Our latest Connecting Practice is one that can be applied to a ton of different parenting scenarios. How do we help our kids grow? It's certainly not by just telling them 'they should act their age' or by shaming them in comparison to other kids who can do x, y, or z things at their age, we know that. There must be a method we can use as parents to help them (and us) grow and develop skills, right??

There is and it is the subject of today's ETC Podcast episode! You can - and should - listen to today's episode and ALL of the episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts!

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Has it ever felt to you like you just couldn't figure out what your kid needs in a moment? If this is you, today is your episode. We gathered some brilliant therapeutic minds to ask them what we need to know about meeting our child's physical, emotional and sensory processing needs! Hear from Speech Pathologist Annie Cornell, Occupational Therapist Luz Wolfe and Clinical Therapist Stela Sinanaj why this is so important and how to meet these needs in our kids (and just as importantly - ourselves). 

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Today's episode is a foundational one. In the world of connected parenting, one of the primary ways we give our kids what they need is to balance the amount of nurture and structure given. Stereotypically, 'traditional' parenting tends to rely on an intense amount of structure, but can lack on nurture - while 'new age' parenting tends to rely on very high nurture, but lacks boundaries and structure in place to help give kids predictability.

We all tend to go to one side or another naturally, so today we asked Jesse Faris and Becca McKay from the ETC Team to help us with some practical strategies and ideas for how to balance giving structure when needed and nurture when needed. 

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Today we begin walking through all of the connecting practices from our new parenting curriculum called Cultivate Connection! We begin with one of the most foundational practices in this form of parenting: Being Curious. SO often we jump immediately to assigning blame or emotionally reacting to situations or behaviors we encounter as parents...when sometimes what's needed is to put on the detective hat first. What could be behind this behavior? Have we eaten enough today? Has this child been couped up all day without an outlet to move their bodies? Could this be a product of their history - or mine??

All questions that are imperative to begin asking if we are going to parent our children through the lens of connection and attachment. Dr. Rachel Peterman and Becca McKay join us to walk through just how to begin changing our courses of action in today's episode!

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If you're choosing to parent differently - you're going to hear about it. Friends and family have questions, onlookers give you free advice - it can be overwhelming to say the least. It's helpful, therefore, to pause every now and then and ask yourself: Why do I do this? 

After over 3 years of research, writing and editing, the ETC Team has completed a re-write of our 9 week Parenting Course and we can't wait to tell you all about it. We thought we'd take some time, however, and re-establish the 'why' behind this way of parenting. 

Tona Ottinger, Becca McKay and JD Wilson pause to talk about they 'why' in connected parenting. Join us as we examine the paths that brought us here and the connecting practices that guide us in parenting in this episode of the ETC Podcast!

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Did you know that between 62%-92% of people with eating disorders have experienced trauma in their past? The research is alarming and for those of us with kids who may have experienced some kind of food insecurity or have what we might see as 'out of the ordinary' food habits, it can be paralyzing. That's why we wanted to have our friend Whitney Trotter on the show. Whitney is a registered nurse, mother and advocate and is a part of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Eating Disorders conference happening July 20-22 virtually.  You can learn more about the conference and register here

Whitney teaches us about eating disorders, their origins in trauma, body image issues and what to watch for in our kids when it comes to issues of food. We talk about how marginalized people groups are at higher risk for disordered eating and how transracial adoptive parents can be better prepared and informed as their kids get older. She also gives some helpful tips and advice for helping set healthy foundations with your kids and ways to be more mindful and preventative about how we engage with them around these issues

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Long time friend of the program Mona Delahooke is a Pediatric Psychologist and the author of her NEW book Brain-Body Parenting as well as the groundbreaking Beyond Behaviors and several other books. If you've ever read Beyond Behaviors, you know how brilliant she is! Mona joins us today to talk about the Brain - Body - Behavior connection and why it is absolutely essential for parents and caregivers to understand. Struggling with perplexing behavior in your home? This may be the episode you've been waiting for. 

Wanna learn more from Mona? Buy her book Beyond Behaviors here, sign up for the Beyond Behaviors course Mona teaches here or head on over to her website to learn more about her there!

To learn more about ETC, follow our Youtube Channel, like us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram!

Today, we go back to an episode from Season 1 of the show that can be particularly helpful in the throes of Spring parenting.

Lets face it…sometimes our kids' behavior is perplexing. 

We have no idea why they are doing what they are doing. We have no idea how to make them stop and we can walk away feeling confused, defeated and even like a failure.

We have behavioral expectations and if we're not careful we can allow our children's behavior to determine whether we see ourselves as a good parent or not. We can measure our success by their behavior…

Why do we do that? How do we get to the root of what's ACTUALLY happening? 

Glad you asked - tune in today to hear how we look to see the needs being expressed behind the behavior and meet those needs to build trust and attachment. 

In this episode we reference several fantastic books (you should buy them all immediately): The Whole Brain Child, and Beyond Behaviors

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We've talked for weeks now on the show about how Trauma Informed Care and a Trauma Informed Approach is changing systems and societies across the globe. Today, we return to where it all started for us - Trauma Informed Parenting. We asked Mo and Tona Ottinger to share their story of moving from traditional parenting to a Trauma Informed Approach and what they shared will blow you away. Spoiler alert: it changed everything.

To learn more about ETC, check out empoweredtoconnect.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube!

One of the toughest things to do in the midst of running a youth outreach program is to change course - especially when it means re-training everyone involved. Despite the intense level of difficulty, however, Philip Walkley and Ally Velderman of Service Over Self in Memphis, TN knew they needed to make a change. They weren't equipped to walk with the kids they were working with through life. Hear how they made the jump to a trauma informed approach, the transformation that happened and the changes on staff on today's episode!

Also don't forget to check out our friends Ryan & Rose! The team at Ryan & Rose have been big supporters of our work at Empowered to Connect for years. They make beautiful products for everyone in the family including pacifiers, pacifier clips, bottle holders, bags, journals and so much more and they've got an exclusive discount JUST FOR LISTENERS OF THE SHOW! Use code 'ETC20' at checkout to save 20% off your entire order with Ryan & Rose and help support an amazing company making a huge difference in the world!

To learn more about ETC, check out empoweredtoconnect.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube!