Patty Wipfler

Listening to Children Creates Safety, Connection & Growth

Patty Wipfler has worked with parents and children for over 40 years. She teaches a revolutionary parenting approach, Parenting by Connection, based on a fresh understanding of the importance of a sense of warm connection in our children's lives and development. She founded the nonprofit Hand in Hand Parenting in 1989, in order to bring parents simple tools and powerful understandings to reduce stress and help lift difficulties out of their children's lives. Hand in Hand offers in-person and online classes as well as free services, to parents, therapists, social workers, and parent educators in the US and 10 other countries.

Summary:
Patty teaches that children function best when they feel safe and connected to the adult they're with. When children's behavior goes off track, they will recover their good judgment if an adult brings a sensible limit, then connects and listens while the child expresses their feelings fully. When a grownup listens with warmth and patience, the child regains a sense of safety and connection, and can make thoughtful, intelligent choices once again. Patty shows how listening can foster connection, emotional intelligence, and warm, lasting relationships.

Links:

• Website
• Setting Limits and Building Cooperation video class – To receive a 50% discount enter code “happily” in the cart. The code is good for the whole month of November and you will have access to the online classroom and all the materials for one year.
• Listen: Five Simple Tools for Meeting Your Everyday Parenting Challenges, by Patty Wipfler and Tosha Schore.
• Calendar of classes and talks at Hand in Hand

Dr. Joseph Lee

Compassionate Parenting: What Does Research Say?

Dr. Joseph Lee is a psychiatrist with a practice in Southern California. Early in his practice he saw that his patients were clearly getting better, but didn’t seem to be quite “well.” His search to help people truly thrive, led him to a truth-based perspective that he’s been applying personally and professionally, built around developing self-worth, meaningful relationships, and lifelong optimal healthiness. Becoming a parent, made him more intentional about every aspect of his own life – trying to figure out the best way to raise his kids, while maintaining his own health and wellbeing. Dr. Lee presented at UXPA and the Headspace Headquarters on the role of Empathy on User Design and he teaches community mental healthiness classes.

Summary:
If you’ve ever been curious about the research behind attachment or compassionate parenting, don’t miss this interview with Dr. Joseph Lee. He talks about how the behavioral model (using punishments to control kid’s behavior) is based on outdated research. But the overly positive “self esteem” movement of the 80s, also failed to give kids the skills they needed for life. By contrast, current psychology and neurology provide strong evidence in favor of a compassionate approach to parenting and education.

Links:

• Website
• Twitter

Dr. Diane Levin

Using Technology Thoughtfully and Preserving Play

Diane Levin, Ph.D., is a Professor of Early Childhood Education at Wheelock College in Boston. Her work focuses on how various factors in society, such as violence and war, poverty, media and marketing, and mandated education affect children’s development, learning, behavior and play. She also develops recommendations for what we can do to protect children and promote optimal development and learning in relation to each of these societal factors she studies. Dr. Levin has authored (or co-authored) dozens of articles and eight books, including Beyond Remote-Controlled Childhood, So Sexy So Soon, and Teaching Young Children in Violent Times. She is the co-founder of Defending the Early Years (www.deyproject.org), which advocates for developmentally appropriate education in a time of ill-conceived standards and mandates, and Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment (www.TRUCEteachers.org), which prepares materials to help parents promote appropriate media and quality play in these times. She has spoken widely about her work in the U.S. and around the world, and she takes her Wheelock students to Northern Ireland every year on a service learning program to study how early childhood programs can help communities that have experienced war and conflict heal.

Summary:
Diane is a passionate about helping kids play in open ended, creative ways, and protecting children from the harmful effects of screens and advertising. Because we know that screen entertainment is linked to decreased creativity and lower executive function skills such as attention, self regulation and problem solving, Diane encourages parents and educators to be thoughtful about how kids use technology. She shares tips about how to distinguish betweem poor and high quality media and how to engage in conversations with kids about screen use and violent toys and media.

Links:

• Website
• TRUCE
• CCFC
• Book: So Sexy So Soon
• Family Play Plans
• Facing the Screen Dilemma

Dr. Harville Hendrix and Dr. Helen Hunt

How to Have a “Safe Conversation”

Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. and Helen LaKelly Hunt, Ph.D believe that how we interact with each other, in all our contexts—family, workplace, schools, etc.—is the key to our emotional, physical and economic well being and to the well being of our children and society. They vision the possibility of shifting from the age of the individual to the age of relationship; when “relationship”” rather than the “individual”” will be the primary value system of culture. To make relational information and skills available to everyone, they co-
initiated Imago Relationships International as a training institute for couples therapists, Relationships First as a collaborative mission to change the cultural value system, and Family Wellness Dallas/Safe Conversations® as an experiment to raise the joy index of a whole city.

Dr. Hendrix and Dr. Hunt continue to co-create Imago Relationship Theory and Therapy and make it available in workshops, training programs, lectures, seminars and books. Over 1200 Imago therapists practice in 37 countries. Their professional partnership has produced 10 books including three NYT best sellers (Getting the Love You Want, Keeping the Love You Find, and Giving the Love that Heals). Their latest book is Making Marriage Simple (2013). They are working on a new professional text on Imago theory and therapy.
Dr. Hendrix is a couple’s therapist with over 40 years experience as an educator, clinical trainer and lecturer whose work has been on Oprah 18 times. In addition to Dr. Hunt’s partnership with her husband in the co-creation of Imago, she is sole author of Faith and Feminism. She was installed in the Women’s Hall of Fame for her leadership in the global women’s movement. Helen and Harville have been married for over 30 years, have six children, and reside in Dallas, Texas.

Summary:
Dr. Hendrix and Dr. Hunt explain how to create safety in a relationship. Harville and Helen teach a method for having a “Safe Conversation” that is useful for any conversation, between parents and children, romantic partners, coworkers, and even acquaintances. The conversation structure that they outline in this interview has 3 primary parts that even a child could model. It was a delight to talk with Harville and Helen, who have studied and practiced communication for over 40 years. It’s inspiring to hear how they continue to learn and grow in their relationship and with their family.

Links:

• Website
• IMAGO Relationships
• Relationships First

Aaron Schiller

Traveling with Family for 3 Months

Aaron Schiller is the co-host of the Muse and the Catalyst podcast that he runs with his wife Megan (founder of The Art Pantry). He's a family and business life coach and advises organizations such as Yale University's Emotional Intelligence Lab, Life Works learning centers, and Root to Branches. Aaron is also the co-founder of WiseTech Ed. He is the father of 2 daughters and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dr. Elaine founded TouchTime International, to serve children and families, around the world, so that babies can become truly loved, respected and appreciated, while parents gain confidence, learn to read their baby's’ cues, foster secure attachment, and improve physical and social-emotional well-being.

Summary:
Have you ever thought about hitting the road with your family? Even if you haven’t you will enjoy this interview. Aaron Schiller tells the lessons that he learned from 3 months on the road with his family, living in a tiny Airstream trailer. He also talks about two new noteworthy projects that he go inspired to create during the trip: a podcast that he co-hosts with his wife and co-founding WiseTech Ed, an educational technology program that supports parents to take parental guilt and fear out of their conversations with their kids about technology and truly partner with them.

Links:

• Blog
• Muse + Catalyst Podcast
• WiseTech Ed

Wendy Silvers

Mothering as a Spiritual Practice

Wendy Silvers is the founder and visionary of the Million Mamas Movement. As an Agape Transformational Life Coach, Parenting Coach, Author, Inspirational Speaker and Sacred Activist, Wendy helps women birth their visions into being, so that every woman, person and child is safe, fed, housed, loved, clothed, educated and celebrated. For the past 29 years Wendy has been immersed in the 12-Step Recovery Movement, Spiritual Growth and Transformation, and Business mentoring.

Summary:
In this wide ranging conversation, Wendy Silvers talks about many of the ways in which mothers struggle in these uncertain times. With her soulful wisdom, she gives practical tips and heartfelt ideas about how we can tune into ourselves, move away from perfectionism, be present for our children, support our teens in navigating social media, and how to have honest but age appropriate conversations about “bad” things happening in our world. (Please pardon the gremlin sounds. We had some technical difficulties.)

Links:

• Website

Dr. Eve Ekman

How Empathy Makes Us More Resilient and Better Caregivers

Eve Ekman is a UC Berkeley and UCSF Integrative medicine trained social scientist and teacher of emotional awareness. Eve’s experience as a frontline social worker in the emergency room inspired her to develop emotion, compassion and mindfulness based interventions for professional caregivers. Currently Eve is a clinical instructor through UCSF’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Faculty at Wisdom Labs alongside ongoing research. In addition to her academic training, Eve is a second generation emotion researcher and has had meaningful collaborations with her father, renowned emotion researcher Dr. Paul Ekman. Their most recent project, The Atlas of Emotions, is an online visual tool to teach a language for improving our emotional awareness was a project commissioned and supported by the Dalai Lama. Eve is the co- lead instructor for Cultivating Emotional Balance, an evidenced based meditation and emotion regulation training developed by Dr. Ekman Sr. and Buddhist scholar Alan Wallace at a contemplative science conference in 2000.

Eve’s writing on empathy, burnout and compassion has appeared in peer reviewed journals as well as invited book chapters. She has been an invited speaker in Sao Paolo, Singapore and beyond. Eve is a regular practitioner of meditation, yoga and cold water surfing and brings her enthusiasm of living a rich emotional life into her teaching.

Summary:
Dr. Eve Ekman believes that empathy doesn’t have to be taught, it’s a natural language that we are born with. She explains the difference between empathy and compassion and how we need both! Her research showed that people in high stress jobs were able to avoid burnout when they also had high levels of meaning–the same is true of parents and teachers. Eve shows us that when we continue to learn about our own emotions and show kindness to ourselves, the more effective we can be with our kids.

Links:

• Website
• Atlas of Emotions

Theo Koffler

Chronic Illness and Mindful Parenting

Theo Koffler is an award-winning social entrepreneur and founder of Mindfulness Without Borders, which advances mindfulness-based social and emotional competencies in educational, healthcare and corporate settings around the world. Author, public speaker, philanthropist and Instructor at The University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Education, she passionately advocates for ‘whole-student” education, with a special focus in conflict and post-conflict countries. Most recently, Theo launched RETHINK Digital Kit a digital educational resource with over 100 activities to help strengthen mental health in youth.

Summary:
Theo Koffler shares how she used mindfulness to help take away some of the struggle of being a parenting with a chronic illness. While mindfulness might not change our circumstances, it can change how we relate to those circumstances, lessening guilt and suffering, and bringing hope. Theo reminds us that we are not our thoughts, we are “the person who gets to decide which thoughts to take seriously and which thoughts are useful”. Recognizing that we are not our thoughts allows us to separate from the pain or suffering, and actually feel better. If you or someone you love has a chronic illness, don’t miss Theo’s wisdom.

Links:

• Website
• RETHiNK Digital Kit
• Facebook
• Twitter

Tomis Parker

Agile Learning Centers, An Innovation in Education

Tomis Parker has been facilitating in Self-Directed Education environments since 2009. He helped birth the first Agile Learning Center in NYC and served as the Director for three years, where he led the development of the ALC brand and its Agile Learning Facilitator community. He now lives in Charlotte, NC where he works and plays at ALC Mosaic, an agile learning community currently serving ages 2-15.

Tomis is a big picture thinker, micro-culture creator, and builder of metaphorical bridges. This past year he project-managed the launch of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education and continued coaching new ALC startup projects. Tomis believes there's a fundamental shift needed in how we view children — that we can only create a better world by trusting and empowering young people to do so, rather than continuing to train them to fit into the one we have.

Summary:
Tomis Parker talks about some of the advantages of trusting children and giving them the freedom to follow their passions and interests rather than having to conform to a prescribed curriculum. His thought provoking interview is must see for anyone interested in alternative learning environments. He describes his experiences forming two Agile Learning Centers (ALC) and launching the Alliance for Self Directed Education. He shares resources and advice for those interested in starting an ALC.

Links:

• Agile Learning Centers Network
• ALC Mosaic
• Alliance for Self-Directed Education

Dr. John Duffy

Radical Optimism for Raising Teens and Tweens

Dr. John Duffy is a highly sought-after clinical psychologist, media expert, number one best-selling author of The Available Parent, and host of the popular Undue Anxiety podcast.

He has been working with individuals, couples, teens, and families for nearly twenty years.
He is a regular parenting and relationship expert on Steve Harvey, and is a regular guest expert on WGN radio in Chicago and the Morning Blend on NBC TV. He also appears on numerous other national and local television and radio outlets, and is cited frequently in national print and online publications. These include the Today show, Fox News, Fox Good Day Chicago, WGN-TV, NPR, the Huffington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Redbook, Time, Good Housekeeping, Men’s Health, Chicago Parent, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Wired, Parenting, Your Teen, Parents, Family Circle, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and Real Simple magazine.

Dr. Duffy speaks extensively in both public and corporate forums, presenting on a number of topics including stress management, work/life balance, relationships, and parenting. His clients have included American Express, Sears Roebuck, Allstate, General Electric, Household Finance, Exxon Mobil, Accenture, KPMG, PLS Financial Services, Bank of America, Hewitt Associates, and countless school districts.

Summary:
Dr. John Duffy is a voice of reassurance and wisdom for parents whose kids are in their tween and teen years. He shares how being available–not overinvolved, not micromanaging, not over helping–is what develops our relationship with our kids and also their own competence, resilience, and self worth.
Two things you’ll want to hear John talk about is:
1. What he says to parents when they start lecturing their kids (it’s reassuring and funny)
2. The activity that he recommends at the end of the interview to do with your teen at home (it’s something that you used to do when they were infants and you’ve stopped doing it).

Links:

• Website
• Book: The Available Parent
• Undue Anxiety Podcast

Suzi Kesler Lula

Emotional Self-Care

Suzi Lula is a visionary leader who is transforming the way people think about Self Care and Motherhood.

Best Selling Author of “The Motherhood Evolution: How Thriving Mothers Raise Thriving Children”, a much sought after spiritual counselor and inspirational speaker, Suzi challenges conventional thinking that says that mothers must sacrifice and martyr themselves to be good parents and instead, guides them to the realization that when they thrive, their children will flourish as well. Thus, Suzi is redefining the very nature of our mothering experience from one of simply surviving to one where we are powerfully thriving. Suzi's here to change the world for our next seven generations, one thriving mother at a time!

Summary:
Suzi Lula speaks powerfully about what we can do when our feelings get triggered. She shares practical tools for letting go of guilt, slowing down, and how to be present with uncomfortable emotions, without reacting, pushing them away or covering them up. In Suzi’s interview she gives specific steps for how to find the time to do emotional self care and shows us how to change our mindset around sacrifice and mothering.

Links:

• Resources, online courses and videos
• Free Masterclass: Learning the Language of Self Compassion
• Self Compassion Phrases PDF for fridge

Jay Levin

Social Emotional Learning in Schools

Jay Levin is Founding President of The Big EQ Campaign (BigEQ.org), a mass advertising and grassroots mobilization campaign to mobilize the public to mandate that all schools include education for students and staff in what educators call Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), which raises emotional intelligence and provides life skills to deal in a healthy way with self and others. SEL is the best reform for school performance and for students to obtain the tools to be successful in life and positively affect society & the workplace. EQ skills are the surest way to make a positive difference in human thinking and behavior.

Earlier, Jay founded and was president and editor-in-chief of multiple award-winning LA Weekly newspaper, which he grew to be the largest, most advertising-rich urban weekly. He has run five other media companies.

A life and business coach as well, Jay created the Life Elevation Process, a new way of transforming yourself, your relationship, your business or career – and for up-leveling the world. ( See Jaylevin.com.) He also created CEO Elevation, an advisory project for CEOs seeking to expand their business and skills rapidly in a socially-conscious manner.

Jay also founded three other nonprofit organizations. One dealt with human rights violations in Central America, one with poverty and hunger in Los Angeles County, and one with money out of politics.

Summary:
Jay Levin is passionate about teachers and schools getting the support that they need to implement social emotional learning in all classrooms, across subject matter. He started the Big EQ Campaign to promote awareness of the benefits of EQ and to provide parents, teachers, administrators and even business owners with materials to educate themselves and to work together to increase the amount of social emotional learning happening in schools.

Links:

• Website
• CASEL
• Edutopia

Cecilia and Jason Hilkey

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen

Cecilia Hilkey, MA and Jason Hilkey have worked professionally with children and families for 20 years. They’ve taught parents and educators to use compassionate methods to talk to kids, worked with children with special needs, and even taught together in the same preschool classroom.

They founded Happily Family to respond to the needs of parents and teachers who wanted access to current research about the brain, and more communication tools to use with the kids in their lives. Their popular blog, classes and conferences touch the lives of tens of thousands of people each week.

Cecilia and Jason have been featured in local and national media including Kiplinger’s magazine and elephant journal. They regularly present at schools and conferences including CAEYC. They have received grants from the Maternal Child and Health Bureau, California First 5, and the Awesome Foundation.

Summary:
While IQ doesn’t change, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) can be taught. EQ is also correlated with success in life. Jason and Cecilia talk about how to teach emotional intelligence while helping a child cope with fear, anger, and tantrums. They have practical suggestions for everyday as well as when a child is “at the end of her rope”. Their presentation is current with neuroscience and attachment research.

Links:

• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter

Elena Brower

Journaling and Yoga for Self-Care

Mama, author, yoga teacher and speaker, Elena Brower is influenced by several yoga traditions and recognized internationally for her expertise in offering practices for approaching our world with realistic reverence.

She is the author of Art of Attention, a yoga workbook that has been translated into six languages and the creator of Teach.yoga, a virtual home for yoga teachers worldwide. Her latest book, Practice You, just released in Fall 2017.

Elena is also an executive producer of On Meditation: Documenting the Inner Journey, a film that intimately explores meditation experiences. She's contributed to the Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, and Yoga Journal, and has been featured in the New York Times and on major network news channels. Experience Elena's filmed practices on YogaGlo and her Audio Meditations on elenabrower.com/meditation.

Summary:
Elena Brower is a soul filled, wise spirit. She describes how she’s used journaling and simple yoga poses with children, in schools, with parents, adults, and elders, so they can know themselves better, connect with others, and increase their spiritual intelligence. In order to care for others, Elena says that we must care for ourselves. She shares simple gratitude practices and journal pages from her new book, so that we can embrace the best parts of ourselves.

Links:

• Website
• Book
• Organizations mentioned in interview:
  • http://www.wavesforwater.org/
  • https://www.everymothercounts.org/
  • http://www.womenforwomen.org/

Erin DiMaggio

The Power of Heart Centered Listening

Erin DiMaggio is a mom, wife, blogger, children's book author and illustrator, personal trainer, and creator of Wonder Women Unite–a Women's Wellness Group–and Empowering Mamas–an online mothering resource. Erin is active. She’s run a yoga and personal training business, and she’s run marathons. She done adventure racing, hiking, rock climbing, martial arts, and even fitness competitions.

​​She has a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology and a master's degree in Spiritual Psychology. She is a certified yoga instructor and parent educator.

Summary:
Erin DiMaggio knows about the power of listening from our heart. As part of her Wonder Women Unite mini-retreats, she lead each woman in a powerful small group sharing and listening experience. Through listening, we see that we are not alone in our struggles. Through sharing, we discover the inner wisdom that we’ve had inside ourselves all along. Get practical tools to transform the listening of others in your daily life, so you can truly be understood. And hear Erin’s tips for being a better listener for those you love–your children, your friends, your partner and yourself.
(While the audio is fine, we had some video problems at the beginning and end of this interview, our apologies.)

Links:

• Website
• Facebook
• Instagram