Playful Parenting tackles telling kids the truth this week, and discusses the complexities regarding talking to your children about some of the harsh realities in this world, and how we can learn about ourselves and grow as parents and people through the process of exploring our discomfort around these conversations.

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Do I have all the answers about children and technology? Of course not. Do I have some of the answers about children and technology? Unlikely. Have I spent enough time thinking and feeling about it that I can ramble on the topic for twenty minutes? Absolutely. Enjoy!

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Playful Parenting comes at you with this PSA to help remind you to laugh at your child the next time they are disobeying you in a way that is hilarious. It's connective, fun, and can avoid some of those pesky power struggles that feel like they go nowhere. 

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Play Time is back for Season 2! This episode introduces the new season of Play Time, called 'Playful Parenting'.  Missed being with you all, feels good to be back. 

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Hello Playtimers, this is the last episode of Play Time. Stay subscribed if you want to see what I am up to next, I have a feeling I will make another podcast (or Season 2 of Play Time??) at some point, but I have said what I need to say for now.

Thank you for listening, thank you for writing in, and thank you for all the support. To know the podcast has been helpful in any way means the world to me, and I leave with a heart full of love.

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Everything has a shadow side, yes? Empathy included. We explore empathy through the lens of how it can destabilize an individual, and highlight the value of grounding children and ourselves in the reality of our emotions, our body, and our experience, in contrast to being fixated on how other people are  doing.

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Firing a therapist is sometimes the right thing to do. We talk about the importance of client's feeling power and autonomy in the therapeutic relationship, and then without getting into do's and don'ts, get into the sometimes complex question of getting the state involved when working with children.

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On this very 78th episode, we take a look at being a parent in the modern world, name the trends towards deeper respect for emotions in both children and adults, and talking about working with parents with various systems of values and beliefs regarding parenting and how we can support all families as therapists regardless of their values regarding childhood and child rearing. Enjoy!

Books named in this episode include:

'For Your Own Good' by Alice Miller

'The History of Childhood' by Lloyd de Mause

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On this one we name the value of connective and playful time with children, and of the instinctive ability of parents and caregivers to make aspects of life a game for children, as a way to help adults cultivate playfulness and game like qualities into life. We also take a detour into how to turn your own life as an adult into a game, and the potential benefits of it.

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For the second anniversary of Play Time, we open up the mailbag to answer some questions about helping students in school who are having a hard time, and also discuss the value of a free and protected space, and how to create it.

The book mentioned in the episode was 'Sandplay: A psychotherapeutic Approach to the Psyche' by Dora Kalff.

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People get divorced all the time, and families separate all the time. These events are often discussed as being 'traumatic' in the life of a child, which can be the case, but is it always? Is it appropriate to put divorce in the same category as child abuse or other traumatic events? Play Time's stance is a firm 'no'. Give it a listen if you're curious why.

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