Securely Attached

How and what we feed our child can be a polarizing topic for many parents. But we can likely all agree that we want our children to have a healthy, balanced and open relationship to food. Joining me on the podcast is the CEO of Square Baby and registered dietician & nutritionist, Katie Thomson. We'll talk about ways parents can tune out societal pressures and instead tune into our own children's cues, way for establishing balanced and realistic expectations of our kids (and ourselves), and how we can nurture a healthy relationship between our children and food, right from the start. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsarahbren/ ✨ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter: https://drsarahbren.com/join-newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources: https://drsarahbren.com/resources

Joining me today is my partner from our joint practice Upshur Bren Psychology Group, Dr. Emily Upshur. We're diving into Diana Baumrind's 4 parenting styles - Permissive, Authoritative, Authoritarian and Neglectful - in order to help guide one mom who wonders how she can break the cycle and raise her child differently from the authoritarian way she herself was raised. We'll get into the characteristics of each of these styles, the middle ground where most people truly exist, the reasons why an authoritative style is considered the gold standard in child development and strategies you can use to consciously move toward this style in your day to day parenting. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsarahbren/ ✨ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter: https://drsarahbren.com/join-newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources: https://drsarahbren.com/resources

The ripple effects of how we were raised can often be felt in adulthood as we form and show up in relationships. Joining me this week is clinical psychologist and couples therapist Dr. Marina Rosenthal. We'll discuss the intersection between the work I do in family therapy and the work she does with partners. And we'll offer strategies for successful communication and connection skills in your romantic relationships as well as proactive steps you can take with your children to foster secure attachment. She and I get into the impacts of making kids feel safe and seen in childhood and how this can create the building blocks for their ability to form healthy relationships as adults. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsarahbren/ ✨ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter: https://drsarahbren.com/join-newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources: https://drsarahbren.com/resources

Hearing stories about how other parents have handled similar situations can make us feel less alone and helps give us context of how other "real" parents apply the principles I talk about within their own families. So with that in mind, I wanted to invite two of my former The Authentic Parent students to come on and talk about their experiences becoming moms for the first and second time, and how they've handled the transitions, challenges, triumphs and joys and built their own community of support. And if you're interested in The Authentic Parent: Finding your confidence in your child's first year, go to drsarahbren.com/TAP to learn more and sign up for this 6-week guided course. In the course I'II break down the foundational basics of psychology, child development and attachment science into simple to understand and actionable insights, so you can parent from an informed and confident headspace. Doors are only open now through February 11th, so act now if you're interested in learning to calmly and confidently respond to any problem that arises, connect authentically with your child and truly enjoy parenting! Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsarahbren/ ✨ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter: https://drsarahbren.com/join-newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources: https://drsarahbren.com/resources

Whether it's in pregnancy, birthing or parenthood, being informed and properly supported can make parents feel safe, present and less anxious. Joining me this week is birth doula, childbirth educator and founder of C and the Moon, Carson Meyer. We discuss the role of a doula and the importance of having an advocate and grounding influence in the delivery room and the interesting parallels between how feeling empowered and supported in our birth experience can lead to confidence and calm in our transition into motherhood. Plus we share practical mental health strategies (like finding a community, getting proper nourishment and showing yourself grace) that can be implemented into your daily life. And we dig into the core principle of several different parenting philosophies - forming a trusting relationship with your child - and why that can lift some pressure off your shoulders, help you to parent with ease (most of the time,) and allow both you and your child to relax into a comfortable rhythm. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsarahbren/ ✨ Subscribe to the weekly newsletter: https://drsarahbren.com/join-newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources: https://drsarahbren.com/resources

Pregnant women are being bombarded with a never-ending stream of opinions and advice. How can we find that middle ground, where we feel prepared and knowledgeable without surrounding ourselves with so much noise and worst-case scenarios that we become overwhelmed and fearful? Joining me this week is board-certified OB/GYN Shieva Ghofrany. Dr. Shieva and I discuss ways to reduce anxiety during pregnancy, how to be resilient during labor (and in life) and the importance of establishing a trusting and collaborative relationship with your OB/GYN and the support systems you surround yourself with. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram ✨ Click here to join the weekly newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources

Sacrificing all we have and who we are in our pursuit of being a perfect parent has become a badge of honor in our society. But this isn't a healthy or sustainable model. Joining me today is journalist, community-builder and Not Safe For Mom Group founder, Alexis Barad-Cutler. The pandemic exposed how many of the systems in our society are broken, especially for parents. If you're feeling fed up, angry, and burnt out there is a way to channel that energy into something positive by asking yourself, how can I play a role in changing this? Alexis will offer some potential solutions for ways we can help ourselves on a personal and societal level. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram ✨ Click here to join the weekly newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources

Have you ever noticed the way we speak to babies? Our baby-talk voices tend to be a lot more melodic than our natural speech patterns. And there's a good reason for that! Music is more emotional. Joining me today is a music therapist, psychotherapist and the founder of Baby In Tune, Vered. She and I discuss the power of our voice, how music can play an essential role in regulating our child's nervous system, the importance of lullabies, and strategies for how music can defuse tense parenting moments. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram ✨ Click here to join the weekly newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources

Secure attachment is not that fragile! After all, it's biologically hardwired in our children to connect with us to ensure their greatest likelihood of survival—we have to actively work against our children's and our own biology to mess it up. In this episode, Dr. Emily Upshur is back to help answer a listener's concern about maintaining a secure attachment bond with her baby once she goes back to work. We'll discuss the basics of attachment theory, dispel the myth that you need to be a martyr to be a working parent, offer tips for finding small moments of connection and attunement throughout your day and help you distinguish the difference between your child's feelings versus the feelings you may be projecting onto them. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram ✨ Click here to join the weekly newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources

As parents, we may want to shield our children from any pain or sadness they may face, but if we're honest with ourselves, we know this is impossible. So rather than fighting the inevitable, our children are better served if we work to help them understand how to weather the storm, to equip them with tools so they're capable of processing and working through the full range of emotions life has in store for them. Joining me today is Kim John Payne, author of several books, including the number 1 Best Seller Simplicity Parenting. This episode is overflowing with Kim's time-honored guidance for raising healthy children who feel confident to explore and create, as well as mindset shifts to make ourselves that can help us to be more present and allow us to truly enjoy the journey. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram ✨ Click here to join the weekly newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources

It's important for women to feel powerful, capable and confident during their pregnancy, birth and postpartum journey. After all, our bodies have an innate knowledge of how to do this, we just need to tap into that wisdom. Today I am joined by the creator of the online platform The Bloom Method, Brooke Cates. Brooke and I are busting myths and dispelling societal stigmas surrounding what it means to become a mother. We'll talk about ways you can stay connected to who you are during this massive transition, how to let go of some control and trust in yourself and your baby, and strategies for spiritual, mental, emotional and physical healing in the 4th trimester and beyond. Want to get more from Dr. Sarah Bren? ✨ Follow Dr. Sarah on Instagram ✨ Click here to join the weekly newsletter ✨ And check out her website for more free parenting resources

Joining me today is developmental psychologist Erin O'Connor, co-creator of Scientific Mommy and co-host of the podcast Parenting Understood. Last week Erin had me on her podcast, and we discussed all the factors that made parents particularly vulnerable to stress, anxiety and burnout during the pandemic in part one of this two part episode. And now, in part two, we're talking all about strategies we can implement right now, in our daily lives to reduce our stress and build support systems around ourselves and our families that enable us to find acceptance and to thrive as we begin looking toward a post-pandemic future. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

While I am a follower of RIE (resources for infant educarers) and use responsive parenting principles in the way I choose to raise my own children, that doesn't mean I 100% follow these prescriptive practices to a tee. In this episode, I am opening up and revealing 5 so called "parenting rules" that I break as a mom. Understanding the framework behind your own rules can help you identify and feel comfortable breaking some of them from time to time. It can be incredibly liberating to give yourself permission to be flexible in your parenting and prioritize your relationships, attunement and connection over always getting it "right." I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Dr. Emily Upshur joins me again this week to help a mom whose son is getting frustrated and calling himself "stupid" and "bad." If you've been there, you may have felt yourself start to panic when you hear your son or daughter say similar words. We'll offer you tools to help you regulate your own nervous system in these stressful moments, allowing you to stay calm (or at least calmer) so you can more effectively help your child navigate their big emotions. Next, we review different approaches based on a child's age and how frequently this behavior occurs, and discuss ways that parents can use scaffolding and a growth mindset to build your child's resilience and distress tolerance. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

In this episode, therapist Robyn Gobbel joins me to discuss the lessons we've garnered from our knowledge of treating trauma, the principles of attachment theory and our understanding of how the human brain and body functions to allow you to unlock an effective, yet underutilized parenting strategy. We'll discuss the advantages of addressing the root cause of your child's behavior, rather than focusing on the behavior itself. This process starts with you - understanding yourself, your triggers and doing the work to re-parent your inner child. We'll offer strategies for getting started and tools you can use - at any stage of your journey - to help you intentionally rewire your own brain and nervous system and help you bring yourself back to center. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

It takes a village, but what happens when it's suddenly unsafe to be a part of that supportive village? Parents learned the hard way when COVID-19 hit and we were forced into isolation. Now, as we begin to see the other side of this tunnel, we're allowed a unique opportunity to build back, ideally better than before. Joining me today is Digital Content Director for Parents, Julia Dennison. Julia and I discuss the struggles we personally faced parenting during the pandemic, ways we can all adjust now that hybrid work situations are becoming our new normal and the importance of allocating time for guilt-free self-care into your routine. You'll hopefully find this to be an empowering conversation and a show of solidarity that every parent, no matter who they are, is struggling to juggle it all. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

If you have a toddler you're likely no stranger to tantrums, aggressive behaviors or limit testing. Joining me on the podcast is clinical psychologist and founder of Parenting Translator, Cara Goodwin. Today's episode is all about helping you understand what is happening in your child's brain and body when they become upset, so we can work with their nervous system to help them learn to regulate their big emotions. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

As parents, we often strive to encourage a strong foundational relationship between our child and music. Whether placing headphones on your pregnant belly, attending music class with your toddler, or getting Baby Shark stuck in your head after playing it on repeat - we want to encourage their love of music, while also allowing it to be child lead. Joining me today is musician and father of 3, Mark Joseph. Mark and I will discuss the ways we can authentically create opportunities for music in our homes and how to allow our child's intrinsic motivations to drive the relationship. Mark also shares his own personal experience of finding resilience, self-actualization, and never losing his love of music. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Parents often worry, will my child attach to me? And the answer is almost always - yes! Attachment is less about whether or not a child will form a bond with their primary caregiver, and is more focused on the quality of that relationship and how secure it is. Today, I am joined by the author of Strange Situation: A Mother's Journey into the Science of Attachment, Bethany Saltman. Bethany will break down what attachment is and more importantly what it isn't, discuss the importance of cultivating delight, breaking cycles and offer suggestions for allowing attachment theory to help inform the choices parents make in raising their children. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Parents are redefining what it means to be a working mom or dad and embracing what today's guest, Neha Ruch, calls the grey area. As the founder of Mother Untitled she has a unique pulse on the mindset and challenges that modern mothers are facing when deciding to hit pause on career to focus on family life. In this episode we'll discuss tuning into your own needs to determine what works best for right now and recognizing there will be time to readjust as you and your family grow and evolve. We'll offer advice for navigating identify shifts, redefining self-care, and learning to feel confident fielding the all-too-common and all-too-intrusive question, what do you do all day? I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Masks can cause a great deal of stress for parents - it's one more thing to remember before getting out the door in the morning, can be a source of power struggles, and perhaps the most daunting, the fear that months spent without seeing full faces will impede their child's development. Today I am joined by speech-language pathologist and founder of Let's Gab Speech, Becky Birkenfeld. Becky will answer all our burning questions about mask wearing and suggest some actionable and simple strategies parents can start implementing to encourage social, emotional and language development with their child. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Sibling dynamics can be complicated! And the way we parent the interactions between brothers and sisters often looks different than how we would handle the same situations in a playdate, daycare or school setting. In today's episode, I am joined by Dr. Emily Upshur and we'll help one mom who asks for advice on how to understand and respond to her kids when they're fighting. We'll offer mindset and behavioral shifts you yourself can make, break down the psychology of sharing, and help you set appropriate developmental expectations of your children. Plus, we'll help you reframe the situation to turn these tough moments into opportunities to help your children hone their empathy skills. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Parents often feel they need to be perfectly aligned with their partner in their parenting approach. While it is true that sharing the same overall values and standards do help, allowing your partner to parent in a way that feels most authentic to them can actually make for a healthy and diverse experience for children. And both relationships, while different, can still create secure attachment bonds. Today I am welcoming my husband Danny to the podcast. We'll share the lessons we learned ourselves, so you don't repeat our mistakes. And also offer you tools we used that helped us to get on the same parenting page. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

If you've ever asked, "is it bad my baby naps less than my friends' kids?" "is it too late to break the poor sleep habits I created?" or the all too common "am I doing this right?," this sleep episode is for you! Along with my guest, infant and child sleep consultant and owner of Lolo Lullaby, Lauren Wolf, we'll be busting parents' biggest sleep myths. Whether it's navigating power struggles, setting proper developmental expectations, making mindset shifts, or learning to find what works best for you and your unique child and family - by the end of this episode you'll walk away with some concrete strategies you can implement to help sleep time turn from stressful to restful. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

You don't need to be Ferris Bueller to realize that time moves pretty fast these days. And for parents, that can lead to feelings of stress, exhaustion and burnout. In this episode, I'll walk you through 5 actionable steps you can start taking today to get more time back into your days and weeks. And then, once you've found these extra minutes or even hours, I'll help you take stock of what matters most. So you can be intentionally spending this newfound freedom on things that fill up your tank and allow you to show up as the best version of yourself - for you and for your entire family. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

The postpartum period presents new parents with a massive identity shift and an overwhelming flood of sudden changes. It's important we talk about this and acknowledge that having a newborn is hard. While about 20% of mothers experience a PMAD, there is also a lesser talked about, yet still common situation that can occur. 1 in 10 new fathers or non-birthing partners experience some form of perinatal mood and anxiety disorder within the first year after the birth of their child. In this episode, Dr. Emily Upshur and I will dispel the myth that PMADs only affect mothers, the importance of preparing for this possibility ahead of time, and what you can do to support you partner (mom or dad) if you think they need help. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Millennial moms and dads have a lot of their plates. As the first generation to become parents in this advanced digital age, we're especially hard-hit by the mom-guilt, constant comparisons, and access to an overwhelming (and unvetted) amount of information. Many of us were raised with punishments, sticker charts, and external rewards systems - so it's no wonder we now find ourselves looking outward for validation. In this episode, Marcella Kelson and I discuss ways millennial parents can turn inward, ways to build our confidence as parents, how to break cycles of generational trauma, and strategies for communicating our values to others (especially the baby boomers) in our lives. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders effect about 20% of women. It's important we prepare parents-to-be for the possibility that they may experience this, and the symptoms to look out for. In this episode, I'll be discussing the different forms of PMADs - postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, and a few others. I'll also share who is most at risk for developing these during and after pregnancy and what you can do if you or someone you love is experiencing any of these symptoms. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

In this episode I am joined by professional chef and father to biological, adopted and foster children, Chef Kibby. You'll hear how he uses the kitchen to help his children learn to trust and work through their trauma. And we'll walk you through what goes on in your child's brain when they engage in these activities. All parents can use the 3 step process we'll discuss to help you connect with your own children, regardless of whether they've experienced trauma or are just looking for a fun way to connect with you. Getting your kids cooking and sharing meals together provides you with a wonderful opportunity to strengthen and deepen your parent-child relationship. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Warning: This episode includes discussions on childhood sexual assault and may be triggering for some listeners. It falls on us as parents to push through our own discomfort to engage in conversations that allow us to learn and understand the best ways to protect our children and keep them safe. In this episode, I am joined by Feather Berkower to discuss ways you can arm yourself and your children with tools to prevent sexual abuse. We'll talk about preventative measures, the conversations we should be having with the caregivers in our children's lives, the language we should use when teaching body safety to our children and fostering their sense of body autonomy, some signs to look out for and resources where you can go to seek help. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

When parents have a picky eater on their hands it's easy for them to unwittingly enter into a dance with their child that can lead to them becoming more and more resistant to foods as parents grow more and more frustrated during mealtimes. If you've been stuck in this dynamic with your own child, don't worry, there is a way out of this vicious cycle. In this episode, I'm joined by Rebecca Taskin, a trained feeding therapist and licensed speech and language pathologist. We'll discuss techniques you can use to start gently stretching your child out of their food comfort zone and mindset shifts for you to make that will allow you to remove some of that pressure during mealtimes. We'll also talk about the signs to look out for if you think your child might have a more serious feeding issue and when to seek clinical help if you're worried their food struggles may be more than picky eating and could be a feeding disorder. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Favoring one parent over the other is a very common and developmentally normal phase for children. In this episode, Dr. Emily Upshur and I help a mom who is struggling with this issue. We discuss identifying which battles to pick, techniques she can use to help her child grow comfortable with Dad doing more, and how to handle this often highly emotional situation while being sensitive to the feelings of all the parties involved - Mom, Dad and child. If you're managing similar struggles in with your child, this episode is sure to help! Once you've come up with a plan and put these actionable steps into practice you'll slowly see your child's inflexibilities begin to shift as he becomes more comfortable and trusts in the new normal. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

When it comes to helping our children with sleeping, the goal is to make them feel confident and capable of independently falling asleep and then falling back asleep if they wake up in the middle of the night. Sounds simple enough, but how do we as parents help our children build that skillset? In this episode, my guest Eileen Henry and I will review many of these factors. We'll discuss regulation techniques, how to create an ideal sleep environment - both physically and emotionally - and how to identify when your child is suffering and needs you to step in versus when they are struggling and you can help guide them without fixing the problem for them. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

What do I do when my partner and I are not on the same page with our parenting values, how do we raise our kids, how can we address behavioral issues? In this episode, I'll be tackling all those questions and helping you and your partner work as a team to create a united front. I'll cover when and how to have conversations together (sneak peak: it's the same advice I give parents about when to communicate with their child too). How to determine and define the values that are important to you, both individually and as a team. And how to create a family game plan, so everyone is one the same page on how these values will be carried out. This will be constantly evolving as your children grow, so it's important to schedule regular check ins to discuss what's working and what's not working in a way that makes you both feel seen, heard and valued. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Young children often need our help to get their bodies and minds back into a regulated state after they've lost their cool. One of the most effective tools parents can use to do this is to coregulate with their child. Start by making sure you're regulated yourself, then become a solid and grounding presence, and continue holding firm to the limits you've set. In this episode, I am joined by Dana Rosenbloom of Dana's Kids and together she and I cover exactly how parents can follow this process to help their child transition back into a calm and regulated frame of mind. Eventually, the goal is for your child to be able to internalize the skills you've taught them through coregulating with them and, after a bit of practice and patience, they will begin to have the ability to soothe themselves independently. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨ Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

I'm joined by Deborah Carlisle Solomon and together we'll discuss 3 easy to implement and actionable steps parents can start taking today to strengthen trust and cooperation in their parent-child relationships - and the best part is that you can add them right into the routines you've already established! I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Dr. Sarah and Dr. Emily respond to a mom who is asking for help figuring out what to do when her child says "I hate you!" or uses hurtful language. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Jennie Monness, creator of @momommies and co-founder of Union Square Play and I discuss what exactly the function of play is (spoiler alert - it's more than you might imagine), why play is so important for healthy development, and how to create a safe and enriching environment for your child. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

In my deep dive on the topic of attachment theory I'll review the nuts and bolts of exactly what it is and why secure attachment bonds are so essential to the formation of personality and predictive of all kinds of positive mental health outcomes. I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

In this episode I'll tell you a bit more about myself and my journey to create this podcast. I'll talk about how and why I pivoted my clinical work from adults with trauma histories to parenting. And I'll share my passion for helping parents understand the building blocks of child development and how to harness the power of the parent-child relationship so they can calmly and confidently respond to any problem that arises, feel more in sync with their child, and truly enjoy parenting!⁠⁠ I want to hear from you! Send me a topic you want me to cover or a question you want answered on the show! ✨ DM me on Instagram at @securelyattachedpodcast or @drsarahbren ✨Send an email to [email protected] ✨ And check out drsarahbren.com for more parenting resources

Parenthood is a messy, chaotic, wild ride - and guess what, that's okay! I'm Dr. Sarah Bren, a clinical psychologist and mom of two. I've built a career dedicated to helping families find deep connections, build healthy relationships, repair attachment wounds, kick the guilt, and raise kids who are healthy, secure, resilient, and kind. In this podcast, I've taken all of my clinical experience, current research on brain science and child psychology, and the insights I've gained on my own parenting journey, and distilled everything down into easy to understand and actionable parenting insights. Consider this your one stop shop for psychologically informed, research based information about parenting, child development, and the fundamentals of fostering secure attachment relationships with our kids. My goal is to help you to understand the building blocks of children's social, emotional, and cognitive development so you can tune out the noise, stop googling, and tune into your own authentic parenting voice with the confidence to respond to any situation parenting throws at you. So go ahead and reheat that coffee for the 3rd time today, take a few deep breaths, hit subscribe, and join me every Tuesday here on Securely Attached.