Make It a Great One with Dr. Dan: #1 Podcast for Inspiring Conversations to Live and Lead On Purpose

Dr. Dan welcomes his friend and colleague Dr. Devon MacEachron on Episode 59. Dr. Devon’s lifelong work helps families as they navigate neurodiversity, learning, and education on their parenting journeys. Dr. Dan embraces Dr. Devon’s method of framing neurodiversity as a super-power (and not a weakness) and agrees this shift is life-changing for children and families.

Recently, Dr. Devon’s inspiring video about neurodiversity went viral with over 26 millions views. As a parent of neurodiverse children herself and a specialist in twice-exceptional and gifted learners, Dr. Devon is a respected expert diagnostician who provides actionable game-plans to families to enable students to achieve their potential.

Listen to Dr. Devon as she debunks neuromyths, shares some of her favorite blogs, gives her top three tips to parents of neurodiverse children, and talks about her own trial-and-error as a parent including her entertaining and poignant Parent Footprint Moment.

Today Dr. Devon runs a thriving New York-based psychology practice she founded in 2014 to meet the educational planning and psychoeducational assessment needs of families of bright learners seeking to optimize learning and achievement. Like Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint, Dr. Devon uses a strengths-based and positive psychology perspective. Her mission is to help position students to achieve their goals and dreams, and for parents to feel confident that they are doing the best for their child in ways that will make a real difference in their child’s life for years to come.

Dr. Devon earned a B.A. from Amherst College (graduating in the first class of admitted women), an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (graduating in the top 3% of her class), and her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. For more information visit: https://drdevon.com/

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Dr. Dan is very excited to welcome Laura Carlin to the Parent Footprint podcast today. Laura is the author of the new book CLUTTER-FREE PARENTING: MAKING SPACE IN YOUR HOME FOR THE MAGIC OF CHILDHOOD AND THE JOY OF PARENTHOOD and she inspired parents and families everywhere.

Laura Carlin talks to Dr. Dan about the role that clearing clutter can play in parenting and in our children's lives. Laura explains her own childhood love of clutter-clearing and how clearing clutter can help raise confident, compassionate children who have the space to discover their passions, learn, grow, and have fun--undistracted by an endless stream of "things" they don't need and really don't want. 

Today’s show will help parents get a jumpstart on spring cleaning while also bringing more love and joy into their homes right now. Laura tells Dr. Dan to start by asking “Is your home working for you or against you?” and this starting point will easily guide families. Laura shares a great lesson about how her own sister (and co-author of the book) cleared her tupperware drawer and it instantly increased her daily joy and her ability to be present. 

The Clutter-Free parenting method teaches moms and dads everywhere how to: 

-Regain time and energy in their day

-Create a home filled only with things they love or use

-Inspire children to be collaborators in a clutter-free home

-Prevent clutter from accumulating in the first place

-Use clutter-clearing to be more mindful and present

Laura’s advice is truly life-changing: if you own anything that is not loved or not useful then it should not be in your home! And how you clear clutter is as important as what you clear! Dr. Dan encourages listeners to start decluttering today to achieve immediate clarity and peace.

The interview ends with Laura’s Parent Footprint Moment about authenticity and it is a great example of how everything starts with parents. 

Author Laura Carlin is a Simplicity Parenting coach and has inspired hundreds of people to transform their homes and lives through her workshops and lifestyle brand, InspiredEverydayLiving.com. Laura received a Master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica, and her Bachelor of Science in Communications from Northwestern University. She also graduated from the Western School of Feng Shui™ and lives with her husband and two sons.

Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®.

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Dr. Dan welcomes author Natalie Silverstein to episode #57. Beyond the homework, screen-time, and endless activities, there are bigger challenges for modern parents: figuring out how to raise compassionate, generous, civic-minded children. In her new book SIMPLE ACTS: THE BUSY FAMILY’S GUIDE TO GIVING BACK , Natalie Silverstein offers hundreds of practical ideas for incorporating service and the spirit of giving into your family life. Today’s show (and Natalie’s book) is a call to action for all parents to model good values, teach volunteerism, and ultimately help those in need.

Natalie Silverstein is the New York volunteer coordinator of Doing Good Together in New York City. She believes it’s never too early to get kids in the habit of service and Dr. Dan enthusiastically agrees! 

In today’s interview, Dr. Dan and Natalie Silverstein discuss:

Living your values

Making service a priority

Volunteering -- how we teach our children compassion by modeling it

How to choose community-service options that are right for your family

How to create easy kindness project (at the kitchen table)

Ideas for integrating volunteerism into your jam-packed schedule

How to talk to children about inequality and suffering in an age-appropriate way

And much more!

Dr. Dan explains how saying yes to service means we are saying no to something else. It is important that we prioritize living our values every single day—remember our kids are always watching. As parents we are creating our children’s foundation of lifelong giving and service.

At the end of the interview in her Parent Footprint moment Natalie gives listeners a terrific lesson about how sometimes parents miss the mark but that life lessons can be learned in almost any situation.

Natalie Silverstein, MPH, is the volunteer coordinator of Doing Good Together TM in New York City. She is a frequent consultant and presenter to parents, faculty, students, and community groups on the topic of family service, and is a contributor to parenting blogs GrownAndFlown and MommyPoppins. She holds a Master's Degree in Public Health from Yale University. She and her family regularly make time to volunteer in their community.

Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®.

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Dr. Dan welcomes the authors of the new book series TERRIFIC TODDLERS today. Authors Carol Zeavin, MSEd, Med, and Rhona Silverbush, JD, give parents, educators and caregivers ways to help toddlers overcome their daily dramas including boo-boo's, sharing and saying bye-bye to mommy and daddy. Published by the American Psychological Association/Magination Press this series will help families struggling with the toddler years.

The authors explain how they used groundbreaking research to craft age-appropriate stories that take into account the language level and comprehension level of a toddler. Dr. Dan focuses on how these books will empower parents because they all include a “Note to Parents and Caregivers” feature that provides parents with important guidelines for navigating these challenges and helping their toddlers understand their world.

Dr. Dan leads the discussion with the two authors about these two titles --

Bye-Bye!

In All Mine!

The show ends like always with the Parent Footprint Moment question.

Carol Zeavin holds master's degrees in education and special education from Bank Street College, worked with infants and toddlers for nearly a decade as head teacher at Rockefeller University Child and Family Center and Barnard's Toddler Development Center, and worked at Y.A.I. and Theracare. She lives in New York, NY. 

Rhona Silverbush studied psychology and theater at Brandeis University and law at Boston College Law School. She represented refugees and has written and co-written several books, including a guide to acting Shakespeare. She currently coaches actors, writes, tutors, and consults for families of children and teens with learning differences and special needs. She lives in New York, NY. 

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Today’s episode of the Parent Footprint podcast with Dr. Dan will help families thrive in the midst of the tumultuous teen years. Guest Dr. Christa Santangelo is an author, a psychologist and an assistant clinical professor at the University of California-San Francisco and her new book will transform every family. In her decades of work, Dr. Santangelo has witnessed many relationships devastated by the emotional hurricane that teenagers can inflict on a family. Dr. Santangelo talks to Dr. Dan about ways to resolve teen-parent conflict and gives us all a new way to parent teens.

Dr. Dan (a loving Dad to teens himself) emphasizes how parents must focus on their own emotions and triggers before they can successfully parent their teens. In her book A New Theory of Teenagers and on today’s episode, Dr. Santangelo shares with parents the advice, tips, support, and big-picture overview they need to see the teen years as an opportunity for growth and for positive relationship changes.

Dr. Dan and Dr. Santangelo agree that integrating conventional psychology with alternative methods (such as yoga and meditation and deep breathing) will help a parent approach the relationship with solid footing and then they can work with their teen on  building trust and understanding emotions. If parents bring a mindful and positive and non-reactive approach to their teens, the experience will be positive for each individual.

Listeners will learn a lot from today’s show including:

The importance of being in touch with our own emotions

Parent Time-Outs!

Trust and Mistrust (give your teen room to explore and then lower your expectations!)

The role non-verbal communications plays in your teen parenting

How parenting a teen is an inward journey of growth and change for the parent

And more

The show ends with a powerful Parent Footprint Moment -- Dr. Santangelo reveals how one day in the emergency room with her daughter she was forced to reframe her own feelings of helplessness as a Mom and use that experience to reset her parenting expectations in a positive way.

Christa Santangelo, Ph.D is a clinical psychologist in private practice and on faculty at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Santangelo has been in practice for twenty years and during that time has utilized approaches to change, which include short-term solution-focused work, cognitive-behavioral strategies, analytic, mindfulness-based and others. She was trained at Yale University and holds advanced training in yoga/meditation and using mind-body approaches to healing. For more information visit: https://christasantangelo.com/.

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Dr. Dan welcomes author of “the bible for social media” Kristin Johnson to today’s show to discuss teens, parents, manners and social media.  Kristin is a prize-winning writer, blogger, ghostwriting/creative writing consultant, screenwriter, and editor. Her new book AIN'T "U" GOT NO MANNERS is a go-to guide filled with secrets and common sense for surviving -- and thriving -- in our brave new digital world.

Are you worried about your kids and teens on social media? What is good and bad about living an online life? What do we do when our kids are consumed by their digital life? And should parents be friends with their kids on social media?

Kristin shares the story behind the book, practical advice (including etiquette tips) and more technology rules such as:

Every child is different just like every family is different. Set rules that work for your child.

Yes you can be “friends” with your child on social media.  But NEVER send “friend requests” to your kid’s online friends (unless you really know him or her)

Parents and their children: do you know that most social media apps automatically track locations?  Consider turning this off.

Adults and children all need “breaks” and must set times where there is no device.  (Consider: meals, bedtime)

Kristin’s Parent Footprint moment is about her role as an aunt and how this special relationship even helped her write this book!

Kristin Johnson is a member of the Desert Screenwriters Guild, Society of Children’s Books and Illustrators, and Palm Springs Women in Film and Television. She is graduate of the former Master of Professional Writing Program from the University of Southern California and she has published/collaborated on seven books. Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®.

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Dr. Dan welcomes organizing & productivity consultant, New York Times best-selling author, and expert speaker Julie Morgenstern (www.juliemorgenstern.com) to today’s episode to discuss her new book Time To Parent which teaches the ways parents can savor time with their children and their own time, too. https://www.juliemorgenstern.com/time-to-parent    

Dr. Dan agrees with Julie that parents have struggled with the time equation for generations. In the age of extracurriculars, calendar alerts, and smartphones, the question of how to give your kids undivided attention—and still take care of yourself—looms larger than ever. During today’s discussion Dr. Dan and Julie talk about being present, setting intentions, connecting with your kids, and actionable strategies parents can do right now (with memorable acronyms) and many other topics.

Julie’s Parent Footprint moment is about how she conquered her own fear with her daughter on a vacation and how that single lesson helped her parent well during the teen years.

For over 30 years, Julie Morgenstern has been teaching people all around the world and at all stages of life how to overcome disorganization to achieve their goals. Her mission is to free each individual to make their unique contribution to the world—by helping them design their own systems for managing time and space that feel natural and are easy to maintain. This Inside Out approach to organizing everything gives readers, listeners, and clients the energy and knowledge they need to get (and stay) organized.

Julie has shared her expertise on countless TV and radio outlets, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, The Rachael Ray Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and The National Public Radio. Julie is quoted and featured regularly in a wide variety of publications and has been seen in The New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, Best Life, O Magazine, Martha Stewart Living, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Fitness Magazine and Men's Health.

Julie is the author of the classic tomes Organizing from the Inside Out and Time Management from the Inside Out, both of which have been developed into popular specials for PBS. Julie and her teenage daughter, Jessi Morgenstern-Colon, co-authored Organizing from the Inside Out for Teens. Her workplace productivity and work-life balance tome, Never Check Email in the Morning, is now the basis of a popular training program conducted for Fortune 500 businesses and organizations worldwide. Julie's book Shed Your Stuff, Change Your Life takes her message to a new level, showing people how to use the process of decluttering to 'get unstuck' in their lives. Her latest book is Time to Parent.

Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®.

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Dr. Dan enthusiastically welcomes today’s guest Tosha Schore to talk about a crucial topic for parents and communities across the globe: Raising our boys. www.toshaschore.com

Tosha Schore is a parent coach, speaker and co-author with Hand in Hand Parenting founder, Patty Wipfler, of Listen: Five Simple Tools to Meet Your Everyday Parenting Challenges. Tosha is mom to three boys and an advocate for boys and their families worldwide. She is committed to creating lasting change in families and in the world by supporting parents to care for themselves, connect with their boys deeply, set limits lovingly, and play wildly. Tosha holds a BA in Women’s Studies & Language Studies from UCSC, an MA in Applied Linguistics from UCLA, and is a certified teacher and trainer of instructors in Parenting by Connection.

Tosha's intense work with boys (along with her book) teaches parents effective ways to build healthy relationships with their boys. She lives by the philosophy that as parents and caregivers transition through changes that are natural in life, families can come through those changes whole and wholly as who they authentically are.

Dr. Dan and Tosha discuss the goal of raising respectful, resilient boys by dealing with emotions, hardships, and much more and in doing the work of good listening we are collectively creating a more peaceful world, one boy at a time.

Dr. Dan has great questions for Tosha and her examples (from spaghetti to cell phones!) will resonate with listeners everywhere. The discussion includes parenting strategies that will change your relationship with your boys and the tone of your family.

As the mom of boys, Tosha shares a brave and honest Parent Footprint moment to close the show.

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Dr. Dan welcomes back the inspiring educator, author, and co-founder of Challenge Success. Dr. Denise Pope for Episode 51. Today’s show focuses how to help your child find the right college match. This discussion is based Denise’s recent Challenge Success research and white paper on college admissions. This episode will help parents better navigate the college search and admission process with their child.

In this episode, Dr. Dan and Denise have a provocative discussion about the complex college research, search and decision making process.  Denise’s research and paper shift the paradigm on the college selection journey and the result is a less stressful (and hopefully healthier and happier) experience for parents and children -- before, during and after college selection.

Research reveals that #2 stressor for high school students today is applying to college (the #1 source of stress is overload). Happily, Denise’s work reveals in its largest finding that the key to success is not where you go to college but how you go. The right fit means your child will and can engage and therefore thrive in college and thrive later in life. This research challenges established opinions about colleges and will change the way every parent think about future education of their child.

In this interview Denise gives great guidance on how to select the right schools to apply to and the important considerations including:

Engagement - finding mentors, internships, inspiring professors, your preferred major

Community - find your people!

Climate and location (city vs. country)

Size of the school

Dr. Dan asks Denise to offer one single piece of advice for all families on the college hunt and her answer will provide instant relief to parent and students: have faith and confidence that YES your child will find the right school and will be happy! The new research demonstrates that there is a place for everyone and that there really is NO significant difference between schools - ivy leagues and so-called top tier schools included.

The show wraps up with Denise’s Parent Footprint moment -- kids are always watching the behavior we model whether it is driving or restaurant etiquette or applying to college.

Denise Pope, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, where she specializes in student engagement, curriculum studies, qualitative research methods, and service learning. Challenge Success is an expanded version of the SOS: Stressed-Out Students project that Dr. Pope founded and directed from 2003-2008. She is the author of, “Doing School”: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students (Yale University Press, 2001), which was awarded Notable Book in Education by the American School Board Journal, 2001, and co-author of Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids (Jossey-Bass, 2015). Dr. Pope lectures nationally on parenting techniques and pedagogical strategies to increase student health, engagement with learning, and integrity. She is a 3-time recipient of the Stanford University School of Education Outstanding Teacher and Mentor Award and was honored with the 2012 Education Professor of the Year “Educators’ Voice Award” from the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences. Prior to teaching at Stanford, Dr. Pope taught high school English in Fremont, CA and college composition and rhetoric courses at Santa Clara University. She lives in Los Altos, CA with her husband and three children.

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Dr. Dan interviews husband and wife entrepreneurs and parents Gregg and Lori Ireland for Episode 50 in this inspiring episode about their organization Extraordinary Adventures which helps special needs adults work and live independently. http://www.extraordinaryventures.org/about-us/

Gregg and Lori Ireland are the couple who inspired and continue to help the growth of their non-profit organization, Extraordinary Ventures https://www.extraordinarypeoplefilm.com/). In 2007 Gregg and Lori faced the problem of what to do with their son, Vinnie, who has autism spectrum disorder “ASD” and would “age out” of the public school system and community resources. That’s when a group of like-minded-parents united to create employment opportunities for adults with disabilities. 

Gregg and Lori join the podcast to discuss more about the organization, the documentary their son is featured in EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE FILM ( https://www.extraordinarypeoplefilm.com/ ), and how their own parenting experience and creative thinking within the autism community is helping so many special needs young adults after the leave the school system. 

Gregg and Lauri each share a Parent Footprint moment in this episode and listeners will learn from each reflection. 

Greg and Lauri are helping others, raising awareness about neurodiversity, and changing the world one job and one person at a time.

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