210 episodes
Securely Attached Dr. Sarah Bren
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- Kids & Family
Securely Attached is your go-to parenting podcast, supporting moms and dads from pregnancy all the way through their child's adolescence and every stage in between.
Join us every Tuesday as clinical psychologist and mom of two Dr. Sarah Bren shares her expertise and interviews top experts in the field, simplifying complicated concepts and pulling back the curtain on the brain science and psychology that drives and shapes the parent-child relationship.
And now, every Thursday, Dr. Sarah Bren is joined by Dr. Emily Upshur and Dr. Rebecca Hershberg for a special segment, Beyond The Sessions. We’re answering YOUR parenting questions from the perspective of clinical psychologists highly trained in developmental science and real-life moms who get that parenting is messy, and sometimes we have to laugh, cry, and throw out the “rules.”
From toddler tantrums, to effective discipline strategies, to leaning into the principles of respectful parenting, and to managing your own mental wellness as a parent—this podcast is your ultimate resource for judgment-free, research-backed information you know you can trust.
About Sarah Bren, PhD
Dr. Sarah Bren is a licensed clinical psychologist and mom of two who helps parents understand the building blocks of child development and how secure relationships form and thrive. Her work is focused on helping parents find their inner confidence so they can respond to any parenting problem that comes along and raise kids who are healthy, resilient, and kind.
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208. Using Internal Family Systems to emotionally support mothers with the creators of The Mothercentric Approach
When a child is born, so too is a mother.
In this episode, we'll explore this metamorphosis and how the abrupt shift into motherhood can shatter our former identity into many different parts (and why that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing).
Joining me is Rebecca Geshuri and Jessica Sorci, the brilliant creators behind The Mothercentric Approach, which blends Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy with maternal mental health.
Rebecca and Jessica will help listeners understand IFS and how "parts work" can be vital for mothers. By acknowledging and accepting these different parts, mothers can begin to heal and integrate them, forming a more cohesive and balanced sense of self. This integration can shift how we feel about ourselves and how we show up as parents, leading to a more compassionate and effective approach to motherhood.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOTHERCENTRIC APPROACH - FOR MOMS:
https://www.mothercentric.com/for-moms
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOTHERCENTRIC APPROACH - FOR PRACTITIONERS:
https://www.mothercentric.com/for-practitioners -
207. BTS: How can I help my child maintain their friendships over the summer?
Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Hershberg, Dr. Emily Upshur, and I talk about...
2:27 - Reframe your goal from being about maintaining the specific friendships to be about maintaining the social skills your child has acquired over the school year instead.
4:13 - Using summer as your child's opportunity to get to try something new and allow them to explore different parts of themselves.
6:26 - If a child has struggled in the past, the friendships they have may feel precious and fragile now, and that can make kids and parents alike feel anxious that this might go away.
10:12 - It's helpful not to measure your child's social success based on their age and encourage them to have friends who are a year or two younger, if that they are lacking some social skills.
14:43 - Tangible tips you can implement to support your child's social skills and encourage their building and maintaining deep friendships.
19:10 - Having a plan-b with a singular person activity can be helpful for your child to have in their back pocket to play with if they struggle to join into a social group.
✨We want to hear from you! Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions! ✨ -
206. Picky eating, ARFID, and SPACE: How a new anxiety treatment can help your child be more flexible around food with Dr. Yaara Shimshoni
Reduce stress around mealtimes and help your child be more flexible with what they eat!
Joining me today is Dr. Yaara Shimshoni, a clinical psychologist and a clinical assistant professor at the Yale School of Medicine, Child Study Center.
We'll explore the complexities of Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) and its distinction from typical picky eating. Yaara will detail how this severe eating disorder impacts children's health and social lives, and offer practical strategies for parents to reduce stress around mealtimes, encourage flexibility in eating habits, and break the cycle of accommodation that often exacerbates these issues.
Plus, we'll help parents take the guiding principles of a therapy approach called SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), and learn how to apply it with kids who are showing more normative picky eating challenges, that are not clinical, but still can be frustrating and exasperating for parents to navigate.
LEARN MORE ABOUT YAARA:
Yaara Shimshoni
WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SPACE, CHECK OUT MY INTERVIEW WITH THE CREATOR, DR. ELI LEBOWITZ:
Listen to the episode -
205. BTS: How can I use a positive parenting approach with my older kids?
Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Hershberg, Dr. Emily Upshur, and I talk about...
1:53 - What "positive parenting" really is from a psychological perspective.
4:20 - Our child's development is not always linear, it's important to consider their regulation level and other situational factors when we set our expectations of them.
5:20 - As parents, we're often more triggered when our elementary-aged and older kids exhibit "bad behaviors."
7:19 - How to have a productive conversation with your child to pregame, collaboratively problem solve, and reflect on hot moments together once they are back in a regulated state.
9:10 - For older kids, you may need more structured behavioral interventions beyond just validating emotions and reflecting their feelings back to them.
14:17 - How to tailor your parenting approach to your unique child, rather than just accepting universal parenting strategies that may not be a good fit for you and your family.
✨We want to hear from you! Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions! ✨ -
204. The science of “mom-rage” and how to use mindfulness as a tool for being less reactive with Diana Winston
From neurological changes during pregnancy to the demands of parenthood, we explore the science behind "mom-rage" and how mindfulness can help rewire our responses.
Here to help us explore the meaning behind anger, the difference between reactivity and responsiveness, and practical steps to navigate mom-rage with grace and understanding is Diana Winston. Diana is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center and is the author of The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering Your Natural Awareness.
Whether you're a parent struggling with anger or simply curious about the transformative potential of mindfulness, this episode offers valuable insights and practical tools for navigating the complexities of parenthood and curating a mindfulness practice amidst the chaos of daily life.
LEARN MORE ABOUT DIANA WINSTON:
https://dianawinston.com/
DOWNLOAD THE UCLA MINDFUL APP FOR FREE GUIDED MEDITATIONS:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ucla-mindful/id1459128935 -
203. BTS: What strategies can help me be more attuned to my child?
Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode Dr. Emily Upshur and I talk about...
3:10 - What you can be on the lookout for to alert you to the fact that you are (or aren't) properly attuning to your child.
5:10 - Strategies to help parents attune to children whose cues and signals are harder to read and understand.
9:36 - Focusing on a granular moment can lead to confusion for parents, but zooming out can help you be more accurate in your understanding of what your child needs.
13:16 - Being a "good enough" parent is not just something we must settle for, it's actually scientifically-proven to be beneficial and necessary for a child's healthy development.
16:58 - Moments of misattunements help our child learn that there will be imperfections in their interpersonal relationships, which is an important life lesson.
✨We want to hear from you! Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions! ✨