Parenting Well Podcast

"We grew up with 'the talk.' But now we know that the best way to talk to kids, adolescents and teens is many, many small conversations that build on each other. We don't have to get it all right at one time. We don't teach our kids to wash their hands once."

Most of us grew up with "the talk," one awkward conversation that was supposed to cover everything. I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and today I sit down with Gretchen Fair, Prevention Education Director at Blue Sky Bridge. Gretchen shares, that's not how kids learn, and it's not how we keep them safe. "We don't teach our kids to wash their hands once." Body safety works the same way, with many small conversations that build on each other over time, starting early and growing with your child.

About Our Guest

Gretchen Fair, LCSW, is the Prevention Education Director at Blue Sky Bridge, Boulder County's Child Advocacy Center. She joined Blue Sky Bridge in 2017 and brings more than 15 years of experience working with children, families, professionals, and communities around the prevention of child sexual abuse.

Her work focuses on helping adults have informed, age-appropriate conversations with children about body safety, boundaries, consent, healthy relationships, and recognizing and responding to unsafe situations. She regularly trains parents, caregivers, educators, and professionals on how to create environments where children feel empowered to speak up and ask for help.

Blue Sky Bridge takes a comprehensive approach to child safety, from prevention education to coordinated intervention and trauma-informed therapy. Gretchen brings an important perspective to parenting: keeping children safe isn't about teaching them to be afraid of the world. It's about giving them developmentally appropriate information, building trusting relationships, and helping the adults around them recognize their responsibility to protect and support children.

In this Episode, we talk about:

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What does love require when your child’s journey challenges your expectations, fears, and instincts as a parent?

In this episode of the Parenting Well Podcast, Dr. Shelly Mahon talks with Cat Lindsey, mother of a transgender daughter, and Cristian Solano-Córdova of Motus Theater about What Love Requires: Stories from Parents of Transgender and Nonbinary Adults.

Cat shares her deeply personal journey, from witnessing her daughter’s joy and self-expression, to navigating dysphoria and gender-affirming care, and learning what she needed to let go of as a parent.

Cristian explains why Motus Theater uses first-person storytelling to create empathy and connection.

At the heart of their conversation is a powerful reminder:

“This is not about you. It’s about your child.”

Motus Theater creates original performances designed to facilitate dialogue on critical issues through autobiographical storytelling and community engagement.

Visit Motus Theater

Learn more about What Love Requires: Stories from Parents of Transgender and Nonbinary Adults, including the stories and performances that make up the project.

Learn more about What Love Requires

Motus Theater & the Parent Engagement Network present What Love Requires

Saturday, November 14, 2026

For more information and event details:

Motus Theater Events

Cat's monologue tells the story of a mother celebrating her transgender daughter's innate joy, musical brilliance, and fearless self-expression. She also reflects on how that joy diminished during high school as her daughter experienced dysphoria, and what Cat learned after witnessing her daughter's joy return following gender-affirming care.

Cat's story offers an honest look at parenting, advocacy, regret, growth, and the process of learning to see your child's experience through their eyes.

Cat Lindsey is a Colorado native and former professional actor who has spent the last couple of decades working in the nonprofit sector. She now works in the renewable energy industry, a transition she jokes will last “at least until I get replaced by AI.”

Cat is the mother of a transgender daughter, and her personal story is featured in Motus Theater's What Love Requires through her monologue, “Joy to the World.”

Cristian Solano-Córdova (he/they) is the Director of Communications, Outreach, and Development for Motus Theater, a Colorado-based nonprofit that uses autobiographical storytelling to foster dialogue, build empathy, and inspire social change.

Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, Cristian is a Denver-based DACA recipient who has spent more than a decade working at the intersection of immigrant rights, criminal legal reform, and LGBTQIA+ advocacy. He helped bring What Love Requires from concept to stage.

Our children are not here to fulfill the future we imagined for them.

Parenting sometimes means confronting our own fears, expectations, disappointments, and desire to protect, then asking a more important question:

What does my child need from me right now?

Cat's story reminds us that supporting our children doesn't require us to have every answer. It requires us to listen, stay curious, be honest with ourselves, seek support, and make room for our children to become fully themselves.

And sometimes, love requires letting go.

“There is a big gap between being welcome and being wanted. It's not just translating something into Spanish so that you feel welcome. It's asking what kind of programs people actually want, because we have things to learn too.” — Melanie Piazza

I’m Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and today I bring you Melanie Piazza of the Parent Engagement Network and Marinela Maneiro-Goodwin of Boulder County's Institute for Strengthening Families. 

Episode Description

In this episode, incoming Executive Director Melanie Piazza and mental health consultant Marinela Maneiro-Goodwin talk about what PEN has learned over those 25 years, and about the collaboration between PEN, Boulder County's Institute for Strengthening Families, and the Early Childhood Council of Boulder County that is trying to answer an old question in a new way. It takes a village to raise a child, but what does that village actually look like for families today, and why has it been so hard to build one that includes everyone?

Marinela brings a candid perspective on the gap between organizations that want to serve Latino families and organizations that Latino families actually trust. She and Melanie talk through what cultural responsiveness looks like beyond translating a flyer into Spanish, the barriers that keep parents from showing up even when help is available, and why being wanted is a different thing than being welcomed. Melanie reflects on 25 years of PEN's work and what she is carrying forward as she steps into leadership, including the belief that connection, not resilience alone, is what actually helps parents feel supported.

Together, they make the case that no single organization can be the whole village. Real support for families comes from organizations that are willing to sit down as equals, learn from each other, and build something that could not exist if any one of them tried to do it alone.

About Our Guests

Melanie Piazza is the Executive Director of the Parent Engagement Network, or PEN, a Boulder County organization that helps parents and caregivers find practical tools, resources, and community support. Melanie previously served on PEN's board and brings a unique perspective to the organization through her experience as an entrepreneur and founder of Family Village, a community center created to support families. She is passionate about building the connections and community that help parents feel less alone.

Marinela Maneiro-Goodwin is a mental health consultant, educator, and facilitator who has spent much of her career working with Latino families and communities. With a background in clinical psychology and organizational development, Marinela focuses on strengthening families through culturally responsive education, communication, stress management, and substance-use prevention. She brings an important perspective to the collaboration between PEN and Boulder County's Institute for Strengthening Families.

In This Episode, We Cover

“Something that Strengthening Families brings to the partnership with PEN is trust. The community trusts us, and that trust comes with years of being there and showing that what we say we offer is true.” — Marinela Maneiro-Goodwin

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading

“One thing that kids think is, I don't want to burden my parents with this, this is too much for them. And when we're willing to say, ‘Are you struggling with suicide, do you have a plan, do you want to die by suicide,’ that opens the door for them to say, Wow, maybe I'm not going to burden them. Maybe this isn't that bad. They brought it up to me, so it must be okay.”

I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and in today's episode we talk about how most parents can feel when something is off with their kid, but freeze right at the moment it matters most. Do you ask the hard question, or do you wait and hope it passes? Jenna Candreia has spent years helping families move past that fear. As executive director of The Liv Project, Jenna works to bring youth mental health and suicide prevention “out of the shadows” and give parents real, practical language for the conversations they're most afraid to start. 

About Our Guest

Jenna Candreia is the Executive Director of The Liv Project, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit focused on turning the conversation about youth mental health and suicide prevention “out of the shadows.” Jenna leads the organization's work from Colorado. The Liv Project was created in memory of Liv, a 19-year-old who died by suicide in 2019 after struggling with anxiety, depression and a non-verbal learning disorder. Her family transformed their grief into a mission centered on connection, fearless communication, and giving people practical ways to talk about mental health.

The organization's work includes The Game That Goes There, creative workshops, digital discussion guides, the My Sister Liv documentary, and the L.I.V. framework (Listen, Identify, Vocalize) for recognizing and responding to mental health struggles.

In This Episode, We Cover

Other Lines Worth Remembering

“As parents we get so scared when behavior changes. Our kids see us as coming in with attack mode, but it's really protective mode. Breathe through that, and ask questions.”

“It's not perfection, it's progress. Our kids forgive us.”

“One of the things I always tell kids is, with social media, you are comparing your insides to everyone else's outsides. You're seeing a snapshot, a picture, that seems so happy and so wonderful, and you're comparing that to how you feel on the inside. That is not apples to apples.”

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading

“Safety is found in parents providing those bumpers, but eventually there is a line. I love you enough to know that this is our line right now. And I’m sorry that’s hard. And I am here to help you find solutions within those parameters.”

Adolescence asks parents to hold two things at once: stay close enough to help, and step back enough to let a teenager grow into an adult. In this episode, therapist Jennifer Jaeger joins us to talk about what that balance actually looks like in practice, from telling the difference between normal teen moodiness and something more concerning, to knowing when to step in and when to let a teen sit with a consequence.

About Our Guest

Jennifer Jaeger is a therapist with Key Concierge Therapy, partnering with Boulder Psychological Services. She works primarily with adolescents, young adults, and parents navigating developmental challenges and life transitions, with areas of focus that include stress, anxiety, depression, attachment, and neurodivergence, including the transition to college and launching into adulthood.

Jennifer is also an equine and animal assisted therapist, incorporating the unique relationship between people and horses, dogs, and other animals into her therapeutic work. She provides therapeutic services in a concierge format to better reach resistant clients, and her work offers parents a valuable perspective on how to support teens while helping them build the confidence, resilience, and independence they need to navigate adulthood.

In This Episode, We Cover

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading

#teens #anxiety #parenting tips #equinetherapy

“Parents, I love you. I feel you. It is something to navigate these waters of parenting. It's not for the faint of heart, and we are thrown into it.” Batya Greenwald

After 27 years as an educator, Batya Greenwald realized the parents she was talking to needed something more than another behavior chart. They needed a way to understand what their child's behavior was actually telling them. In this episode, Batya, a transformative parent and life coach with more than 30 years of experience, joins us to talk about why “behavior really is communication,” and what changes when parents start responding to that message instead of just the behavior itself.

Batya walks us through what transformative parenting means in practice: shifting from reacting to responding, holding boundaries without abandoning empathy, and staying grounded when a child's questions about identity, gender, or independence catch a parent off guard. She also gets honest about the toll of the job itself, telling parents everywhere, “It's not for the faint of heart.”

About Our Guest

Batya Greenwald is a transformative parent and life coach with more than 30 years of experience helping children, parents, and individuals navigate life's biggest challenges and transitions. After 27 years as an educator, she transitioned into coaching, combining behavioral, cognitive, and awareness-based approaches to help people unlock resilience, strengthen relationships, and live with greater purpose.

Born in South Africa, shaped by years in Australia, and now based in Boulder, Colorado, Batya brings a global perspective and deep compassion to every conversation. She holds a B.A. in Psychology, an M.A. in Education, and a certificate in Integrative Coaching. She serves on faculty for PassageWorks and Girls Leadership, is a TEDx speaker, and received the 2023 Impact on Education Award.

In This Episode, We Cover

Other Lines Worth Remembering

“Behavior really is communication.”

“At the end of the day, what is the long view? For me, the long goal with most of my families is that they want to keep that relationship.”

“Sometimes teenagers need us to just sit down with them and say, ‘I’ve got you and I hear you.’”

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading

“We don't want to remove all the obstacles your kids are going to go through. We want to teach them that they can handle whatever obstacles come their way, even if they are feeling anxious.”

When your child is anxious, the instinct to reassure, rescue, or remove the stressor feels like love. But according to Dr. Allie Morford, licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in Child Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, that instinct can accidentally teach anxiety that it's in charge.

I am Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and in this episode Dr. Allie Morford breaks down how to tell the difference between everyday worry and an anxiety disorder, why OCD in kids is so often mistaken for being neat or organized, and how exposure therapy, including Exposure with Response Prevention for OCD, actually works. We also dig into one of her specialties: School accommodations, what makes them genuinely helpful, which ones quietly reinforce avoidance, and how parents and schools can build a plan to reduce them over time.

About Our Guest

Dr. Allie Morford, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in Child Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and teens, and completed a child psychology fellowship in Anxiety and OCD at Children's Hospital Colorado. Her clinical work covers anxiety, worry, panic attacks, phobias, OCD, parent coaching, and broader mental health and behavior concerns in children and adolescents.

In This Episode, We Cover:

Other Lines Worth Remembering:

“We never want to get rid of anxiety. It's a really healthy emotion for us to have. But we are looking for when it becomes the thing driving the bus or making decisions for kids.”

“You're never going to have 100% certainty, but you can control something.”

“Parents are not the problem, but they are a huge part of the solution.”

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading:

#Anxiety #OCD #parentingtips #allages

What Looks Like Misbehavior Might Be Something Else Entirely, with Lisa Shanken

What if the behavior you're seeing isn't defiance, laziness, or a phase, but a sign of something happening underneath?  I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host. In this episode we sit down with Lisa Shanken, executive functioning coach and founder of Tri-Wellness, to unpack what's really going on for kids who struggle with focus, follow-through, emotional regulation, and independence, including neurodivergent kids and those navigating ADHD, autism, anxiety, and more.

Lisa brings over two decades of experience as a health counselor, personal trainer, yoga instructor, and executive functioning coach, and she breaks down how working memory, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility show up in daily life. She also explains why the mind-body connection, emotional regulation, and firm-but-loving boundaries matter just as much as any system or chart. 

In This Episode, We Cover

A Line Worth Remembering

“Giving a child responsibilities leads to independence. If you can follow through with the responsibilities I give you, then I trust you to make some of your own decisions. Start small and build on this.”

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading

“Am I helping my child succeed today or am I helping them succeed tomorrow?”

Welcome to the Parenting Well Podcast. I am Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and today's well source is Dr. Nicole Hipp.

Dr. Hipp is a licensed psychologist, executive function coach, and educational consultant with a passion for helping children, teens, and families thrive. As Executive Director of Collegiate Coaching Services, she specializes in the assessment and treatment of ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, executive functioning challenges, and emotional well-being. Dr. Hipp earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from La Salle University and has dedicated her career to helping parents better understand their children’s unique strengths and challenges. Through her work with families, she provides practical, evidence-based strategies that empower parents to support their children’s development, build resilience, and navigate educational and behavioral challenges with confidence. Her approach combines clinical expertise with compassionate guidance, helping families create stronger connections and lasting success.  

#Neurodiversity #ChoresandLifeSkills #ScreenTime #allages #paretingtips

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"I hear you, I see you, and I am present with you."

I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and today we are joined by Dr. Lisa Templeton. Dr. Templeton is a licensed clinical psychologist, author, and founder of The Interpersonal Healing Center in Colorado. Her work brings together mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral tools, acceptance, and compassionate relational care. She helps individuals and families slow down, listen inwardly, and meet life’s challenges with more awareness and connection.

Dr. Templeton is the author of Letting It Be: Mindful Lessons Toward Acceptance, and her public work includes writing, speaking, music, poetry, and teaching practices that support self-care, deeper listening, and relational harmony.

#Relationships #Confllict #Connection #allages #practicaltips

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