Aware Parenting Stories with Joss Goulden

In this episode, I have a wonderful conversation with Rebecca Sheikh. Rebecca is on the executive committee of The International Attachment Network and is the Aware Parenting regional co-ordinator of the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa. She runs Flourishing Childhood and loves supporting parents using the Aware Parenting Philosophy. She also incorporates other elements into her work with parents. She has an MA in Counselling in Education from The Tavistock Institute in London, a foundation course in NVC, and has completed the hand-in-hand professional training. She is currently completing the Sandplay therapy, therapeutic play practitioner training and the Practitioner course in Focussing with children. Rebecca shares how she has learnt to apply aware parenting in her family and to embody this approach. We talk about healing our trauma and shares her inner child work. She describes the power of not distracting, not chasing away, not avoiding feelings and instead allowing feelings to flow through our children and ourselves. She talks about the importance of self care and using attachment play and her journey to learn to embody loving limits. We discuss the power of rewind and repair and self-compassion. To learn more about Rebecca, please visit www.flourishingchildhood.com or follow her on Facebook and Instagram at flourishingchildhood.

In this episode I have the pleasure of talking to Lael Stone again. Lael is a champion of connection parenting. Her TEDx talk “Raising Emotionally Intelligent Children” has had over 2.8 milllion views. She is an author, public speaker and the co-founder of Woodline Primary school, a school based on connection and emotional wellbeing. She is the co-host of the Aware Parenting Podcast.   In this episode we talk about how Aware Parenting is so powerful to support our teens to navigate the many challenges that they now face. We discuss the pressure of the teen years including puberty, pornography, drugs and alcohol, sex and sexuality as well as the challenges of social media and the stress of our education system. We talk about how to hold space to offer listening and connection to our teens as well as doing our own healing work for our teenage parts. We discuss how to use attachment play with teens and how to support them to be free to be themselves.   To learn more about Lael, please visit www.laelstone.com Lael and Marion Rose’s new book Raising Resilient and Connected Children will soon be available online. Lael also recommended 2 websites for parents www.culturereframed.org and www.sexedrescue.com To learn more about my Aware Parenting Teenagers Course, please visit https://awareparenting.com.au/aware-parenting-teenagers/

In this episode, I have an inspiring conversation with Abbey Stanbrook. Abbey is an Aware Parenting Instructor and a Somatic Wellness Coach and is passionate about supporting parenting with these modalities to support nervous system balance and integration. She is also a Safe Sound Protocol practitioner and the host of the Somatic Seasons Podcast. In this episode Abbey shares both her aware parenting and somatic wellness perspectives. Abbey explains how she came to aware parenting via Hand in Hand parenting and Patty Wipfler’s work. She describes the power of this approach in parenting her children and re-parenting herself and the deep connection she has developed with her children as a result of practising aware parenting. She shares some of her self-healing journey and the need for us to receive support in order to support our physical and psychological wellbeing. She shares how she has navigated co-parenting and the power of attachment play in her family. We also discuss some of the challenges of practising aware parenting and the need for community, belonging and connection. To learn more about Abbey, please visit abbeyheartlove on Instagram and Abbey Stanbrook on Facebook.

In this episode, I have a beautiful conversation with Chiara Rossetti. Chiara and I discovered Aware Parenting together and were listening partners and Aware Parenting buddies for many years so it was so lovely to talk to her. Chiara has a background in Arts and discovered Aware Parenting 16 years ago and is now an Aware Parenting Facilitator. She is also a Field Facilitator, which remains her number one passion, and is a qualified Facial Reflexologist. She lives in WA with her teenage children. Chiara shares how finding Aware Parenting was so transformational for her family and how she has used this approach to support her children thought some major challenges in their lives. She shares her experiences of learning to listen to feelings and her huge passion for attachment play. We discuss the impact of raising our children this way on the teenagers they become as well as the challenges of holding space for our children, whilst also doing our own healing work surrounded by a culture that does not support or understand listening. To learn more about Chiara, you can contact her by email at chiara_rossetti@hotmail.com or via the FaceBook Aware Parenting group. Her guest article about attachment play can be found on Marion’s website https://marionrose.net/chiara-rossetti-fun-mum/. Her Advent Calendar offering can be found here https://mailchi.mp/a8ecfcb68d11/2domm24f69

In this episode, I am so excited to be talking again to the wonderful Marion Rose, Ph.D.. Marion is a Level 2 Aware Parenting Instructor and the Regional Coordinator for The Aware Parenting Institute in Australia and New Zealand. She is a Psychospiritual Mentor and the creator of the Marion Method for psychospiritual development, parenting and entrepreneurship. She has created many courses and workshops and passionately supports parents to bring more connection and compassion to their families. In this episode Marion shares some of her wealth of knowledge about Loving Limits, a central aspect of Aware Parenting. She distinguishes between limits given in a loving way and using loving limits to support our children when their behaviour is showing us that they have painful accumulated feelings, to release and heal from being in hyper-arousal or dissociation back to balance. She describes the language we can use to say “No” to the behaviour and “Yes” to the feelings underneath the behaviour, in a way that helps us to embody the “No” and that supports our children to feel safe to move into the feelings. Marion also describes how we can offer loving limits to ourselves. To learn more about Marion’s courses, including her Deep Dive in Loving Limits course, please visit her website www.marionrose.net She has also shared many posts about loving limits recently on her Facebook and Instagram pages. To learn more about my Aware Parenting Teenagers course please visit my website www.awareparenting.com.au/courses/aware-parenting-teenagers/ The first live round starts on the 28th November 2022.

In this episode, I have the absolute pleasure of talking to Nic Wilson. Nic is an aware parenting instructor and has been aware parenting since her daughter was 3. She describes how she was in a very difficult place when she found aware parenting and it literally saved her life and her relationship with her daughter. She started her business Peaceful Parenting in 2021 and became an instructor in 2022. She loves to focus on all aspects of aware parenting, but particularly loves play and sharing with parents that it is never too late to start! In this episode, Nic shares about her journey through a traumatic pregnancy and birth and then how, desperate and exhausted she found aware parenting when her daughter was 4. We talk about holding space for crying, learning to stop the guilt and judgement and learning to offer ourselves compassion. Nic describes her love of attachment play for connection and healing and shares her inspiring games to support her daughter around school and other times of disconnection andseparation. Nic shares her wisdom about co-parenting in separated families. To learn more about Nic, visit her new website www.peacefulparenting.com.au and follow her on social media at Peaceful Parenting. Nic’s new wonderful introductory course The Parent Alchemy Journey is starting in 2 days on 29th October 2022. To learn more about my Aware Parenting Teenagers course please visit my website www.awareparenting.com.au/courses/aware-parenting-teenagers/

In this episode, I really enjoyed talking to Dace Flynn. Dace has a degree in politics and diplomacy, but after working in the field for a while, she decided to change her career and become an early childhood educator. After graduating and working in various childcare centres, she became disillusioned with the system and left her job. When her daughter was born, she came across aware parenting and because it was so transformative and lifechanging for her, she decided to become an aware parenting instructor and share this beautiful approach to parenting with others. In this episode, Dace shares her journey of discovering Aware Parenting and shifting from thinking she needed to stop her baby from crying to understanding that her baby had feelings to share and would thrive and sleep well and be so relaxed when she instead listened to her crying. Dace shares how she offers herself compassion and supports herself to heal her younger parts when she notices them coming up in her parenting. She describes how she has used play to heal trauma and to prevent trauma in her family. We discuss learning to offer loving limits and Dace’s decision to homeschool. To learn more about Dace, please visit Dace_flynn on Instagram or Freedom to Flourish on Facebook. To learn more about my Aware Parenting Teenagers course please visit my website www.awareparenting.com.au/courses/aware-parenting-teenagers/

In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking to Devon Harris. Devon is an aware parenting instructor and a specialist in child and adolescent behaviour. She supports parents to meet the developmental needs of their children, as well as to capitalise on undesirable behaviour as an opportunity to deepen trust and connection. She loves Attachment Play and sharing this beautiful approach with her clients. In this episode, we talk about how Devon came to aware parenting and her big picture understanding of the significant impact on the world at a societal level of raising emotionally mature and intelligent beings. We discuss her deep appreciation for respect and autonomy and the impacts of meeting those needs in our children to empower them. She shares her journey in learning to welcome big feelings in her son and the need for community for us all in this process. We discuss how speaking the language of aware parenting has supported us to create more nourishing friendships and relationships. Devon also shares her vision for aware parenting. To learn more about Devon Harris, please follow her on Facebook and Linked in.

In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking to Angela Wellman. Angela is a passionate women’s events facilitator who loves connection, community, nature, parenting and sisterhood. A mother of 4 children ranging from 16 to 2 years old, she is passionate about supporting mothers and creating deep sisterhood connections. Angela has a wide range of experiences delivering programs in areas of Community Building, Cycle Awareness, Aware Parenting, Non Violent Communication and Non-Verbal Women’s Temples, focussing on self-care, nourishment and deeper connection. In this episode we talk about how Angela discovered Aware Parenting with her 3rd child and she describes her experience of practising AwP later and the journey of learning to apply this approach with her family. We talk about connection for our children, as well as the vital need for connection to self and to other women to help with motherhood and the isolation that comes from lack of community. We discuss how to lovingly say no to our children and how to navigate the struggles around screen time. She shares her mantra of “Connection over Control” and shares with beautiful authenticity how she has used repair with her children in the harder moments. Angela is based in the beautiful Margaret River region of Western Australia and is not currently on social media. To contact her please use her email address – wholesomemum@proton.me

In this episode, I have the honour of interviewing the founder of Aware Parenting, Aletha Solter. Aletha is a Swiss/American developmental psychologist, mother of 2 grown children, international speaker, workshop leader and consultant. She studied with Dr Jean Piaget at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, where she earned her master’s degree in human biology. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has written several books which have been translated into many languages. Dr Solter is the founder of the Aware Parenting Institute and is recognised internationally as an expert on attachment, trauma, and non-punitive discipline. In this episode we discuss her latest book Healing your Traumatized Child. Dr Solter shares some of her considerable knowledge about trauma and how it impacts our children’s bodies. She shares how trauma affects feelings and behaviour, and challenges some of the main misunderstandings about how to support children who have experienced trauma. She describes how children are born knowing how to heal and how parents can facilitate this natural biological healing mechanism. She shares how emotional safety, attachment play and supported crying in arms are all vital parts of this healing process. She shares what her research has shown about how adults can also heal from trauma. She shares how this approach has far-reaching impacts on society at large, to address many of the challenges we currently face in the world. To find out more about Aletha Solter, please visit www.awareparenting.com and her many books, including this one, are available from all online sellers. The Aware Parenting Institute is also on Facebook. I highly recommend all of her books.