Listen Now

Ep. 46. Mindful Parenting: A Child's Point of View

Dr. Jim interviews Bryn Khan, Psy.D., Jessica Lim, AMFT, and Eti Valdez-Kaminsky, MFT

In this episode, three highly talented and impassioned clinicians from EBMC and the Samsara Intensive Therapy program discuss mindful parenting. Bryn who manages EBMC together with her associate Jessica, run a mindful parenting class, do intensive therapy sessions with parents, and provide executive functioning coaching and assessment services for children and adolescents through the Satori college prep and executive functioning program. Eti is the Clinical Director at EBMC and runs the Samsara Intensive Therapy Program. In addition to running the EBMC clinic, he supervises clinicians. He is also highly sought- after as a parent coach, music enthusiast, rock climber, and family therapist.

As clinicians, they emphasize understanding a child’s point of view. Their approach centers on parenting from the inside out (Daniel Siegal’s model). In short, they focus on mindfulness.

But wait, there’s more— Bryn, Jessica, and Eti are all dedicated parents themselves who walk the walk and talk the talk. They utilize mindfulness tools with their own kids too. In this podcast, they discuss their own parenting and childhood experiences and how it has informed them as clinicians, and vice versa.

Many contemporary topics are discussed in this episode including the impact of social media, electronics, cyber bullying, sexting, and oppositional behavior. Some tools parents can usefor self-regulation and co-regulation are discussed. The importance of being an ego-less role model is stressed - - along with the importance of empathy, acceptance, and emotional attunement. Key application of Attachment theory and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (A-C-T) is also detailed.

As the adage goes “being a parent is like folding a fitted sheet, no one really knows how to do it.” (Except for maybe these three . . .)