The Parent Hope Podcast

• How Self-Leadership Helps Parents Navigate Australia’s New Social Media Rules

  As Australia begins new social media age restrictions, many parents are feeling the pressure to tighten control or worry about what this shift will mean for their children. In this repost of Reclaiming Calm Leadership in the Digital World, Jenny Brown invites us to take a different starting point: effective leadership begins with managing ourselves, not our children.This episode offers a steady, practical perspective on staying calm, clarifying our values, and guiding our family thoughtfully through digital change.New Blog:https://parenthopeproject.com.au/australia-social-media-age-16-parenting-guide/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: [email protected] (02) 9904 5600

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• Respecting Differences, Staying Connected: Navigating Holidays Without Losing Yourself With Dr. Kathleen Smith

  The holidays can bring out our best—and our most anxious—selves. Therapist and author Dr. Kathleen Smith (True to You; Everything Isn’t Terrible) will join Jenny Brown to discuss staying kind and self-defined when those predictable family tensions rise.How can parents handle sensing disapproval, differing values, and “helpful” relatives without losing themselves—or their sense of humor? Dr. Smith draws on family systems thinking to share examples of managing one's own anxiety, showing up with more emotional maturity in front of our kids, and staying connected without falling into people-pleasing.Indeed, you can respect your family and stay true to yourself this holiday season.Quote:To live a life that is truer to you, it’s useful to understand the ways you lose self—the capacity to think and act as an individual—in a relationship system. Maybe you like to keep your relationships light and superficial, using distance to avoid any tension. Maybe you end up overfunctioning, directing everyone so you feel steady. Perhaps you’ve been quick to triangle other people into conflict, unsure of your own thinking.Smith, Dr Kathleen. True to You: A Therapist's Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Start Being Yourself (p. 150). Books: https://kathleensmithwrites.com/books/true-to-you/https://kathleensmithwrites.com/books/everything-isnt-terrible/Newsletter – over 11,000 subscribers https://theanxiousoverachiever.substack.com/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: [email protected] (02) 9904 5600

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• Grandparenting Without the Drama: How the generations can work together, not pull apart

  Grandparenting can be a gift—or a point of tension—depending on how generational differences are navigated. In this episode, Jenny Brown speaks with two special guests, Selden Illick and her daughter-in-law Alison Illick, about the subtle and powerful dynamics between grandparents, parents, and children. Drawing on Bowen family systems theory, they explore how patterns of anxiety, closeness, and loyalty ripple through three generations, and what differentiation looks like as adult children step into parenthood while their parents become grandparents.Listeners will hear real stories of family life and discover how understanding family systems theory can help shift well-meaning interference into meaningful support, so that the presence of grandparents strengthens, rather than strains, the family system. Parents will gain practical insight into setting boundaries, preserving their authority, and fostering healthier connections with grandparents while reducing tension at home.Selden Dunbar Illick founded the Princeton Family Center in 1987 based on Murray Bowen’s natural systems theory and is now Trustee Emerita of its educational branch. She has served on the Florida Family Research Network board and is active in the New England Study of Bowen Theory. Formerly in private practice in New Jersey and Florida (1983–2004), she now consults in Massachusetts, helping people apply Bowen theory to family, work, and social systems. A frequent presenter on the impact of unresolved childhood patterns, she recently contributed a chapter on emotional attachments and chronic illness in Death and Chronic Illness in the Family: Bowen Family Theory Perspectives.Alison Illick lives in New Haven, Connecticut with her husband, Christopher, and their four sons. A former New York City public school teacher with degrees from Columbia University, she later supported her husband’s medical practice in various roles. In recent years, she has studied Bowen theory at the Princeton Family Center for Education and the Bowen Center in Washington, DC. Alison finds the framework a valuable way to understand family and work systems and focuses on managing herself within them—an interest first sparked in college and later encouraged by her mother-in-law, Selden.LinksSelden as a previous guest on our podcasthttps://parenthopeproject.com.au/podcasts/grandparenting-relationships/The Princeton Family Center, New Jerseyhttps://www.princetonfamilycenter.org/Selden speaking on relevant topicshttps://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=921333534908389Newsletter-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: [email protected] (02) 9904 5600

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• Parenting Beyond Worry: Breaking Cycles & Building Hope this Mental Health Month

  As parents, our worries can quietly slip onto our children’s shoulders.But what if there’s another way?This Mental Health Month (in our State: NSW), the Parent Hope Podcast explores how parents can support children’s well-being by first steadying themselves. Jenny Brown, founder and director of the Parent Hope Project, and Lauren Errington, executive Director of The Family Systems Institute, draw on Bowen Family Systems Theory to unpack how parental worry - often inflamed by mental health messaging - can be projected onto kids and how parents can step out of those cycles.We’ll look at:* The 3 steps of projection: scanning, labelling, treating* How social messages about children’s mental health fuel worry* The difference between internalised worry and externalised conflict* Practical steps for leading with clarity instead of guiltJoin us this Mental Health Month to discover how shifting from worry to hope can free both you and your child to grow with resilience.Jenny Brown bio link: https://parenthopeproject.com.au/about-us/Lauren Errington bio https://www.thefsi.com.au/about/our-team/lauren-errington/Find a Parent Hope Clinicianhttps://parenthopeproject.com.au/find-a-parent-coach/Lauren and Jenny’s recent article: Bowen family systems theory and practice: Illustration and critique revisitedMay 2024Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy (ANZJFT) 45(1)https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381014808_Bowen_family_systems_theory_and_practice_Illustration_and_critique_revisitedNewsletter-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: [email protected] (02) 9904 5600

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• Let Them Be: Resisting the Rush to Pathologise Adolescence with Dr. Briony Scott

  In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Briony Scott, renowned educator and advocate for young people, to unpack the growing tendency to pathologise normal teenage emotions. Are we too quick to label sadness as depression or worry as anxiety? Briony explores how this rush to intervene can sometimes do more harm than good—and what parents can do instead to raise emotionally resilient children. From navigating girlhood emotions to tackling toxic masculinity , this episode is an essential conversation for every parent raising teens today.Linkshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/brionys/?originalSubdomain=auSMH articlehttps://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/briony-scott-the-surprising-sex-talk-sydney-s-most-respected-principal-gives-her-students-20241114-p5kqpd.htmlNewsletter-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: [email protected] (02) 9904 5600

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