We've had a couple of conversations over the past year about shame with Dr. Craig Brannan, and here we continue digging deeper. Craig shares some specific ways that parents (usually unintentionally) create shame in their kids. He also brings to light a song featured in the movie, Tangled, that demonstrates statements that invalidate kids. It's never too late to take action to break generational cycles of parenting that cause shame. Craig shares how he has used personal failure and confession to strengthen his relationships with his adult kids. After discussing parenting, we shift the focus to the ways shame shows up in marriage, as extensions of the quality of attachments with parents. He suggests ways and approaches that help couples gain insight into each other's behaviour based on their family of origin experiences. Creating an atmosphere of acceptance and responding to your spouse's prior trauma with empathy can make such a difference in a marriage.

This past year has been so hard for families. With lockdowns, stay-at-home orders and closed schools, it has been hard for parents and children to adjust. Mental health issues have increased sharply. What can we do to help our teens? It's such a pleasure to have anxiety expert, counsellor and best-selling author Sissy Goff back with us again to shed some light on this question and share with us her advice to help us through these difficult times.

Dr. Barry Prizant, an expert in autism, challenges traditional views by emphasizing understanding individuals with autism through developmental perspective. He discusses coping mechanisms, communication challenges, and the importance of building trust. The conversation also focuses on supporting children with autism, recognizing the 'It Factor' in communication, and overcoming challenges while embracing neurodiversity.

If you've suffered the loss of a baby or child, or someone close to you has, we believe this conversation will help. Devoted advocate for grieving parents, Candy McVicar experienced the loss of her first baby at 33 weeks gestation. She's committed to assisting other parents who've lost children, raising awareness of the types of care and support that help people heal, and helping your marriage & family survive such tragic loss. 

What is ADHD exactly? Aren't all kids normally a little hyperactive? Can it be due to too much sugar in the diet? Should my teenager with ADHD be driving? Do stimulant medications actually work? If you have ever asked any of these questions, this episode is for you! We speak with Dr Russell Barkley - foremost expert on ADHD - on how ADHD is actually a difficulty with self-regulation which impacts all areas of life. In this information-packed episode, we explore how it can be managed so that you and your child can thrive.

If you've been married any number of years, you've probably at least started to question the naive optimism you entered your life together with. Forgiveness? We're so much in sync, yes we'll need it but we're good. We've got this! Even if you agree that you might face hard times at some point in your marriage, in the back of your mind you really don't think you'll ever have life-rocking grievances you need to forgive each other for. Fast forward several years and suddenly there's the affair, or the porn or alcohol addiction...and then, forgiveness becomes the issue. We're so grateful for Lysa TerKeurst's honestly and transparency about her personal experience walking the path of forgiveness toward her husband and others, and for the wealth of wisdom she has garnered and shares so that we, too, can find strength and healing in our close relationships.

Are you one of the many parents dealing with your kids learning from home? Some parents we've been talking to are homeschooling their kids for the first time. Others are dealing with helping their kids learn online from home. While both these scenarios have significant differences, there are common elements. Today, we pick the brain of an experienced educator and homeschooler, Erin Clark. She shares her approaches, including how she organizes and leads her 3 kids through their education and how she keeps the process of learning fresh and alive. We hope this episode helps lift the overwhelm and equips you to guide your child's journey of learning and you, enjoying the ride!

Wow we had fun with this episode! We wanted to make our conversation with Ian Morgan Cron and the Enneagram personality assessment super practical for you in this episode. So we distilled all the best from our recent conversation about marriage and parenting and then we find out how two married couples (yup - your hosts Rob and Toni and their spouses) work this into the fabric of their everyday lives. We hope this inspires you to "know yourself" as you work on all the important relationships in your lives!

How much screen use is okay? How can you ensure your kid's digital exposure benefits their development without causing harm? How do you guide your kids to develop life skills such as attention, appreciation and the ability to apologize when tech-driven communication trends tend to oppose these skills? Screen use and social media has been on the rise for years, and although technology has opened up new possibilities for growth for our kids, it has at the same time introduced significant dangers for kids and serious challenges for parents. Hear from Arlene Pellicane about practical solutions that help you set your kids up for life with strong relational skills while also gaining benefits from the tech world.

Childhood trauma is devastating. When a child's brain develops it is exquisitely sensitive to stress - before and after birth. Stress hormones literally rewire the brain, affect healthy attachment, and impair the development of pathways that promote self-regulation. This means that when we see highly dysregulated behaviour it is often due to childhood trauma. In this episode we talk with psychologist Dr Michael Gurian about different types of trauma and how they affect child development - causing not only mental health issues but also physical illness even decades later. Learn more about the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study and what you can do to prevent the harmful effect of ACEs in your own children. Dr Gurian also shares his own experience with childhood sexual abuse. (Please be aware that we speak frankly about sexual abuse in this episode).