This conversation is a refreshing reframe for anyone navigating preschool transitions, questioning conventional education models, or longing for a more human, nature-connected approach to childhood.

• Why play is foundational for social-emotional development and lifelong learning
• A gentle, attachment-aware approach to early separation and preschool transitions
• Why honoring children’s emotions builds security
• The role of teachers as secondary attachment figures in early childhood
• How parenting itself can become a healing journey

Connect Further

→ Sunflower Creative Arts: https://sunflowercreativearts.org

→ Sacred Treehouse programs: https://sacredtreehouse.org

Dr. Patty and Lizzie explore one of the most powerful, and often misunderstood, tools for healing early attachment wounds: self-compassion.

Many people resist self-compassion, dismissing it as self-pity or "too soft." But the research is clear: self-compassion is transformative, especially for those healing from childhood trauma, insecure attachment, or unmet developmental needs. Dr. Patty shares her own journey from skepticism to becoming a trained Mindful Self-Compassion teacher, and why she now considers it essential work for anyone struggling with relationships, burnout, or that persistent sense of "I don't matter" "I'm not enough".

They also discuss why "slower is faster" when healing trauma, and how self-compassion literally grows secure attachment from the inside out.

If you've ever struggled with self-criticism, dating anxiety, feeling unworthy, or the exhaustion of always giving to others—this episode is for you.

In This Episode We Explore:

• Why self-compassion is so hard for people with attachment wounds (and why it's exactly what they need)
• Why avoidant attachment styles resist self-compassion (and how it can still help them)
• How self-compassion transforms dating: navigating rejection with kindness instead of catastrophizing
• How healing early trauma requires going slow: "slower is faster"

About Mindful Self-Compassion

Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an evidence-based program developed by Kristin Neff, PhD, and Christopher Germer, PhD. Dr. Patty is a trained MSC teacher and offers both the 5-week short course and the full 8-week program, as well as retreats. The practices are deeply trauma-informed, gentle, and focused on building inner safety and security.

Upcoming Opportunities

→ Mindful Self-Compassion Course: https://sacred-treehouse.mykajabi.com/msc

→ Weekend MSC Retreat in development

→ Sacred Treehouse: https://sacredtreehouse.org

Lizzie sits down with therapist Erin Vinski to explore the reality of postpartum mental health—not just for mothers, but for partners and the entire family system.

Erin, who specializes in perinatal mental health and works with individuals, couples, families, and children, brings both professional expertise and lived experience to this conversation.

This episode tackles the topics our culture doesn't talk about enough: the neurochemical changes that last for three years postpartum, the financial stress of raising children in today's world, the isolation of American motherhood without a village, and why partners often feel silenced and invisible during this transition. Erin offers tangible guidance for how to support a struggling mom, what red flags to watch for, and how to prepare for the changes that come with bringing a life into this world.

If you're navigating postpartum, supporting someone who is, or preparing for this life-altering transition—this candid conversation is essential listening.

In This Episode We Explore:

1. Why postpartum is the biggest shift in sense of self you'll ever experience
2. "Mom brain" explained
3. Why new mothers are wired to be in a heightened state of alert
4. How to prepare for postpartum before baby arrives: creating a mental health plan with your partner
5. The gifts new moms actually need
6. Normalizing it's okay not to love every stage of motherhood

"It's the biggest shift in sense of self that you'll ever have in your life. You'll never be able to find that version of yourself again once you've had a kid. It's a beautiful thing, but it can be very unsettling."

Connect with Us

1. Interested in therapy with Erin and Lizzie www.BeenenTherapyGroup.com
2. Mindful Self-Compassion Class begins Feb 23 - details at www.sacred-treehouse.mykajabi.com/msc
3. Follow along on Instagram @SacredTreehouse

Planning for Postpartum?

Consider creating a mental health plan with your partner before baby arrives. Write down your typical signs of struggle, find a therapist you trust, and give that information to someone who loves you. You don't have to wait until you're in crisis to get support.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with an expecting parent, a struggling mom, an overwhelmed partner, or anyone who needs to hear that postpartum is hard, support is essential, and asking for help is a sign of strength—not failure. Leave a review to help us reach more families navigating this tender, transformative season.

You don't have to do this alone. Community matters. Support matters. Your mental health matters.

In this episode of The Bonded Podcast, Dr. Patty sits down with Stephanie Loesel, owner and CEO of Cakewalk Virtual Services, to explore what it really looks like to listen to your intuition while navigating motherhood, career shifts, and entrepreneurship.

Stephanie shares her journey from hospitality, to office manager in a therapy practice, to becoming a stay-at-home mom who built a thriving virtual assistant business — without abandoning her identity, ambition, or attachment to her daughter. This conversation is an honest look at choosing a “middle path,” honoring nervous system needs, and letting growth unfold through attunement rather than burnout.

This episode is especially meaningful for mothers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and anyone questioning how to build a life that actually fits.

1. The visceral emotional and nervous system response to returning to work after childbirth
2. Why listening to intuition matters more than what “looks right on paper”
3. How Stephanie built a successful virtual assistant business while staying home with her child
4. The realities (and myths) of balancing motherhood and entrepreneurship
5. Imperfect parenting, self-compassion, and letting go of perfectionism
6. Trusting growth that comes through discomfort, not certainty
7. “Future you” as a powerful guide for setting boundaries

→ Cakewalk Virtual Services: www.cakewalkvirtual.com

→ Instagram: @cakewalkvirtual

→ Upcoming Mindful Self-Compassion begins Feb 23rd https://sacred-treehouse.mykajabi.com/msc

If this episode resonated with you, consider sharing it with a mother, therapist, or entrepreneur who is navigating big decisions and tender transitions. Leaving a review helps The Bonded Podcast continue creating conversations that honor intuition, attachment, and the courage it takes to build a life that truly aligns.

If you've ever felt rushed through a pediatrician's office, dismissed when you voiced concern, or wished your doctor actually knew your child—this episode is an inspiration for how healthcare can be redesigned.

Dr. Patty and Lizzie sit down with Dr. Celina Moore, a pediatrician who has completely reimagined what pediatric care can look like when you prioritize relationships, time, and truly seeing families where they are.

Dr. Moore's journey from traditional pediatric practice to creating a personalized, boutique model—complete with home visits for newborns and toddlers—reveals what healthcare could be when we center connection over conveyor-belt appointments.

This conversation spans from attachment and co-regulation in infancy to the devastating impact of screens on childhood development, the link between early trauma and physical illness, and why American mothers are so painfully isolated. Dr. Moore also shares about her nonprofit work in Ghana, where she's witnessed what true village support looks like—and how much we're missing that here.

In This Episode We Explore:

1. Why Dr. Moore left traditional practice to create a model where families actually get the time they need
2. The power of pediatric home visits
3. How pediatricians are often the first to catch postpartum depression and anxiety
4. The isolation of American motherhood vs. the village model
5. How screens are stealing childhood
6. Why "colic" might actually be an early sign of nervous system dysregulation or trauma
7. The privilege (and necessity) of access to nature, play, and multi-generational support

Links & Resources

→ More Healthy Kids: www.moorehealthykids.com

→ Follow Dr. Moore on Instagram: @MooreHealthyKids

→ Learn about her nonprofit work in Ghana: www.anfghana.org

→ Sacred Treehouse programs for parents: https://sacredtreehouse.org

→ Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (screening tool linked here)

Interested in volunteering in Ghana?

Medical and non-medical volunteers welcome to join Dr. Moore twice each year. Reach out to learn more about joining this meaningful work, email [email protected]

If this episode moved you, please share it with a parent who needs to hear that their intuition matters, that isolation isn't inevitable, and that pediatric care can (and should) be so much more than a five-minute conveyor belt. Leave a review to help us reach more families seeking deeper, more connected support for their children.

Connection is everything—in the exam room, at home, and across the world.

In this heartfelt and deeply practical episode, Lizzie welcomes her dear friend Ev Leyva—a mother of four, former elementary school teacher, and homeschooling parent who has carved out an unconventional path rooted in intuition, attunement, and honoring each child's unique design.

With four kids ages 7, 6, 4, and 5 months, Ev shares what it looks like to homeschool with Human Design, co-sleep without apology, trust maternal intuition over external authority, and teach her children that diversity is accepted and beautiful.

This conversation is medicine for mothers who feel pressured to conform, doubt their instincts, or wonder if they're doing it "right."

In This Episode We Explore:

1. How teaching in Thailand opened Ev's eyes to the endless ways children can learn
2. Why homeschooling became the right choice for her family
3. Using Human Design to understand each child's temperament, learning style, and energy
4. Reclaiming maternal intuition after being taught it was "false" in the Mormon church
5. Co-sleeping and why her kids never experienced the "four-month sleep regression"
6. Why respecting your child's temperament prevents power struggles and builds mutual respect
7. Breaking free from external authority and coming back home to yourself as a mother

Favorite Ev Quotes

"Mothers don't need strategies or books. They just need themselves and to trust it."

"Generational changes are going to be made not through perfection and not through control, but by mothers who decide that there's a different way and then they act on it."

About Our Guest

Ev Leyva is a mother of four, former elementary school teacher, and passionate advocate for child-led learning, secure attachment, and intuitive parenting. After teaching at an international school in Thailand, Ev discovered the freedom to parent and educate outside conventional systems. She now homeschools her children using Human Design, honors each child's unique temperament, and practices co-sleeping, home birth, and baby-led weaning. Having left the Mormon church to reclaim her intuition and inner authority, Ev is committed to raising children who trust themselves and know that being different is not only okay—it's beautiful.

Links & Resources

→ Connect with Ev on Instagram: @heavenlyevanlee

→ Sacred Treehouse programs: https://sacredtreehouse.org

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a mother who needs permission to trust herself, honor her child's uniqueness, and know that there's no single "right" way to raise a family. Leave a review to help us reach more parents seeking a deeper, more connected way to raise children.

Parenting isn't about perfection—it's about presence, attunement, and the courage to listen within.

In this intimate episode, Dr. Patty joins a fertility specialist Dr. Joelle Taylor to explore the emotional, relational, and nervous-system realities of infertility, miscarriage, and pregnancy.

This conversation goes beyond medical protocols to honor the grief, fear, hope, and attachment wounds that so often live beneath the fertility journey. Dr. Taylor shares both her clinical expertise and personal experience of infertility and pregnancy loss, offering a compassionate lens on what it truly means to try to bring life into the world after heartbreak.

1. Why infertility is not just a medical experience, but a deeply relational and emotional one
2. The unspoken ways partners grieve differently — and how that impacts relationships
3. Why many parents struggle to attach or relax even when things are “going well”
4. How trauma and chronic stress affect fertility and pregnancy
5. The importance of being seen, witnessed, and emotionally held during fertility treatment

“You’re not just investing financially in fertility treatment — you’re investing your heart, your identity, and your future.”

Dr. Joelle Taylor is a fertility specialist with decades of experience working with individuals and couples navigating infertility, pregnancy loss, and complex reproductive journeys. Known for her intuitive and deeply human approach, Dr. Taylor integrates emotional awareness, trauma sensitivity, and relational care into medical fertility treatment. Her work honors not only the body, but the heart and nervous system of every patient she serves.

Connect with us on Instagram @FertilityFairyGodmother @SacredTreehouse

Work with Dr. Taylor: https://www.ivfmd.com/fertility-specialist/joelle-taylor

If this episode resonated with you, please leave a review and share it with someone walking the fertility or loss journey. These stories deserve to be heard — and no one should have to carry this alone.

Thank you for being part of The Bonded Podcast community!

Explore more at www.thebondedpodcast.com

In this deeply moving episode, Dr. Patty and Lizzie sit down with Jessica Malmberg, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist who brings both professional expertise and lived experience to supporting families through miscarriage, stillbirth, infant loss, and fertility struggles.

This conversation is medicine for anyone navigating perinatal loss, supporting someone who is, or healing from childhood grief that was never fully witnessed. We explore how grief lives in the body, how it shapes our parenting, why rituals matter, and how nature, community, and attachment all play vital roles in metabolizing loss.

In This Episode We Explore:

1. Why perinatal loss is uniquely painful: the invisibility of grief when others never met your baby
2. How to support children through sibling loss
3. The power of play therapy and sand tray work for kids processing death
4. Why anniversaries are so potent — and how to plan rituals around them
5. How attachment styles shape the way we grieve
6. The difference between isolating and intentional solitude in grief work
7. The myth that "being fine" is the goal — and why metabolizing grief requires both constriction and expansion

Favorite Episode Ideas

"Grief needs to be digested, like compost! It mixes with everything. We're starving from those nutrients. Composting grief can actually feed us."

"Our DNA is made for a village. That's how we're supposed to heal."

About Our Guest

Jessica Malmberg, LMFT, is a trauma-informed psychotherapist with over 25 years in the healing arts and extensive training in grief work with Francis Weller. She specializes in supporting women and families through miscarriage, stillbirth, infant loss, and fertility challenges. An infant loss survivor herself, Jessica integrates brain spotting, co-created grief rituals, and depth-oriented approaches to help clients restore grounding, meaning, and presence. She offers therapy, grief retreats, and professional trainings in Northern California and online.

Links & Resources

→ Jessica's website: https://jessicamalmberg.com

→ Follow Jessica on Instagram: @jessicamalmbergtherapy

→ Francis Weller's work on communal grief rituals

→ Sacred Treehouse programs: https://sacredtreehouse.org

If this episode spoke to you, please leave a review and share it with someone who might need to hear that their grief is valid, their baby mattered, and healing is possible — not by rushing through, but by allowing the depth.

Lizzie and Patty introduce an exciting new series launching this January: Foundations.

Rather than focusing on quick parenting tips, this series dives deep into attachment, bonding, trauma, and healing — exploring how our earliest relationships shape not only our children, but us across the lifespan.

Attachment isn’t built in one perfect moment. It’s formed over time through thousands of small interactions, ruptures and repairs, presence in exhaustion, and love even in the midst of grief.

In this episode, we share why this series matters, who it’s for, and how understanding attachment can bring clarity, self-compassion, and healing — whether you’re expecting a child, navigating fertility or adoption, supporting someone you love, or simply wanting to understand yourself more deeply.

This conversation sets the stage for a series that honors complexity, grief, resilience, and the profound possibility of breaking generational cycles.

• Expecting parents, adoptive parents, and those navigating fertility
• Parents in early childhood, adolescence, and beyond
• People healing their own attachment wounds
• Partners, fathers, family members, and support systems
• Anyone curious about why they relate the way they do — and how healing is possible

Healing is possible. Not just for what happened to you — but for what was passed down to you.

By doing this work, we don’t just change our own lives. We change our family lines.

Stay tuned for the Foundations series, and thank you for being part of The Bonded Podcast. Please leave a review to support the growth of this important educational and inspirational message!

In this tender Christmas Eve episode of The Bonded Podcast, Dr. Patty and Lizzie hold gentle space for one of the deepest human longings: to feel that life itself is a gift worth receiving.

For many who experienced early attachment wounds, trauma, neglect, or unreliable caregiving, being alive can feel more like a burden than a celebration. If you’ve ever carried a quiet (or loud) sense of “I shouldn’t be here,” “Life is something to endure,” or “I have to do it all alone,” this conversation is for you.

With deep compassion and lived experience, Dr. Patty and Lizzie explore how these early imprints live in the nervous system, how they can block our ability to receive love and care, and — most importantly — the real hope that healing is possible. This isn’t about forcing positivity; it’s about slowly softening, opening, and reclaiming the truth that your birth was, and is, a gift.

Key Themes & Takeaways

• Early attachment experiences shape whether life feels safe, welcoming, or threatening
• Common signs today: chronic self-protection, difficulty receiving care, deep shame, a sense of not belonging, or life feeling like something to “manage” rather than enjoy
• Healing isn’t about blaming parents
• Receiving is the gateway and often the first step toward feeling life as a gift
• Energetic and systemic healing can be profoundly gentle — no need to re-live trauma verbally; the nervous system unfolds at its own pace
• Mindfulness and self-compassion practices build inner trust and create safe space for deeper work

Upcoming Generational Healing Opportunity

If this episode stirred something in you and you’re ready to gently explore healing the mother wound in a safe, trauma-informed container, we invite you to join our intimate January 2026 workshop: The Love of the Mother with Maria do Carmo.

This full-day experiential gathering uses systemic and energetic practices (including elements of family constellation) to restore the flow of nurturing energy — no verbal re-telling of trauma required. Space is very limited for depth and safety.

Details & registration: https://sacred-treehouse.mykajabi.com/systemic-healing