Good Inside with Dr. Becky

Join clinical psychologist and mom of three Dr. Becky Kennedy on her weekly podcast, as she takes on tough parenting questions and delivers actionable guidance—all in short episodes, because we know time is hard to find as a parent. Her breakthrough approach has enabled thousands of people to get more comfortable in discomfort, make repairs after mistakes, and always see the good inside. You'll gain the tools to embody your authority while developing a stronger parent-child connection, helping you become the parent you want to be and helping your child develop the skills necessary for life success.

  1. 7 hr ago

    Resentment, Joy, and Why Moms Don't Believe They're Allowed Either

    Was today a good day? Did my kid seem happy? If the answer is no, even a little, it can feel like the whole day failed, like you failed. Dr. Becky sits down with Kate Bowler, a professor at Duke University, to make the case that happiness might be the wrong thing to optimize for in the first place. Happiness, Kate argues, is really just ease: a hundred small circumstances lining up so nothing feels hard. Which means chasing it for your kids can quietly turn you into what Kate calls a professional happiness manager, smoothing every rough edge before it reaches them. Joy is different. It doesn't need conditions to line up. It shows up in weird obsessions, a dumb dance in the kitchen, a dry pasta fight, a moment at the worst point in Kate's own life (she spent years navigating a serious cancer diagnosis) when something good found her anyway. Kate and Becky talk through what kids already understand about joy that adults forget, why so many moms don't believe joy is even available to them, and a practical exercise Kate uses to name the resentments that quietly block it. Read A Blessing for Parents Who Are Trying, adapted from Kate Bowler’s latest book, Joyful, Anyway. * Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Skylight: Get $30 off a 15-inch Skylight Calendar at myskylight.com/beckyGirl Scouts: If you have a daughter in kindergarten through 12th grade, visit girlscouts.org to learn moreYoto: Get 15% off your order with the code DRBECKY15 at YotoPlay.com. New customers only, ends October 31, offer valid on select products only. Terms apply.Care.com: For a limited time, you can use the code BECKY35 to save 35% on a Care.com Premium Membership.*Offer applies to initial term of Care.com membership subscriptions. Not applicable to add-on features or non-renewing access fees or services. Expires 10/31/26. Care.com does not employ or place any caregiver. Background checks are an important start, but they have limits. Visit www.care.com/safety. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  2. 15 Sept

    Stop Asking "Why" - What an FBI Negotiator Teaches Parents Instead

    Chris Voss is a former FBI lead kidnapping negotiator, bestselling author of Never Split The Difference, and founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group; a negotiation, training, coaching, and consulting organization that teaches people how to achieve better outcomes in high-stakes conversations. Today, he teaches some of these same skills to parents - and it turns out the thing that gets a hostage-taker to put down a weapon isn't that different from what gets your eight-year-old to put down the tablet. Obviously, kids aren’t actual hostage-takers, but in this conversation, Chris and Dr. Becky get into why kids saying "no" is actually a sign of a healthy nervous system, not defiance. Why "how was your day" always gets you "fine," and the one-word fix that doesn't. Why asking your kid "why" almost always backfires, and what to ask instead. And the reframe Chris uses with his own team to get a reluctant partner, coworker, or teenager to actually engage: "are you against this?" * Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Frida: Shop Frida at Amazon, Target, and Walmart todayAirbnb: Host your home or book your next stay on AirbnbSmartyPants: Shop SmartyPants Vitamins at Target, Walmart, or Amazon todayCare.com: For a limited time, you can use the code BECKY35 to save 35% on a Care.com Premium Membership.*Offer applies to initial term of Care.com membership subscriptions. Not applicable to add-on features or non-renewing access fees or services. Expires 10/31/26. Care.com does not employ or place any caregiver. Background checks are an important start, but they have limits. Visit www.care.com/safety. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  3. 1 Sept

    A Different Take on Screen Time - Revisit

    We all know too much screen time isn’t good for kids—and our instinct as parents is to protect them from it. But when fear shapes how we manage screens at home, it can quickly turn into shame the moment they pick one up. In today’s world, where screens are woven into so much of daily life, the real challenge is to face that reality with thoughtfulness – and to make choices guided by our values, not by guilt. In this favorite episode from the archive, Dr. Becky sits down with screen time expert Ash Brandon, EdS (@thegamereducator) to talk about the moral judgments, practical boundaries, and family-specific choices that shape our approach to screens. * Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: SmartyPants: Shop SmartyPants Vitamins at Target, Walmart, or Amazon today Frida: Shop Frida at Amazon, Target, and Walmart today Pampers Easy Ups: Start your potty training journey with Peppa Pig Pampers Easy Ups Care.com: For a limited time, you can use the code BECKY35 to save 35% on a Care.com Premium Membership.* *Offer applies to initial term of Care.com membership subscriptions. Not applicable to add-on features or non-renewing access fees or services. Expires 10/31/26. Care.com does not employ or place any caregiver. Background checks are an important start, but they have limits. Visit www.care.com/safety. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  4. 25 Aug

    The Second Cutting of the Cord: What Actually Happens When You Go Back to Work

    Twelve weeks of parental leave. Then you're back at your desk, wondering why it feels so hard. Today we’re posting an episode from Rattled, our podcast for parents of newborns and babies, because it’s about something everybody experiences. It’s the final part of our three-part series with Care.com on finding care for your baby, and it's about a transition nobody preps you for: going back to work. Dr. Becky sits down with Lauren Smith Brody, journalist and author of The Fifth Trimester, who's interviewed hundreds of working moms about this exact moment (and lived it herself). Lauren calls her own first day back "the second cutting of the cord." She's got names for feelings you didn't know had names: benevolent discrimination, gatekeeping, the 0.5x version of yourself who has to show up the second you walk through your front door. They also get practical: how to turn decisions into systems before decision fatigue wrecks your evening, what a "ramp up" program actually looks like, and why mom guilt is, in Lauren's words, "a sexist, classist social construct" you can solve for like a math problem. This episode is brought to you in partnership with Care.com. Find background-checked nannies, sitters, and daycares at Care.com, and use code BECKY35 for 35% off your membership. * Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Pampers Easy Ups: Start your potty training journey with Peppa Pig Pampers Easy Ups Airbnb: Host your home or book your next stay on Airbnb LMNT: Get a free gift with your purchase at drinkLMNT.com/goodinside Oso & Me: Use the code OSOGOOD15 for 15% off clothes newborn through age ten Care.com: For a limited time, you can use the code BECKY35 to save 35% on a Care.com Premium Membership.* *Offer applies to initial term of Care.com membership subscriptions. Not applicable to add-on features or non-renewing access fees or services. Expires 10/31/26. Care.com does not employ or place any caregiver. Background checks are an important start, but they have limits. Visit www.care.com/safety. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

About

Join clinical psychologist and mom of three Dr. Becky Kennedy on her weekly podcast, as she takes on tough parenting questions and delivers actionable guidance—all in short episodes, because we know time is hard to find as a parent. Her breakthrough approach has enabled thousands of people to get more comfortable in discomfort, make repairs after mistakes, and always see the good inside. You'll gain the tools to embody your authority while developing a stronger parent-child connection, helping you become the parent you want to be and helping your child develop the skills necessary for life success.

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