In Episode #150 of the “Art of Raising Humans”, Sara and I interview the co-author of a brand new book called “The Way of Play”. She is a nationally recognized play therapy expert. Georgie is the Founder/Director of The Play Strong Institute, a center devoted to the study, research, and practice of play therapy through a neurodevelopment lens, along with Dr. Bryson, the Founder/Executive Director of The Center for Connection, a multidisciplinary clinical practice in Southern California. Georgie ...
Mar 10, 2025•48 min•Ep 150•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode #149 of the “Art of Raising Humans”, Sara and I have a blast getting to talk with Dr. Anthony DeBenedet. Dr. Anthony is a practicing gastroenterologist, author, and behavioral-science enthusiast. He is the author of Playful Intelligence: The Power of Living Lightly in a Serious World, a book about the surprising ways that playfulness influences adulthood. He is also coauthor of Unplug and Play: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide to Roughhousing with Your Kids and The Art of Roughhousing: ...
Mar 03, 2025•41 min•Ep 149•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode #148 of the “Art of Raising Humans”, Sara and I have an informative and entertaining interview with Holly Blanc Moses. Holly is a neurodivergent therapist and speaker. Over the last 27 years, she’s been supporting neurodivergent children, teens, adults, and their families in the areas of emotional regulation, anxiety, depression, social interaction, and school success. Holly hosts The Autism ADHD Podcast, providing helpful information for parents, educators, and mental health therapis...
Feb 24, 2025•39 min•Ep 148•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 147, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, share the 4th core principal of how we parent and how we coach other parents. When we look at all the science and research that has been conducted over the past several decades about parenting, the most powerful and important part of it seems to come down to one thing - Connection. With a strong and healthy connection our children are more receptive and open to our guidance and our love. When the connection becomes strained or weakened then the relationship ...
Feb 17, 2025•32 min•Ep 147•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 146, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, share the 3rd core principal of how we parent and how we coach other parents. Most parenting approaches we were exposed to early on in our parenting, and also most therapeutic approaches being used with children had a “Child first” approach. All the different ‘child first” approaches started with what the child was doing wrong and then finding a way to change it. The “parent first” approach gives the power back to the parents and equips them with the tools t...
Feb 10, 2025•30 min•Ep 146•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 145, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, connect with Dr. Cam Caswell a.k.a. “The Teen Translator”. As an adolescent psychologist and parent of a teen, she knows the struggles of navigating those tough years firsthand. As a private practitioner, TEDx speaker, podcast host, and author, she offers hope and practical strategies to help parents unlock their teen’s confidence and resilience, build deeper, stronger connections with them, and foster a positive home environment. In this conversation, she s...
Feb 03, 2025•46 min•Ep 145•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 144, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, talk with cyber security expert and guru Fareedah Shaheed. She shares her story about how she became passionate about cyber security after she was almost abducted by a predator. She has been featured on NBC, CNN, Fox, and many others. She has worked with companies such as Meta, NASA, and LinkedIn. She is currently serving on Forbes board for the Under 30 community. We talk with her about the number one thing parents can do to keep their kids safe online. She...
Jan 27, 2025•52 min•Ep 144•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 143, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, delve into the second part of our Core Four series. Now that we have discussed the brain, let’s start talking about behavior and emotions. Most of us were raised in homes where the discipline techniques used by the parents were behavior based. Over the past 40 years we have a better understanding of what lies behind the behaviors. The behavior is really just a symptom of an underlying problem. When we coach parents, we want them to know how to look past the ...
Jan 20, 2025•35 min•Ep 143•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 142, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, start 2025 with the first of four podcasts where we share what we are calling our Core Four (don’t know if we will stick with that or not). These are 4 parenting principles we found were crucial in helping us move away from using fear, punishment, and shame with our kids. In this first part of the series we dive into helping our listeners understand their child’s developing brain and the science of interpersonal neurobiology. I know that sounds really scient...
Jan 13, 2025•39 min•Ep 142•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 141, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Kirk Martin, he is the founder and host of the Calm Parenting Podcast. He is also fast becoming an Instagram influencer with 800k followers listening to his sage wisdom. He has currently helped almost 1,000,000 parents stop yelling, defiance, and power struggles. In this interview he shares how the tools and strategies he was using with his son were destroying his relationship with him. Kirk then gives us some his favorite ways to shift moments of ...
Jan 06, 2025•42 min•Ep 141•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 140, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, discuss how to turn a failed parenting moment into an opportunity to learn and grow. Kyle shares a recent moment when he got mad at the kids and reverted back to using shame and fear to change their behavior. We discuss the steps we took as a family to turn this situation into something that actually brought us closer as a family. We know that parents run into so many opportunities just like this because of all the stress and expectations we face during Chri...
Dec 30, 2024•28 min•Ep 140•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 139, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, discuss all the joy and all the stress that comes with the holidays. There can be so much we want to do and accomplish with our kids and this leads to a lot of challenges. Many times our plans to have a “magical” season are seemingly derailed by children who are over-tired, over-excited, and over-stimulated. In this episode Sara and I lay out 5 clear steps that will empower and encourage you to create the holidays you and your family are wanting. Listen to t...
Dec 23, 2024•24 min•Ep 139•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 138, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview interview Mike & Alicia Hernon. They are parents of 10 kids and produce the Messy Family podcast. They share how their parenting and marriage has been messy and imperfect but they have also been able to intentionally created a healthy family culture. Sara and I discuss with them how they connect with and really know each of their kids. Their openness and authenticity is refreshing and encouraging. Alicia also dives into how she helps moms journ...
Dec 16, 2024•41 min•Ep 138•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 137, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Chris King. He is a licensed professional counselor and has experience helping hundreds of parents and kids work through grief. Chris has such a powerful story of having to face grief in his own personal life when he ended up losing both of his parents. He shares a unique but easy way to understand what it feels like to be lost in grief and the steps parents can take to help themselves and their children in the midst of the grief. This episode cove...
Dec 09, 2024•41 min•Ep 137•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 136, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Dr. Larry Cohen the author of the books Playful Parenting and Opposite of Worry. He is the creator of the Playful Parenting approach. We discuss how challenging play actually can be for parents. He shares his own love/hate relationship with play. Why is play so important and how can it help parents more deeply connect and understand their children? What are some of the ways parents misunderstand play? Play can be such a powerful tool for dads to us...
Dec 02, 2024•39 min•Ep 136•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 135, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, discuss what to do when your kids refuse to do what you are asking because they want to do something else. We walk through the steps you can take to shift these moments into great opportunities. Too often these situations turn into power struggles where parents feel they need to dominate or they throw their hands in the air. All of this ties perfectly into the holiday season and how many parents feel anxious, stressed and frustrated with all of the expectati...
Nov 25, 2024•32 min•Ep 135•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 134, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Stephanie Pinto. She is an author, international speaker, and emotional intelligence specialist. We talk with her about what emotional intelligence is and how it exponentially helps kids grow up into more successful adults. Stephanie teaches us the five steps all parents can take to grow their own EI and teach it to their kids. Stephanie makes EI so easy to understand and is such a fun person to interview. Get our video courses at https://art-of-ra...
Nov 18, 2024•57 min•Ep 134•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 133, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Jordan Langdon. She is a licensed clinical social worker, CEO of the non-profit “Families of Character "and also the creator of the podcast “Families of Character”. Jordan is a wife and a mother of 3 kids. In this conversation, she tells the story when her little daughter shared with her some surprising news that changed everything. Jordan began to realize the impact her stress and intensity was having on her family and marriage. This was a mo...
Nov 11, 2024•47 min•Ep 133•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 132, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Andy Hickman, founder of hel.co , pronounced heal. After suffering a neurotic breakdown from the stress and overwhelm of life, Andy went on a journey to understand how to be more organized, productive and creative. This is not a conversation of how to create a better organization system that parents will forget about in a few months. This about the core four elements and steps parents can take to reorganize their decision making, which will help th...
Nov 04, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep 132•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 131, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, have an in depth discussion about time outs. Lots of parents come to us no longer wanting to spank and they feel like time outs are the only other option available. In this episode we explore the history of time outs and why we thought we were going to use them when we had kids. As a child therapist, Sara was even trained how to teach parents the best ways to do time outs. However, there are many unintended consequences that occur in families when they utili...
Oct 28, 2024•42 min•Ep 131•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 130, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Dr. Laura Markham, the author of the books Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids and Peaceful Parent, and Happy Siblings. She is a trailblazer in the field of parenting. We talk with her about her journey actually creating and implementing the peaceful parenting approach with her own kids. She also gives parents great tips on how to help their children when they are struggling with their big feelings. Dr. Markham has been a huge mentor and teacher in our liv...
Oct 21, 2024•45 min•Ep 130•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 129, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Kimberly Amici, the founder of Build Your Best Family. Kimberly has such a unique voice in the parenting world because she speaks from the perspective as a mother, an entrepreneur and a designer. Years ago she began noticing that the tools businesses were using to build healthy cultures could be repurposed and used with families. In our conversation, she walks us through a great tool called the Family Retreat Packet. This is a tool Sara and I are v...
Oct 14, 2024•34 min•Ep 129•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 128, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, discuss the words and phrases we often hear from parents when they are describing their kids' negative behavior. We both feel strongly that words have power in shaping and forming not only how we see our kids but also how they see themselves. Sara and I discuss how just making a little change in the way we talk about our kids can make a huge difference in our relationship with them. This isn’t about sticking our heads in the sand and sugar coating their...
Oct 07, 2024•31 min•Ep 128•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 127, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Peaceful Parenting Coach Dajana Yoakley. We discuss what self-compassion is and why it is an important piece of becoming a more peaceful and loving parent. Sara and I share some of our own struggles with self compassion. Dajana gives us 3 steps all parents can take to help themselves begin to practice self compassion. This is such an important skill because it helps parents raise kids that have compassion for themselves as well. Dajana also shares ...
Sep 30, 2024•37 min•Ep 127•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 126, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Zach Watson from @realzachthinkshare. He is blowing up on IG and TikTok right now discussing the topic of “Invisible Labor” in families. He is also a self titled “recovering man child”. As a dad and husband I find Zach’s content illuminating, challenging, and also encouraging. All too often I find myself shifting the labor and the burden of family life onto Sara’s shoulders because I am choosing to focus on other things. Most of the time I am not e...
Sep 23, 2024•34 min•Ep 126•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 125, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, discuss the importance of kids learning how to take responsibility for their actions. Many parents ask us, “How do you hold kids accountable without punishment?” We dive into how punishment is actually the parent taking responsibility away from the child, not giving it to them. We share the four steps we have found to help kids embrace taking responsibility and actually changing their behavior. Our ultimate goal is to raise children that hold themselves acco...
Sep 16, 2024•33 min•Ep 125•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 124, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview Paige Connell, mother of 4 and a social media influencer on Instagram and TikTok. She discusses the challenges parents face in sharing the responsibilities and the load of parenting. She has been featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and more. Sara and I share how inequity in our parenting started before we even had kids and how that led to Sara definitely carrying most of the burden, especially when the kids were little. Paige gives us...
Sep 09, 2024•38 min•Ep 124•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 123, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, talk with Nellie Harden, an author, speaker, and mother of 4 teenage girls. She shares with us the four tools parents need to build a strong foundation for their children. When children have been given a strong and sturdy foundation they are able to explore and navigate life with less fear and anxiety. Storms and hard times are going to come into our kids' lives. A strong foundation will make sure they not only survive these moments but actually overcom...
Sep 02, 2024•40 min•Ep 123•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 122, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, discuss how parenting and marriage are not as different as most people think they are. Many if not most of the skills needed to have a great marriage are also needed to raise healthy and happy kids. What are the skills that help people not only succeed in these roles but also with friends and coworkers? We talk about how approaching parenting from a skills based perspective helps us thrive in many different types of relationships. Get our video courses at ht...
Aug 26, 2024•29 min•Ep 122•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 121, Kyle and Sara, LPC’s, interview JoAnn Crohn from the popular No Guilt Mom podcast. We discuss how overwhelming being a parent is most of the time, especially for moms. She shares with us what “mental load” is and how moms and dads can work together to help lighten the load. Many of us were not taught how to share the responsibilities with each other or even how to help. JoAnn gives us a great tool to utilize in helping change these dynamics in both marriage and parenting. Get our...
Aug 19, 2024•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
