

Connected Parenting
Jennifer Kolari
Connected Parenting shares techniques that therapists use to help parents soothe their child as well as enhance the parent-child bond and is based on the understanding that correcting and guiding behavior works best when it is preceded by and linked to empathy. At the heart of this parenting model is the CALM Technique which helps parents accurately attune to children’s affect and experience. These empathic interactions release reward chemicals in the brain that stimulate positive emotions and increase order and balance in the nervous system. Reward chemicals, including natural opiates, endorphins, and a powerful hormone called oxytocin, reduce and inhibit stress hormones and bathe the brain in positive emotions that ripple through every cell in the body. The benefits of empathy and compassion have a strong base in science that cannot be underestimated. Simply put, it is brain food, the emotional nutrition all of us need, perhaps our children most of all.
Although many parenting techniques stress the importance of empathy, Connected Parenting will show you how to use it skillfully to repair frayed bonds, deescalate tantrums, contain and correct difficult behaviors and help your child to become more confident and emotionally resilient. We use a collaborative and supportive coaching model and provide inspirational, easy-to-understand techniques grounded in neuroscience and attachment. In the end, your child will be more compliant, more relaxed, and – most importantly – happier. Connected Parenting will bring out the best in you and your child.
Although many parenting techniques stress the importance of empathy, Connected Parenting will show you how to use it skillfully to repair frayed bonds, deescalate tantrums, contain and correct difficult behaviors and help your child to become more confident and emotionally resilient. We use a collaborative and supportive coaching model and provide inspirational, easy-to-understand techniques grounded in neuroscience and attachment. In the end, your child will be more compliant, more relaxed, and – most importantly – happier. Connected Parenting will bring out the best in you and your child.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 16, 2022 • 19min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 72 – Kids Who Beg & Badger
I hear this so often from parents that I work with regarding their kids; often gladiator and ADHD kids who fixate on something that they just have to have. They will beg and badger until the adult is completely worn down, exhausted and gives in.
Over time, the rewarding of that pattern is actually laying down neural pathways in the brain that cause that brain to know “Oh, I have to escalate, I have to start at this level in order to get my way.”
Then the next time they just start at a higher and higher level to try and get the thing that they want. The brain remembers, and it is why these behaviors tend to become more exaggerated and intense over time.
…until we're like, “Fine,OKAY!”...and then we make a deal. “But you have to do this!”
The unfortunate part the eager child in the moment to get what it is they want will agree but then often not keep their end of the deal. In turn making us very, very frustrated and left wondering what to do.
If you can relate, then please join me for some strategies on what you can do to get ahead of this behaviour and stand strong no matter what the kids and or teens in your life throw your way.
MEET JENNIFER KOLARI
Jennifer Kolari is the host of the “Connected Parenting” weekly podcast and the co-host of “The Mental Health Comedy” podcast. Kolari is a frequent guest on Nationwide morning shows and podcasts in th US and Canada. Her advice can also be found in many Canadian and US magazines such as; Today’s Parent, Parents Magazine and Canadian Family.
Kolari’s powerful parenting model is based on the neurobiology of love, teaching parents how to use compassion and empathy as powerful medicine to transform challenging behavior and build children’s emotional resilience and emotional shock absorbers.
Jennifer’s wisdom, quick wit and down to earth style help parents navigate modern-day parenting problems, offering real-life examples as well as practical and effective tools and strategies.
Her highly entertaining, inspiring workshops are shared with warmth and humour, making her a crowd-pleasing speaker with schools, medical professionals, corporations and agencies throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
One of the nation’s leading parenting experts, Jennifer Kolari, is a highly sought- after international speaker and the founder of Connected Parenting. A child and family therapist with a busy practice based in San Diego and Toronto, Kolari is also the author of Connected Parenting: How to Raise A Great Kid(Penguin Group USA and Penguin Canada, 2009) and You’re Ruining My Life! (But Not Really) Surviving the Teenage Years with Connected Parenting (Penguin Canada, 2011).
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others would love to listen, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.
Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode, or want to be a guest on the show? Leave a comment in the section below or visit the website to contact me!
Follow The Podcast
If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon, or whatever your favorite podcast app is!
Leave Us an Apple Podcasts Review
Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Don't forget to visit our Connected Parenting Youtube Channel! Check it out! Like us and Subscribe!

May 9, 2022 • 32min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 71 – Love vs Fear – A Conversation with Natalie
Today I am joined again by Natalie and we are talking about the continuum between love and fear. Human beings really only have two emotions, love and fear. Although we don't always know in our bodies when it's fear because at some point, they blend together and it can get really confusing.
Many parents think they are parenting from a place of love but when they dig through the layers, they're actually parenting from a level of fear.
Join Natalie and I today as we discuss what it means to parent from a place of love , how to tell when that has transitioned into one of fear and share strategies for managing the situation when it arises.
JENNIFER’S TAKEAWAYS:
Intro (00:00)
Parenting From Fear (1:59)
Our Brain Is Like An Instrument (5:58)
Willing To Be Open (4:16)
Escalations Become Further Apart (15:43)
Roleplay (20:23)
Fight Or Flight State (22:14)
MEET JENNIFER KOLARI
Jennifer Kolari is the host of the “Connected Parenting” weekly podcast and the co-host of “The Mental Health Comedy” podcast. Kolari is a frequent guest on Nationwide morning shows and podcasts in th US and Canada. Her advice can also be found in many Canadian and US magazines such as; Today’s Parent, Parents Magazine and Canadian Family.
Kolari’s powerful parenting model is based on the neurobiology of love, teaching parents how to use compassion and empathy as powerful medicine to transform challenging behavior and build children’s emotional resilience and emotional shock absorbers.
Jennifer’s wisdom, quick wit and down to earth style help parents navigate modern-day parenting problems, offering real-life examples as well as practical and effective tools and strategies.
Her highly entertaining, inspiring workshops are shared with warmth and humour, making her a crowd-pleasing speaker with schools, medical professionals, corporations and agencies throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
One of the nation’s leading parenting experts, Jennifer Kolari, is a highly sought- after international speaker and the founder of Connected Parenting. A child and family therapist with a busy practice based in San Diego and Toronto, Kolari is also the author of Connected Parenting: How to Raise A Great Kid(Penguin Group USA and Penguin Canada, 2009) and You’re Ruining My Life! (But Not Really) Surviving the Teenage Years with Connected Parenting (Penguin Canada, 2011).
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others would love to listen, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.
Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode, or want to be a guest on the show? Leave a comment in the section below or visit the website to contact me!
Follow The Podcast
If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon, or whatever your favorite podcast app is!
Leave Us an Apple Podcasts Review
Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Don't forget to visit our Connected Parenting Youtube Channel! Check it out! Like us and Subscribe!

May 2, 2022 • 16min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 70 – [REPLAY] Video Game and Social Media Battles
As a child and family therapist, I'm becoming increasingly concerned with children's irritability. They're almost living in addictive behavior with a; "Get out of my way I need this" mentality where they are sacrificing, playing outside, being creative, or working on homework so they can get back to their games or onto their favourite social platform.
They are getting hysterically upset when the games are taken away or turned off and it's causing a lot of problems in households everywhere.
Join me this week to hear me share effective ways to limit and regulate your kid's screen time, on both social media and online games. Together let's teach them how to use both moderately and not at the expense of the other areas on their lives.
MEET JENNIFER KOLARI
Jennifer Kolari is the host of the “Connected Parenting” weekly podcast and the co-host of “The Mental Health Comedy” podcast. Kolari is a frequent guest on Nationwide morning shows and podcasts in th US and Canada. Her advice can also be found in many Canadian and US magazines such as; Today’s Parent, Parents Magazine and Canadian Family.
Kolari’s powerful parenting model is based on the neurobiology of love, teaching parents how to use compassion and empathy as powerful medicine to transform challenging behavior and build children’s emotional resilience and emotional shock absorbers.
Jennifer’s wisdom, quick wit and down to earth style help parents navigate modern-day parenting problems, offering real-life examples as well as practical and effective tools and strategies.
Her highly entertaining, inspiring workshops are shared with warmth and humour, making her a crowd-pleasing speaker with schools, medical professionals, corporations and agencies throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
One of the nation’s leading parenting experts, Jennifer Kolari, is a highly sought- after international speaker and the founder of Connected Parenting. A child and family therapist with a busy practice based in San Diego and Toronto, Kolari is also the author of Connected Parenting: How to Raise A Great Kid(Penguin Group USA and Penguin Canada, 2009) and You’re Ruining My Life! (But Not Really) Surviving the Teenage Years with Connected Parenting (Penguin Canada, 2011).
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others would love to listen, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.
Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode, or want to be a guest on the show? Leave a comment in the section below or visit the website to contact me!
Follow The Podcast
If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can follow us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon, or whatever your favorite podcast app is!
Leave Us an Apple Podcasts Review
Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Don't forget to visit our Connected Parenting Youtube Channel! Check it out! Like us and Subscribe!

Apr 25, 2022 • 24min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 69 – Parental Trauma
If you are the parent of a child that is struggling it can be devastating and traumatic. Join me as to hear my tips for managing hard days.

Apr 19, 2022 • 50min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 68 – Connections That Create Healthier, More Resilient Kids with Blake Schofield
Today, Blake Schofield welcomes me to her show "The Bridge to Fulfillment" where I share powerful insights and real-life examples of challenges that every parent is struggling with.

Apr 11, 2022 • 27min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 67 – Creativity, Play And Exploration With Zoe Kolari
On today’s episode I am joined by my daughter Zoe who does pediatric creative, fun, playful work with children teaching them how to control their emotions so they don’t control them.

Apr 4, 2022 • 1h 6min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 66 – [MY INTERVIEW ON “WHAT THE PARENT” ] Gladiator Kids Got You Feeling Crazy?
Today I am on "What The Parent" podcast with PJ and Cara - Listen in to hear me share how to approach prickly teens with love, intention, and most importantly ruthless compassion.

Mar 28, 2022 • 19min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 65 – [REPLAY] When You Love Your Kid But Don’t Like Them Very Much
We love our kids like crazy, but sometimes we don't like them. In fact, a lot of the time we don't like them, if they're a gladiator and being really difficult, challenging and aggressive and we're not supposed to talk about that.

Mar 21, 2022 • 23min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 64 – Controlling Anger So It Doesn’t Control You
Join me for this week's episode to hear the facts about anger and what we as parents can do to help ourselves while also teaching our children what it looks like to manage anger when it rears its ugly head.

Mar 14, 2022 • 21min
CONNECTED PARENTING EPISODE 63 – The Truth About Lying: Teen Edition
There are four different types of lying that we, parents need to be aware of.
Join me on this week’s episode to learn why teens lie and what we can do should it come up in our household.


