Holding Space

Do you have a picky eater in your life?! I was! So this is a topic especially close to my heart. A child's relationship with food, eating, and their body can follow them into adulthood. So how do we navigate these incredibly important conversations around "pickiness"?

The relationship with food is complicated. It is personal, relational, and unavoidable.

We're talking all about that complicated dynamic today. I invited Jenny Friedman, MS, RD onto the podcast. Join us as we discuss how you can support your child in building a healthy and comfortable relationship with food, eating, and mealtimes.

Jenny Friedman MS, RD, is a dietitian who specializes in picky eating and pediatric feeding challenges. Known for her playful and approachable child-led style, Jenny is the author of Stories of Extreme Picky Eating: Children with Severe Eating Challenges and the Solutions that Helped Them. She shares her insight on her website and blog and over social media @feedingpickyeaters.

You can find Jenny's Eating with Ease Program by clicking here! 

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.

I'm a recovering perfectionist, and in this episode I'm sharing my story.

Perfectionism is often rooted in Anxiety. Maybe if I do this perfect, then I'll be safe? Unfortunately, there's no shortage of messages that can keep us stuck in the cycle of striving for control through Perfection while ignoring our own needs, falling short because, well...we are HUMAN, and feeling swallowed up by the Guilt or Shame that follows. Can you relate?

I invited my friend Kaitlin Soule, LMFT (author of the upcoming book A Little Less of a Hot Mess) to hear my story and walk us through ways we can begin to stop the cycle of people-pleasing and perfectionism that so often leads to burnout and anxiety in parenting.

You can learn more from Kaitlin on her website, https://wellnotesforher.com/ and on Instagram @kaitlin.soule.

Learn more about Kaitlin's book and FREE Limiting Beliefs Checklist below!

A Little Less of a Hot Mess: The Modern Mom's Guide to Growth & Evolution

The Transform Your Limiting Beliefs Checklist

RELATED EPISODES

Defining Your Values

Mom Guilt

Bonding with Baby

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.

Want to know one of the most common questions I get asked from expecting parents: Can Postpartum Anxiety show up BEFORE baby is born?

Yes it totally can, and this challenging yet not discussed enough experience has its own name: PRENATAL Anxiety.

In this episode I share my conversation with Liesel Teen, Labor and Delivery Nurse and founder of Mommy Labor Nurse. Together we discuss ways you can begin to identify and address Prenatal Anxiety. She offers us many helpful and actionable tips to support you in navigating the Anxiety that may pop up during pregnancy.

To learn more about Mommy Labor Nurse and Liesel's work, visit https://mommylabornurse.com/ or visit @mommy.labornurse on Instagram. You can also hear her on The Mommy Labor Nurse Podcast and find her courses here. 

Get her FREE Birth Plan Template here!

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.

When you think about preparing for a new baby, what comes to mind?

The perfect registry. Check!

The finished nursery. Check!

The ideal birth plan. Check!

These are often the featured items on our checklist when we are expecting, and checking these things off our list can offer us a sense of control.

Yet, what about preparing for the more nuanced and unexpected aspects of postpartum? Like, how this huge transition can bring up some pretty big emotions...

We face a lot of conflicting and ambiguous feelings during postpartum and they can be tough to navigate. That's why I invited Nicole Makowka to help walk us through some of those unexpected, but common emotions that can come up during postpartum. Nicole is the Head of Education & Wellbeing at LOOM, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and an expert in early childhood development. In today's episode she offers us some real tangible tips that you can start taking today to help prepare you for those big feelings of postpartum.

To learn more about Loom and Nicole's work, you can visit https://loomhq.com/ or follow on Instagram at @loomhq.

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.

RESOURCE ALERT! This is a different kind of podcast episode. In this episode I'm highlighting a resource that I've personally found helpful in my own mindfulness/wellness journey.

We're all starting to learn how important Mindfulness is when it comes to our mental health, right? I know I talk about it often with clients, and I've talked about it's role in my own life here on the podcast. I often recommend apps like Calm and Headspace as a great starting off point, but always wished there was a resource directed to new parents.

Enter...Expectful! In this episode I share my conversation with Nathalie Walton, CEO of this mindfulness and wellness app for anyone navigating fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum.

She shares the role mindfulness had in her own pregnancy and postpartum, specifically as it relates to struggles with control, anxiety, and sleep!

To learn more about Expectful click here, and if you decide to explore this resource be sure to use code HOLDINGSPACE to try it out for $1 for the first month.

Looking to learn more about WHY and HOW mindfulness can support your mental health? Check out these past Holding Space episodes:

Mindfulness and Self-Compassion

Cultivating a New Relationship with Emotion

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.

For many of us our 'fur babies' hold a very special place in our heart. So much so that when we're preparing to become a parent to a human baby, sometimes we can't help but feel a little guilty, anxious, or fearful about how a newborn might change our relationship with our pets.

Maybe you're worried about how your pet will react to your baby, how your relationship with your pet will change with a baby around, or maybe you're already in the thick of postpartum and struggling with some of the big feelings coming up related to your pet. This is such a common experience for new parents, so I invited Dominika from @dogmeets_baby to come on and help us prepare for this experience.

In this episode we talk about some of the common emotions new parents feel related to their dog, like feeling triggered by your dog or feelings of anger, resentment, or guilt. Dominika offers insightful tips for new parents as they prepare for and navigate this transition with their pet. I learned so much from this episode and I hope you do, too!

You can learn more about Dominika and access her resources here and at her Instagram: @dogmeets_baby

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.

Sex and intimacy after having a baby can be very different. We're often approved for sex and exercise at that six week postpartum appointment…but what if we're not ready? What if it's too soon? What if your partner is ready and you aren't or vice versa? What if your libido is off because of the hormonal fluctuations after having a baby? What if you're worried about pain or not feeling comfortable in your body?

No one prepares us for these challenges. That's why today I am joined by the Shrink Chicks to talk about sex and intimacy after baby! We're addressing some of the common fears around intimacy after baby, some of the reasons why so much can change with sex after baby, and we're sharing ways that you can begin to know pleasure in your body again and navigate this sometimes awkward/uncomfortable transition with your partner.

You deserve good and pleasurable sex. I hope this conversation will help normalize what you're experiencing and also offer support to you and your partner. If you would like to learn more from the Shrink Chicks or access their resources, you can visit their Instagram @shrinkchicks and @thetherapygrp!

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.

Have you ever had a thought in postpartum that felt disturbing or distressing to you? It pops up randomly, and you're kind of like, WOAH, where did that come from? What is wrong with me??

Maybe it was something like dropping your baby, getting into a car accident, an unwanted thought about your baby while changing their diaper, or something else of that nature...bottom line, it's intrusive and distressing. 

If you can resonate with this experience, chances are you may have never even mentioned them to anyone. You might feel ashamed and lonely in these thoughts. While these thoughts can be incredibly distressing, you're not alone.

Dr. Alice Pickering is joining me to talk about scary and intrusive thoughts. Dr. Alice dives deep into the corners of our mind, offers some examples that might resonate with you, describes why these thoughts occur, and goes into what we can do to help lessen the impact they have on us as new parents.

You can learn more from Dr. Alice at her Instagram: @dralicepsyd

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.

This episode has a really special place in my heart on a personal level. Over the last two years we’ve worked with Occupational Therapists to support the sensory processing challenges my own kids experience.

Maybe you're in the same boat and your child is experiencing something similar or maybe, you're wondering what sensory processing disorder even is and if your child might be having a sensitivity to sensory processing...

Whichever the case, you're in the right place. I have invited Laura Petix of @theotbutterfly onto the podcast to demystify Occupational Therapy, to talk about the experiences associated with sensory processing disorder, and to share how we can best support our kids and ourselves in these situations.

I share a lot about my own family's experience with sensory processing challenges and Laura offers some tangible tips for how you can get support for your child if you feel this is something they might be struggling with.

You can find Laura hanging out daily on instagram @TheOTButterfly   

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.

When I'm working with an individual or couple who just had a baby, one of the first things I ask about is...SLEEP! Not the age old question you get from most other people: "how is the baby sleeping?" No, I want to know how YOU are sleeping.

Postpartum can be a beast and a big part of that is often the lack of sleep that accompanies having a baby. Getting restorative rest can become even more challenging when navigating feeding. That's why I invited my own lactation consultant, friend and colleague, Robin Kaplan, onto the podcast today!

Robin is sharing with us how we can get restorative rest while also honoring our feeding journey with baby. She offers tangible tips and tricks for pumping when you're trying to make sleep a priority. Robin is incredibly supportive and validates the fact that sleep impacts our mental health and how our mental health in turn impacts our children. You can learn more from Robin and access her resources at her Instagram @san_diego_breastfeeding_center!

Did you connect with that episode? The best way to support Holding Space podcast is to subscribe and leave a review! Podcast reviews help us reach those who need it most, and I read each and every one. To connect with Dr. Cassidy or learn more about her private practice, visit www.drcassidymft.com.