Calm and Connected Podcast

By Janine Halloran

What's Calm and Connected Podcast about?

Calm and Connected is created by Janine Halloran, an experienced counselor and mom. Janine gives quick tips and helpful information about coping skills and play

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Calm and Connected Podcast episodes:

04.25.2024
Ways to Connect with Kids and Teens
Building a strong connection with our children is really important and taking the time to invest in our relationships with them at each stage of childhood and into the teenage years. Today Janine considers the opportunities we create for them...
04.11.2024
Helping Kids with Social Skills and Friendships: An interview with Caroline Maguire
Have you noticed social skills missing in your kids? Caroline Maguire, author of Why Will No One Play With Me?, joins me to discuss how to support your child and build them up through play. Here’s some of the areas...
03.28.2024
Coping Skills for Teens Who Are Angry
Has your child hit their teenage years and puberty has started? Have you noticed their emotions are changing? What about their most extreme emotions? Do you find that your teenager can feel really angry at times? In today’s episode, Janine unpacks...
03.14.2024
Books to Help Kids with OCD: An Interview with Marin Canaday
OCD can manifest itself in different ways with different obsessions and focus that are going on in your life. Children’s author, Marin Canaday describes OCD feeling like a monster devouring your emotions and feelings, where you could get to the...
02.29.2024
Seven Coping Skills to Use at an Elementary School
A child at Elementary School will be learning and figuring out what emotions are and what’s going on in their bodies when their ‘big feelings’ appear. They’ll be learning to put names to their emotions and trying figuring out why...
02.15.2024
A Conversation about School Readiness with Caroline Allen from Turning Little Stones
The transition to preschool to elementary school can be such an anxious time for both parents and for the children. There’s a lot of unknowns to get them ready for and sometimes we think there’s lots we have to do...
02.01.2024
Create a Coping Skills Toolkit to Use On The Go!
It’s wonderful having a home set up where you have a reset or safe space where your kids can use strategies and process their emotions. But what happens when we go out? Having coping strategies ready is just as important....
01.18.2024
Getting Back on Track with Dr. Rebecca Jackson
When you’re expecting a baby or experiencing the first year of their life, there are books which tell you all the key development growth points to be looking out for and what comes next. We don’t talk about these as...
01.04.2024
Mini Moments of Self-Care for Adults
Today’s question is, what can you do in 5 minutes or less that will make you feel happier, healthier or stronger? There are many moments in life when the day to day can feel stressful. Anyone can feel this. Whether...
12.21.2023
Sensational Sensory Strategies with Dr. Varleisha
Have you ever considered the neuroscience behind how we self-regulate our emotions? How do these two work together? Some children may respond in fight or flight mode in some situations. But how does your child’s body and emotions respond and...
12.07.2023
Understanding Your Highly Sensitive Child
Have you noticed your child doesn’t enjoy being at birthday parties? Do they struggle hearing loud noises? Does your child appear to not like the seams in their socks? Or have they felt overwhelmed by crowds and are very observant?...
11.23.2023
Eight Fidgets for the Classroom
We all know those kids who can’t quite get settled in the classroom. They may have a hard time sitting down to get their homework done. They may be zoning off in the middle of a lesson in school. Or...
11.09.2023
The Many Roles of a School Counselor: An Interview with Rachel Davis of Bright Futures Counseling
Every school should have a school counselor and there are so many reasons why a school counselor may work with any student at any stage of their educational career. But what do they do? From individual 1-1 support to whole...
10.26.2023
Bullying in Middle School Through the Lens of a Middle School Diary and Memoir
Firstly I want to pre-warn you that my guest Meghan Joyce Tozer and I discuss some tough topics during this episode. Today’s podcast talks about sexual abuse and suicide. We encourage you to keep this in mind when listening to...
10.12.2023
How to Talk To Kids About Anything: An Interview with Dr. Robyn Silverman
Firstly I want to pre-warn you that we discuss some tough topics during this episode, like sex and consent, talking with your kids about death, and bullying. Please be aware, especially if younger ears are listening. Please click play with...
09.28.2023
Your Turn: How to Be an Adult - An Interview with Julie Lythcott-Haims
Do you ever sit and think about how you actually became an adult? Think of all the skills you have from tying your shoelaces to presenting a report at work. How did we learn these skills? … with lots and...
09.14.2023
Sensory Based Strategies for Kids: An Interview with Claire Heffron from The Inspired Treehouse
Does your child like to move and fidget a lot? Maybe lay upside down or spin around in circles? This isn’t just a random act of silliness or hyperactivity, they are likely gaining sensory input! In this episode, my guest...
08.31.2023
Seven tips to help kids use coping skills when they NEED them
Let me ask you a question - if you had a magic wand and could fix one major problem or difficulty you have with teaching kids coping skills when they need them most, what would you change? I asked my...
08.17.2023
Introduction to Zentangles: An Interview with Andrea Santogrosso
When you are stressed, anxious or perhaps angry and need to calm down, what techniques do you use? There are so many out there, from yoga, meditation, exercise and mindfulness but today I will be speaking to my guest Andrea...
08.03.2023
Summer Book Series #3: The Highly Sensitive Child
Today’s installment of my book series covers the book ‘The Highly Sensitive Child’ by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D. I read this book over COVID and it totally changed the way I look at kids, how to spot what’s going on...
07.20.2023
Introduction to Montessori Philosophy: An Interview with Jeanne-Marie Paynel, M.Ed.
Have you ever considered a different educational style for your children besides the conventional method? If so, perhaps you have heard of the Montessori method. It is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children...
07.06.2023
Five Books about Anger for Kids: Summer Book Series #2
This episode is the second installment of my book recommendation series. This week I want to focus on books dealing with anger since I have seen a lot of kids showing up to school with big emotions like anger lately....
06.22.2023
Building Connections with Kids Through Play: An Interview with Kim Feeney
When was the last time you had a dedicated playtime with your child? Life gets so busy so we can’t blame parents for not being able to squeeze this in-between school, dinnertime, sports or dance at the weekend but it...
06.08.2023
Two Highly Recommended Books: Summer Book Series #1
I have always been a reader ever since I was a child but sometimes life gets in the way and I have found I don’t make much time for it so I used a recent vacation to spark my love...
05.25.2023
Raising a Mindful Generation: An Interview with Suzanne Tucker
This week, Janine speaks to Suzanne Tucker a Parent Educator about the do’s, don’t’s, the should’s and shame that comes with parenting. Suzanne started Generation Mindful as she saw societal problems within herself and her own family, as well as...
05.11.2023
Two Hands-on Activities to Help Kids Practice Solving Problems
Throughout your life growing up, have you ever come up against a problem you just couldn’t solve? We learn very valuable skills at school but we don’t learn every single skill needed for everyday life so in this episode,...
04.27.2023
Helping Teens with Stress and Depression: An Interview with Elliot Kallen
Firstly I want to pre-warn you that my guest Elliot Kallen and I discuss the topic of suicide. This might be an uncomfortable topic for you or perhaps younger ears are listening so please click play with care. Sometimes life throws...
04.13.2023
Making a Coping Skills Toolkit at Dollar Tree
In this episode, I am talking about coping skills tool kits that you can make at the Dollar Tree. I have previous similar episodes based on different stores such as Five Below, Target, Michael’s and Oriental Trading and one more...
03.30.2023
Using TV, Movies, and Books to Spark Conversations about Coping Skills
Starting a conversation with a child about their own struggles and coping skills can be difficult. The best way around that in my opinion is to show through examples in books and TV. We all know how hard direct feedback...
03.16.2023
Peaceful Discipline: An Interview with Sarah Moore
After an unbelievable routine check at the pediatrician’s office, Sarah’s life changed forever. The experience she talks about in this episode made her get serious about parenting and educating other parents about peaceful discipline. Yes, it is helpful to look...
03.02.2023
The Self-Driven Child: An Interview with Ned Johnson
In this episode, Ned and I discuss the “parent as consultant” way of approaching raising children. It’s important to not solve all your kids' problems, they need to build those skills themselves to face issues in a constructive and thoughtful...
02.16.2023
A Delicious Way to Practice Mindfulness
Did you know that mindfulness practice can shrink the amygdala which is the part of the brain that is responsible for fight, flight or freeze? While I know the benefits of mindfulness, I sometimes struggle to actually practice it. But...
02.02.2023
Updated Neurodiversity-Affirming Whole Body Listening Larry: An Interview with Elizabeth Sautter
In this episode I am joined by Speech Language Pathologist Elizabeth A. Sautter to talk about ‘Whole body Listening Larry’. For our communities to evolve and grow, we have to constantly look at ourselves, the way we speak and how...
01.19.2023
Coping Skills for Adults: Movement Strategies
This episode is the next installment of ‘Coping skills for adults’ and I want to focus on the movement style. Movement and exercise is a strange one. Before doing it, you really don’t want to, it takes a lot of...
01.05.2023
Collaborative and Proactive Solutions: An Interview with Kim Hopkins
We can learn a lot from history and luckily as humans we can learn to progress and right our wrongs, to be more ethical or helpful. In regards to caring for children, in the past we used restraint techniques when...
12.22.2022
Coping Skills for Adults: Sensory Strategies
This episode is the next installment of ‘Coping skills for adults’ and I wanted to explore some sensory strategies we can use to cope, destress, and relax throughout our days. We’re all busy people so if we can take these...
12.08.2022
Digital Media Wellness for Kids & Teens: An interview with Julia Storm
How many times have you found yourself in a tech hole where you’ve been scrolling for what feels like an eternity yet you still can’t switch off the device? After you feel groggy and unmotivated to do anything. If it...
11.24.2022
Coping Skills for Adults: Processing Strategies
Have you ever taken part in your own gratefulness experiment? Perhaps you have written a small list every day for a month to see how it impacts you? Studies show that practicing gratefulness can benefit your psychological well being, improve...
11.10.2022
Using Music Therapy to Teach Skills at School: An Interview with Ryan Judd
This episode is all about music. Have you ever felt anxious and put on your favorite calming song? Or perhaps sad and delved into a heartfelt playlist? I would guess most of us use music to fuel our tough workouts!...
10.27.2022
Coping Skills for Adults: Distraction Strategies
Today I want to focus on the coping style of distraction. Distraction is really focused on play and fun activities to help us manage big thoughts, emotions and feelings, but let’s focus on the adult piece of play in this...
10.13.2022
Give me some space! Helping children self-regulate at school, home, and anywhere!
This week I spoke to the lovely Jana York, a certified mindfulness and meditation teacher about how we can help our kids through the power of the breath. Mindfulness thankfully is everywhere these days, it may have started in the...
09.29.2022
Coping Skills for Adults: Relaxation Strategies
This is the second episode in the ‘Coping Skills for Adults’ series, today I’m focusing on relaxation strategies. It’s so helpful to have a variety of coping strategies because each one will work better for different times. This episode is...
09.15.2022
Raising Happy Kids - An interview with Maureen Healy, Author of The Happiness Workbook for Kids
Award-winning author, Maureen Healy is my guest on this week’s episode to talk all about emotions. When you think that our brains aren’t fully developed until our mid-twenties, it puts into perspective how difficult it is to deal with ever-changing...
09.01.2022
Coping Skills for Adults: Deep Breathing Strategies
It’s been a while since I recorded a solo episode so here goes! During my mini break I was thinking; what can I do to support educators, counselors, families and parents with my podcast? And from that I felt inspired...
08.18.2022
Communication and Social Skills - An interview with Heidi Miller, Speech Language Pathologist
On today’s show I speak to Speech Language Pathologist Heidi Miller about all things speech related. SLP’s help children with speech i.e. the way they articulate sounds, they help with language, so the way they put words together which also...
08.04.2022
The Value of Breathing and Mindfulness for Kids with Jennifer Cohen Harper
Take a long, slow, deep breath. In… and out. Doesn’t that feel a lot better? Today’s episode is all about breathing and how to regulate your nervous system. A lot of people say it and it’s just so true, the...
07.21.2022
Raising Cactus Kids - An interview with Wendy Snyder
I’m thrilled to welcome Wendy Snyder, a Positive Parenting educator, family life coach & advocate to my podcast this week as she has such a brilliant story of when life gets hard, how you can flip it around to a...
07.07.2022
How to Raise Happy Kids - An interview with Sue Atkins, Parenting Expert
I’m excited to be speaking to world renowned parent expert Sue Atkins on this episode of the Calm & Connected podcast. We discuss the pro’s and con’s of having an outspoken child, they may make your life difficult but don’t...
06.23.2022
Executive Function for Kids and Teens - An interview with Dr. Lynne Kenney
I’m so excited to welcome Dr Lynne Kenney on to the Calm & Connected Podcast this week. We chat about all things executive functioning and how sessions differ with children in comparison to teenagers. We kept the conversation on the...
06.09.2022
Helping Kids with Specific Phobias - An Interview with Dr. Dawn Huebner
In this episode, I invited Dr. Dawn Huebner, child psychologist and parent coach back on the show to talk about her mini book series called Mini books about mighty fears. Alongside that we learn about what phobias really are, how...

What's Calm and Connected Podcast about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Calm and Connected Podcast episodes:

Ways to Connect with Kids and Teens

Helping Kids with Social Skills and Friendships: An interview with Caroline Maguire

Coping Skills for Teens Who Are Angry

Books to Help Kids with OCD: An Interview with Marin Canaday

Seven Coping Skills to Use at an Elementary School

A Conversation about School Readiness with Caroline Allen from Turning Little Stones

Create a Coping Skills Toolkit to Use On The Go!

Getting Back on Track with Dr. Rebecca Jackson

Mini Moments of Self-Care for Adults

Sensational Sensory Strategies with Dr. Varleisha

Understanding Your Highly Sensitive Child

Eight Fidgets for the Classroom

The Many Roles of a School Counselor: An Interview with Rachel Davis of Bright Futures Counseling

Bullying in Middle School Through the Lens of a Middle School Diary and Memoir

How to Talk To Kids About Anything: An Interview with Dr. Robyn Silverman

Your Turn: How to Be an Adult - An Interview with Julie Lythcott-Haims

Sensory Based Strategies for Kids: An Interview with Claire Heffron from The Inspired Treehouse

Seven tips to help kids use coping skills when they NEED them

Introduction to Zentangles: An Interview with Andrea Santogrosso

Summer Book Series #3: The Highly Sensitive Child

Introduction to Montessori Philosophy: An Interview with Jeanne-Marie Paynel, M.Ed.

Five Books about Anger for Kids: Summer Book Series #2

Building Connections with Kids Through Play: An Interview with Kim Feeney

Two Highly Recommended Books: Summer Book Series #1

Raising a Mindful Generation: An Interview with Suzanne Tucker

Two Hands-on Activities to Help Kids Practice Solving Problems

Helping Teens with Stress and Depression: An Interview with Elliot Kallen

Making a Coping Skills Toolkit at Dollar Tree

Using TV, Movies, and Books to Spark Conversations about Coping Skills

Peaceful Discipline: An Interview with Sarah Moore

The Self-Driven Child: An Interview with Ned Johnson

A Delicious Way to Practice Mindfulness

Updated Neurodiversity-Affirming Whole Body Listening Larry: An Interview with Elizabeth Sautter

Coping Skills for Adults: Movement Strategies

Collaborative and Proactive Solutions: An Interview with Kim Hopkins

Coping Skills for Adults: Sensory Strategies

Digital Media Wellness for Kids & Teens: An interview with Julia Storm

Coping Skills for Adults: Processing Strategies

Using Music Therapy to Teach Skills at School: An Interview with Ryan Judd

Coping Skills for Adults: Distraction Strategies

Give me some space! Helping children self-regulate at school, home, and anywhere!

Coping Skills for Adults: Relaxation Strategies

Raising Happy Kids - An interview with Maureen Healy, Author of The Happiness Workbook for Kids

Coping Skills for Adults: Deep Breathing Strategies

Communication and Social Skills - An interview with Heidi Miller, Speech Language Pathologist

The Value of Breathing and Mindfulness for Kids with Jennifer Cohen Harper

Raising Cactus Kids - An interview with Wendy Snyder

How to Raise Happy Kids - An interview with Sue Atkins, Parenting Expert

Executive Function for Kids and Teens - An interview with Dr. Lynne Kenney

Helping Kids with Specific Phobias - An Interview with Dr. Dawn Huebner