Empowered to Connect Podcast

Latest Episodes:

[E65] Throwback Episode: How to Change Social Systems with Daren Jones [E54 Replay] Jan 04, 2022

Show notes

Happy New Year! We're so excited to bring you one of our favorite episodes of 2021 with one of our favorite humans on earth, Daren Jones! Daren works with the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development (KPICD) at TCU and is passionate about seeing the systems that are INTENDED to keep our children safe - actually do so. For YEARS now, he's worked in, on and around systems that care for/protect society's most vulnerable children and has been a pivotal part of TCU's work helping bring trauma informed, compassionate, brain-science based practices into use in these systems.

Hear Daren talk about everything from working in group homes to seeing infamous lockup-first family court judges become trauma-informed allies on today's episode!

To learn more about Empowered to Connect, check out our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube!

[E64] Throwback Episode: Self-Awareness is the Key to Empowered Families [E27 Replay] Dec 21, 2021

Show notes

We spend a lot of time on this show talking about examining self - looking at adult attachment styles, considering how to offer ourselves as co-regulators to our children, even talking about self-compassion as the true and better version of self care. Why, then, do we now look at self awareness!? We're glad you asked! Earlier this year, we asked Larissa Gregory to come join us to explain. Larissa is the head of LG Educational Consulting and works with individuals, teachers, administrations and families helping create safe, empowered spaces for children and families. After years in academic leadership, she joined us to talk about why she believes that Authentic Self Awareness is the Key to Empowered Families. Larissa gave several concrete, practical tools for us to walk away with to help restore relationship after conflict, to help restore our own mental spaces as self doubt and stress invade and more!

You can learn more about Larissa and LG Educational Consulting here!

To learn more about Empowered to Connect, visit us at empoweredtoconnect.org, on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube!

[E63] Throwback Episode: Understanding the body's Sensory Systems with OT Mistie Hanks [E39 Replay] Dec 14, 2021

Show notes

Ah the sights and sounds of the holidays! Blaring music everywhere, lights and red stuff all around us - for people with heightened sensory systems, this time of year can be a lot. That's why we wanted to replay one of our favorite episodes of this past year - our episode with Occupational Therapist Mistie Hanks walking us through the body's sensory systems.

Mistie joins us as we take a deeper dive into why understanding sensory processing is an absolute game changer! Mistie walks us through everything from understanding ours and our kids' sensory systems to some practical ways you can support growth in these areas.

We also take a look at how trauma affects the senses and then what every parent needs to know if they're seeing perplexing behavior. Don't miss it!

For more on the brain, body and behavior connection and to read about hundreds of practical tips on a complete sensory diet for your kids, check out the book Mistie recommended in the interview: The Out of Sync Child by Carol Kranowitz

To learn more about Empowered to Connect or to find more of ETC's resources, check us out on our website or follow us on Facebook or Instagram!

[E62] Why Making Memories Matters More Than You Think Dec 07, 2021

Show notes

In case you didn't know, for nearly all of us reading this, the holiday season is in full swing. For those of you who feel the fearful holiday twitch coming on, don't worry - we're here to help you out! Mo and Tona Ottinger join us today to talk about the imporance of making memories and the role the brain and our sensory systems have to play in that process. It is a fascinating conversation and one that is a necessity for all parents!

To read the article that Mo referenced in the podcast, click here!

To learn more about Empowered to Connect, visit us on our website, find us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram or check out all of our podcast episodes and video resources on YouTube!

[E61] Preparing Your Family for Your Family with the ETC Team Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

With Thanksgiving behind us, we're officially in full 'Holiday Season' mode. For some of us, it's the most wonderful time of the year - for others, it's very much not. The Holidays can be hard, especially if you throw kids (not to mention this pesky global pandemic) into the dynamic. As we prepare for a month of gatherings, get togethers and family traditions, we thought it'd be wise to share this episode again today.

Today's episode originally aired nearly one year ago, so you'll hear some '2020' language related to Covid protocols that were haappening at the time, but the message remains - we've got to prepare our family for our family this Holiday season. ETC Staff people Jesse Faris, Mo Ottinger and Tona Ottinger join us to talk about how to prepare for a season that can be challenging on our kids (and us) to say the least!

To learn more about Empowered to Connect, visit us on our website, find us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram or check out all of our podcast episodes and video resources on YouTube!

[E60] When Grief Gets in the Way of Gratitude with Rocky Anthony Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

This Thanksgiving week, we wanted to recognize that sometimes grief gets in the way of gratitude - it comes uninvited into our lives all the time and we need to know how to walk through it when it comes. Therapist Rocky Anthony discusses what grief is and how we begin to process it in our personal lives, relationships and with kids - Rocky lays out the big picture and some beautifully practical things we can begin doing to walk ourselves and our people through grief and loss. This is an incredibly helpful episode as we begin (at least here in the US) the gauntlet of family holiday gatherings. To learn more about Empowered to Connect, visit us on our website, find us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram or check out all of our podcast episodes and video resources on YouTube!

[E59] Together: A Conversation with the Adoption Triad Nov 16, 2021

Show notes

TOGETHER: The Adoption Triad; A Shared Redemptive Story of Love, Loss and Longing

What if instead of being separated into our corners of the triad focusing on what makes us different we found ourselves drawn together through our similarities? Join us on this episode where Tona is joined by her dear friends Carissa Woodwyk and Ashley Mitchell. Together they represent the three parts of the adoption triad in all of its brokenness, beauty, pain and possibility. This conversation is courageous, bold, heartfelt, and raw as it invites us to reimagine moving TOGETHER towards connection, hope, healing and wholeness.

To learn more about Empowered to Connect, visit us on our website, find us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram or check out all of our podcast episodes and video resources on YouTube!

[E58] Listening to Understand with Jacque Rowe-Fields Nov 09, 2021

Show notes

Have you ever had one of those 'foot in mouth' moments where you've realized you've said something wrong too late? Maybe you've held onto a particular view about a person and then found through conversation that view to be misguided? We'd all hope for the second, but we've often found ourselves in the first situation. According to our guest today, there's a simple remedy for this malady. Jacque Rowe-Fields has been leading conversations about sticky topics with mixed groups of people for decades. With National Adoption Awareness Month in full swing, we thought it'd be wise to have Jacque on to talk with us about how to listen to understand.

To learn more about Empowered to Connect, visit us on our website, find us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram or check out all of our podcast episodes and video resources on YouTube!

[E57] Robyn Gobbel Crossover Episode! Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

It's a special episode of the ETC Podcast today! A few weeks ago, one of our favorite people, Robyn Gobbel, sat down with our host JD Wilson to talk about moving from correction-based parenting to connection-based parenting for her podcast. They talked about how hard the transition can be, the letdown of realizing you're not the parent you wanted to be and how to begin again by building trust and connection with your self and your kids. The conversation was so fun and encouraging that we wanted to share it here with our audience as well!

It's a must listen for all parents who have ever felt the despair of not knowing what to do or the hope of finding a new way to parent. Get to know our host, JD, from the OTHER side of the microphone in this special Crossover edition of the Empowered to Connect Podcast and the Parenting After Trauma Podcast!

To learn more about Robyn's work and to check out her podcast as well as the amazing collection of resources she's compiled, visit her website here and don't forget to follow her on Instagram and Facebook as well!

To learn more about Empowered to Connect, visit us on our website, find us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram or check out all of our podcast episodes and video resources on YouTube!

[E56] Let's Talk About Transitions with the ETC Team Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

Picture this: you're enjoying a beautiful day in your neighborhood park. Kids are running around having fun, adults are getting a rare moment to talk to each other - it's euphoric...and then it's time to leave. Cue the meltdown. We all face them in life, so let's just talk about them - transitions. They might be daily, seasonal or major life transitions, but they're all capable of tripping us up in the right conditions. That goes for us - AND our children. We pulled ETC Staffers Becca McKay and Jesse Faris in to explain why transitions can be SO hard for some of us and our kids and to give us some practical, everyday advice for how to handle them a little smoother. Check it out and let us know what you think! #parentingpodcast #traumainformedparenting #parentingadvice #empoweredtoconnectpodcast #ETCPodcast #mentalhealth #gratitude #selfcare #inspiration #ETC #connectedparenting #empoweredtoconnect #attachmentbasedparenting #parenting #parentingtips #TBRI #family

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