The Parent Hope Podcast

After more than four decades each of walking alongside parents, children and families, Maggie Dent and Jenny Brown come together for an honest conversation about what time, experience and countless conversations have taught them. 
Their perspectives have been shaped not only by their professional work, but also by their own journeys as parents—and now as grandparents. While they've traveled some different professional paths, they've arrived at many of the same conclusions about what children need most to thrive and what helps parents navigate the joys and challenges of raising them. Together, they explore the ideas they've held onto, the ones they've let go of, and the insights that have deepened over the years. 
From building connection and resilience to navigating today's parenting challenges, this is a conversation grounded in curiosity rather than certainty. Rather than offering all the answers, Maggie and Jenny reflect on the questions that continue to shape their work and why, even after forty years, they're both still learning. 
Along the way, Maggie also shares the thinking behind her latest books and how her ideas continue to evolve as she supports today's parents. 
To see all Maggie's resources: Maggie Dent - Home | Resources for those who live & work with children 
And Jenny's book and parent Hope programs: When Parents Grow, Children Thrive. 
We’re beginning a new Parent Hope Podcast series, sharing real parent experiences of the worry and uncertainty that can come with raising children. 
Drawing on Bowen family systems theory, we’ll explore what can happen when we shift our focus from what might be wrong with our child to managing our own worry and becoming a steadier resource for them. 
We’d love to hear from you. Send your reflections, questions or comments to podcast@parentproject.com.au. 
Newsletter-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/#newsletter
Youtube-http://www.youtube.com/@ParentHopeProject
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/coachingparents
Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/parenthopeproject/
LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/company/79093727/admin/feed/posts/
Website-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/

Contact us:
Contact@parentproject.com.au
(02) 9904 5600

David and Dr Jenny Brown reflect on the previous episode with Michael DeRuyter, “Hope Beyond Repair” and what his experience of foster and adoptive parenting can teach us. How can we honour the impact of trauma and adversity for children experiencing multiple placements without allowing trauma to become the whole story? They explore what a Bowen family systems lens adds—shifting attention from fixing the child to understanding their range of functioning and the part parental anxiety and pressure can play. They also explore how this connects to parenting in general.
Newsletter-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/#newsletter
Youtube-http://www.youtube.com/@ParentHopeProject
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/coachingparents
Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/parenthopeproject/
LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/company/79093727/admin/feed/posts/
Website-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/

Contact us:
Contact@parentproject.com.au
(02) 9904 5600

Hope Beyond Repair:  
Parenting Foster and Adoptive Children Without the Pressure to Fix 
A conversation with a family systems leadership coach, pastor, and foster and adoptive parent Michael DeRuyter about parenting children who have joined our families through fostering and adoption—and why these lessons matter for every parent. 
Drawing on both professional expertise and lived experience, we discuss the powerful pull to "repair" our children through doing more—more services, more interventions, more effort—and why this anxious over-functioning can sometimes undermine the very relationships we're trying to strengthen. 
Together, we explore a different lens on parenting children with disrupted attachment histories and experiences of trauma. Rather than focusing primarily on repairing the child, we consider how a parent's calm, non-anxious presence, thoughtful leadership, and capacity to resist overparenting can create the conditions for growth, resilience, and connection. Bowen Family Systems Theory offers a hopeful perspective on remaining steady in the face of anxiety, supporting children without becoming consumed by the pressure to fix. 
While this conversation is grounded in the experience of fostering and adoption, its insights are relevant to every parent seeking to lead their family with greater calm, wisdom, and hope. Whether you're a foster or adoptive parent, a professional working with families, or simply curious about parenting through a Bowen Family Systems lens, you'll find practical wisdom and fresh perspective for staying grounded when the pressure to "do more" feels overwhelming. 
https://theleadersjourney.us/team/michael-deruyter/ 
Our Approach | The Leader's Journey    
Michael interviewing Jenny Brown in recent Podcast:
https://theleadersjourney.libsyn.com/the-parenting-paradox-differentiation-based-parenting-with-dr-jenny-brown 
Newsletter-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/#newsletter
Youtube-http://www.youtube.com/@ParentHopeProject
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/coachingparents
Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/parenthopeproject/
LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/company/79093727/admin/feed/posts/
Website-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/

Contact us:
Contact@parentproject.com.au
(02) 9904 5600

Real Questions, Grounded Reflections (for Season 4 - Episode 6): 
4.6 | The Parenting Paradox: Can Too Much Love Actually Get in the Way of Raising Resilient Children?

“Just Tell Me What to Do!”
Helping Parents Find Their Own Way Through Parenting Dilemmas 
In this Grounded Reflections episode of the Parent Hope Podcast, David Brown talks with Jenny about a familiar parenting plea: “Just tell me what to do!” 
The conversation follows the previous episode, in which Dr Kathleen Smith interviewed Jenny about her book: The Parenting Paradox: Loving Our Children by Giving Them Space to Grow. At that event, parents’ questions about what they should do prompted Jenny to reflect on our recognizable desire for clear answers when parenting gets difficult. 
Rather than offering quick fixes or parenting techniques, Jenny explores how parents can recognise unhelpful patterns, reconnect with their values, and focus on what is within their own control. 
It’s a thoughtful conversation about strengthening parent agency and finding a more grounded way through challenging parenting moments. 
Newsletter-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/#newsletter
Youtube-http://www.youtube.com/@ParentHopeProject
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/coachingparents
Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/parenthopeproject/
LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/company/79093727/admin/feed/posts/
Website-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/

Contact us:
Contact@parentproject.com.au
(02) 9904 5600

Recorded live at the Washington, DC launch of The Parenting Paradox, this special episode features Dr Jenny Brown in conversation with author, therapist, and Bowen family systems faculty member Dr Kathleen Smith. 
Drawing on decades of clinical experience and family systems research, Jenny explores why modern parenting has become increasingly intensive, how anxiety fuels the "worry cycle," and why our greatest influence as parents comes not from doing more for our children, but from managing ourselves more thoughtfully.” 
Together, Jenny and Kathleen discuss the powerful story behind the book's original title, So Much Love, the hidden forms of over-parenting, loving leadership, technology, resilience, and the surprising freedom that comes when parents stop trying to fix their children and instead focus on changing their own part in the family system. 
Whether you're parenting young children, teenagers, adult children, or grandchildren, this conversation offers practical wisdom, hope, and a refreshing alternative to today's culture of intensive parenting. 
In this episode, you'll hear: 
Why So Much Love was the book's original title  
How "intensive parenting" can take many different forms  
The parenting worry cycle—and how to step off it  
Why the best parenting work begins with ourselves  
What loving leadership looks like in everyday family life  
How giving children emotional breathing space helps them become capable and resilient  
This conversation was recorded live during the Washington, DC book launch of The Parenting Paradox, with Dr Jenny Brown interviewed by Dr Kathleen Smith, therapist, author of Everything Isn't Terrible and True to You, and faculty member at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family.  
 
Newsletter-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/#newsletter
Youtube-http://www.youtube.com/@ParentHopeProject
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/coachingparents
Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/parenthopeproject/
LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/company/79093727/admin/feed/posts/
Website-https://parenthopeproject.com.au/

Contact us:
Contact@parentproject.com.au
(02) 9904 5600