The Aware Parenting Podcast

• Episode 228: Separation anxiety

  In this episode of the Aware Parenting Podcast, which is part of the Foundations of Aware Parenting series, I discuss separation anxiety. I delve into the history and current usage of the term and I contrast Aware Parenting's understanding of separation anxiety with Classical Attachment Parenting's understanding. I explore various causes of separation anxiety, including developmental stages, a need for safety, accumulated feelings, past unhealed separation trauma, and the parent's own past unhealed separation trauma. I also emphasise the effect of cultural beliefs on the understanding of separation anxiety and, as always, I offer lots of compassion to parents and children who are experiencing separation anxiety. I provide practical suggestions, such as the use of separation games and listening to crying and raging, to help both parents and children experience more connection, safety, and healing. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction to Aware Parenting 00:26 Understanding Separation Anxiety 02:24 Cultural influences on Parenting 06:52 Causes of, and Responses to, Separation Anxiety 25:59 Healing Through Separation Games 40:10 The Influence of a Parent's own Separation Trauma 41:53 Conclusion and Resources If you want to learn more about separation anxiety, I wrote a free ebook, which you can access here: https://marion-rose.myflodesk.com/gfm8bc3qf5 I also recommend reading these books by Aletha Solter, PhD.: Cooperative and Connected Healing Your Traumatized Child Tears and Tantrums The Aware Baby And these books by me: I'm Here and I'm Listening The Emotional Life of Babies All of Your Feelings are Welcome If you want to learn more about separation games, one of the nine types of attachment play, you might feel called to do my Attachment Play Course, which you can find here: http://www.attachmentplaycourses.com/join-in I'm also creating a mini course on separation anxiety. You'll be able to find that on my website. You can find out more about my work at www.marionrose.net and my books at: https://marionrose.net/books/ You can also find me here: https://www.instagram.com/theawareparentingpodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/_marion_rose_/ https://www.instagram.com/awareparenting/ www.facebook.com/MarionRosePhD

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• Episode 227: Helping children cooperate with toothbrushing

  In this episode, which is the second in my series of the foundations of Aware Parenting, I talk about helping children cooperate with toothbrushing. I share about my own journey with my teeth and mouth, and how I passed down some of that trauma to my children, and how that affected their willingness with toothbrushing. I talk about the three reasons why children may not be willing to cooperate with toothbrushing, including trauma related to their mouths, and what we can do to tend to each of those three reasons. I offer suggestions for how to respond to each of those three reasons, including attachment play suggestions. Here's the link for my Helping Your Child Cooperate with Toothbrushing Mini Course: https://marionrose.samcart.com/products/helping-your-child-cooperate-with-toothbrushing-mini-course If you want to learn more about attachment play, I highly recommend 'Attachment Play' by Aletha Solter, PhD, and my Attachment Play Course: http://www.attachmentplaycourses.com/join-in You can find out more about my work at www.marionrose.net and my books at: https://marionrose.net/books/ You can also find me here: https://www.instagram.com/theawareparentingpodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/_marion_rose_/ https://www.instagram.com/awareparenting/ www.facebook.com/MarionRosePhD

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• Episode 226: The long-term effects of attachment play with Alex Letham

  In this episode, I talk with Alex Letham, who is the mother of a 12 year old son, Miles. Alex did my Attachment Play Course 10 years ago, when I first created it, and I still share her testimonial and the games she and Miles made up, all these years later. In the episode, Alex shares about the conversation where she asked about tantrums and her dear friend shared about Aware Parenting. Then we had a lovely conversation about attachment play. Alex talks about her grandmother has an incredible ability to play with children, and until learning about attachment play, she didn't think she'd also be able to do that. We talk about how Aware Parenting supports children, parents, and the relationship between the two throughout the tween and teen years. Alex shares about how attachment play helped her son prepare for some surgeries he had, as well as for healing afterwards. She also explains how Miles healed from fear he felt before performances playing the trumpet using attachment play and listening to feelings. She also talks about how doing attachment play helped Miles be willing to eat more vegetables, but also how important it is to not use attachment play to try to get children to do what we want them to. She gives an example of how she trusted his food choices. We also talk about how helpful attachment play is for children and teens learning new things, and how both nonsense play and power-reversal games are so helpful. Alex shares about the power of attachment play when tweens are going through adolescence. She also offers games to play for when we're feeling exhausted, and also for when our big feelings are starting to bubble up. If you want to find out more about attachment play, I highly recommend reading Aletha Solter, PhD's book 'Attachment Play": http://www.awareparenting.com/attachmentplay.html If you want to find out more about my Attachment Play Course, you can do that here: http://www.attachmentplaycourses.com/join-in You can find out more about my work at www.marionrose.net and my books at: https://marionrose.net/books/ You can also find me here: https://www.instagram.com/theawareparentingpodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/_marion_rose_/ https://www.instagram.com/awareparenting/ www.facebook.com/MarionRosePhD

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• Episode 225: A Clinical Psychologist and Aware Parenting instructor with Dr. Jessica Klug

  In this episode, I'm delighted to welcome Dr. Jessica Klug, who is a Clinical Psychologist and an Aware Parenting instructor. Jess shares her journey of being deeply passionate about understanding parenting. Her doctoral research was on the impact of parental exposure to to traumatic and stressful life events on parenting practices and child psychological wellbeing and outcomes. Then she became a mother, and realised that none of the parenting practices she was seeing around her resonated with her instincts as a mother, nor her training in developmental psychology. She shares about how she found out about Aware Parenting, and how it was like coming home to an approach that was in tune with all of her values. Jess talks about the research into the long-term effects of parenting paradigms, and how in alignment Aware Parenting is with deeply helpful outcomes. She also talks about how enjoyable practicing Aware Parenting can be. She also shares about the repair that can happen with our children, whenever we first start Aware Parenting, and whatever ruptures we might have experienced. Jess shares a beautiful memory about listening to her son's feelings as she held him in her arms when he was a baby, and how healing that was for her daughter, who hadn't experienced that listening at that age, and how healing it was for her too. She also brings in the importance of doing our own inner work as parents in order to be able to parent in this way. Jess shares about her vision for Aware Parenting, and why Aware Parenting is about so much more than parenting! You can connect with Jess via her Instagram account, which is: https://www.instagram.com/drjklug/ You can find out more about my work at www.marionrose.net and my books at: https://marionrose.net/books/ You can also find me here: https://www.instagram.com/theawareparentingpodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/_marion_rose_/ https://www.instagram.com/awareparenting/ www.facebook.com/MarionRosePhD

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• Episode 224: A Social Worker also becomes an Aware Parenting instructor with Meg Rankin

  I'm so delighted to welcome Meg Rankin on to the podcast. Meg has been a Social Worker for 20 years, and still works in a tertiary hospital setting. She also has her own business offering Aware Parenting support, general counselling, birth debriefing, and supervision for care and health professionals. She also offers women's circles and mother blessings. Meg shares about how she'd known about Aware Parenting a long time before becoming a parent herself, because of being immersed in the parenting world in her work. Meg read The Aware Baby by Aletha Solter, PhD, and it changed the trajectory of her life. She talks about how Aware Parenting resonated deeply with her. Meg talks about the big journey from understanding and starting to listen to a baby's uncomfortable feelings whilst they cry in arms, to really diving deep into presence and attunement whilst listening to those feelings. We discuss the three different types of embodied experience that are so important for parents to go through in order to feel more comfortable with listening to their child's healing crying. Meg shares about her own journey to dive deeply into having an Aware Parenting community. We talk about the difference between dissociation and deep relaxation, and Meg shares how the penny dropped for her when she saw how deeply relaxed her daughter was after sharing her big feelings in Meg's loving arms. Meg shares about how the seed to become an instructor was planted, and also shares her experience of how supportive all the Aware Parenting instructors are of each other. Meg also talks about her understanding gathered through all the work she's done with women with drug and alcohol use, and the process of feeling pain that the control patterns have suppressed. You can find out more about Meg and her offerings at: https://www.instagram.com/meg.rankin.counselling/ and https://www.megrankin.com.au/

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