Social worker Layne Gregory shares strategies for navigating the subject of sexuality that she used with her own kids and gives 6 basic principles that are important for kids to understand.
Family and Lifecycle
Advocating for a Child with Autism with Ellen Jennings
Stigma and Teen Pregnancy with Meredith Hall
Navigating Postpartum Depression with Leah Deragon
Talking About Political Differences with Sheila Heen
Sheila Heen is on faculty at the Harvard Negotiation Project. She discusses how she and her husband—who have opposing political beliefs—navigate their relationship and communicate respectfully when they disagree. She suggests that when we listen receptively, we actually become more persuasive.
Still Here: Caregiving and Dementia
This hour-long special is about the unspoken challenges of caring for a family member with dementia. The show explores the experience of ambiguous loss, where the person is both here and not here at the same time. Through stories, we explore why caregivers have such high rates of isolation and depression and how difficult it …read more »
Adoption and Return with Sandy White Hawk
Sandy White Hawk is Sicangu Lakota and a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe who was separated as a child from her family and heritage when she was adopted at 18 months old by a white family. She is also one of five commissioners of Maine’s historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Sandy discusses the trauma …read more »
Soldier or Mother? with Meosha Thomas
The Scars of Silence with Nubar Alexanian
This episode features Armenian-American photographer and filmmaker Nubar Alexanian. He discusses making a film with his daughter about their journey to their ancestors’ homeland, the site of the Armenian genocide which began in 1915, the silence that surrounds the genocide and how it has impacted his sense of self and his place in the world. …read more »
Women in Wartime with Cynthia Enloe
Feminist scholar Cynthia Enloe discusses about how women are affected by war and militarization. Her work focuses on sexual violence—and its subsequent silencing—as a repressive political tool, and about international efforts by feminist activists to make the United Nations address this issue. You can read UN Security Council Resolution 1325 here.
Leaving Syria with Anna
This episode of Safe Space Radio features Anna, who escaped Syria while 8 months pregnant in 2013 and now lives in Maine. She talks about trading the daily threat of bombings and kidnappings for a life of uncertainty as she and her husband applied and waited for asylum—and how the experience changed her understanding of …read more »
The Education of a Child Welfare Worker with Penthea Burns
Safe Space Radio talks with Penthea Burns, co-director of Maine-Wabanaki REACH, about her background in child welfare and the difficulty of deciding whether the benefits of removing a child from abuse outweigh the additional trauma of severing family and community ties. Penthea’s work on these issues in Wabanaki communities has led her to a deeper …read more »
Adoption and Identity with George
George’s biological parents are Passamaquoddy, but he was adopted at birth and raised by white parents in southern Maine. George describes how it felt to visit the reservation for the first time and meet his biological relatives. He talks about how he has grappled throughout his life with the question of whether he really is …read more »
The View From the Shore (Part 2) with gkisedtanamoogk
This episode features part 2 of Anne’s conversation with gkisedtanamoogk, one of the five commissioners of the Maine State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In this conversation he talks more about the relationship between the government and the Wabanaki tribes, describes some of the main concepts of his spiritual worldview, and talks about the …read more »
The View From the Shore (Part 1) with gkisedtanamoogk
This episode of Safe Space Radio features gkisedtanamoogk, one of the five commissioners of the Maine Wabanaki State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He shares his reflections on the process now that the findings have been published, and we also speak about the gap between Native peoples’ views and those of mainstream America related …read more »
Childhood Humiliation
Guilt When a Parent Dies
Part of Safe Space Radio’s series on hidden feelings, this episode features two stories about guilt we might feel when we believe we didn’t do enough at the end of a parent’s life. We hear from people who were troubled by the way they failed to show up for their parents, and discuss the process …read more »
Intergenerational Loneliness with David
Disrupting the Vicious Cycle with Sandy White Hawk
Maine Wabanaki Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Sandy White Hawk discusses the ways in which centuries of removing native children from their families have created a pattern of trauma and corresponding struggle that has made ongoing removal of children more likely. She talks about alternative approaches that support families in difficulty and expresses her hopes for …read more »
Intergenerational Trauma with Sandy White Hawk
In Safe Space Radio’s second conversation with Maine Wabanaki Truth and Reconcilitation Commissioner Sandy White Hawk, she talks about intergenerational trauma and helping white people better grasp what it means to lose your culture.
Being Out Adopted with Sandy White Hawk
Maine Wabanaki Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Sandy White Hawk talks about being taken for adoption by a white missionary family who believed they were saving her from the poverty of the reservation. She describes the power of being reunited with her tribe at 35, and the deep feeling of belonging and safety she felt as …read more »
Breaking the Silence with Maria Girouard, Esther Attean, and Stephanie Bailey
This episode of Safe Space Radio features Maria Girouard, Esther Attean, and Stephanie Bailey of Maine Wabanaki REACH. They discuss the process of gathering the untold stories of the many people affected by the longstanding practice of removing native children from their families and their tribes.
Raising a Child with Anxiety with Valery
Parenting on the Spectrum
Autism from a Father’s Perspective with Nathan Poore
Is This Autism? with Lindy Anton
Creating Connection with a Child with Autism with Susan Levin
This episode of Safe Space Radio features a conversation with Susan Levin about her son Ben, who is now 11. She tells the story of discovering his autism, and talks about the ways she blamed herself for his difficulties. She explains the techniques she used to develop a stronger bond with Ben, and how he …read more »
Parenting a Child with Autism with Ellen Jennings
Helping Children with Autism to Succeed with Temple Grandin
This episode of Safe Space Radio features Temple Grandin as she vividly describes the various sensory ways that autistic people like herself experience the world differently from the neurotypical majority. She also discusses a number of strategies to help autistic children reach their full potential.
Poetry and Coming Out (Part 1) with Richard Blanco
On Being Outed with Samantha
This episode of Safe Space Radio features Samantha, who was outed as a lesbian to her parents by a teacher at her school. She remembers the turmoil this has created in her life, being rejected by some important people after they learned she was gay, and how that experience has inspired her to be a …read more »
Your Untold Stories of Dementia
This episode of Safe Space Radio features multiple stories of dementia from you, our listeners. This collection of ten stories reflects the wide range of experiences and emotions that result from having a loved one with dementia—including frustration and poignant loss, but also warmth, connection, and surprising moments of sweetness. You can watch Scott Kirschenbaum’s …read more »
Life in the Early Stages with Bill Verrill
Bill Verrill, a former banker, now suffers from early Alzheimer’s disease. Bill describes his deep trust in his wife Shirley’s ability to take care of him—and his deepest fears about the toll his illness will take on her life. He remembers letting go of his driver’s license and learning to be more dependent while striving …read more »
Sibling Conflicts Around Caregiving with Carol Bradley Bursack
An interview with elder-caregiving expert Carol Bradley Bursack about sibling conflict in the care of a parent with Dementia. Carol reports that most adult children caregivers are still women, and that typically the responsibilities of caregiving fall mostly to one child within a family. This creates the conditions for old resentments, jealousies, and conflicts to …read more »
Frontotemporal Dementia: Complications and Genetics with Melynda
This episode features Melynda, whose husband has frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Unlike Alzheimer’s, FTD is not first characterized by problems with memory, but by poor judgment and inappropriate behavior. Melynda’s husband, a doctor, began to make errors in judgment by over-prescribing pain medications to his patients, and was incarcerated for these mistakes. After his incarceration, the …read more »
Caring for a Spouse with Clare Hallward
In this episode of Safe Space Radio our host Anne Hallward talks to her mother, Clare Hallward, about her husband John’s diagnosis with dementia, which lasted for 16 years before his death. Anne and Clare remember some of the exasperating and even downright terrifying challenges of caring for John as his illness progressed. They discuss …read more »
Connection and Dementia with Steven Sabat
In this episode of Safe Space Radio, neuropsychologist Steven Sabat discusses how he’s been able to find ways of communicating with people with advanced dementia by recognizing and honoring their enduring personhood. He talks about the failure of standard tests of mental ability to register the social awareness of people diagnosed with dementia, and the …read more »
Dementia and Family Secrets with Nancy Sowell
Therapist Nancy Sowell remembers the family secrets that came out as she was caring for her grandmother with dementia, and how the curious distance and even hostility she had always felt from this side of the family began to make sense as her grandmother opened up for the first time. She discusses how dementia can …read more »
Living With a Parent With Dementia with Liz Havu
Self-preservation for Dementia Caregivers with Frances Randolph
Frances Randolph’s husband had early-onset Alzheimer’s. In this conversation, she remembers the outgoing man she married and how dementia changed him so much that he became someone she barely recognized, someone who ultimately became violent with her. Frances describes the series of losses inherent in his Alzheimer’s, including the loss of her sense of herself …read more »
Difficult Parents and Dementia with Julia Jarvis
Dementia in a Holocaust Survivor with Marushka Glissen
Psychotherapist Marushka Glissen talks about her mother, a survivor of Auschwitz who now has dementia. Marushka describes how her mother’s experiences complicated her relationships with her own children and husband, and raises the possibility that for some who are haunted by painful memories, dementia may actually provide a bittersweet respite.
Dementia as Ambiguous Loss with Pauline Boss
Dr. Pauline Boss discusses the experience of ambiguous loss. Dementia often creates a situation in which a person’s body is present, but the mind is absent. For caregivers, this can generate feelings of ambivalence toward the person with dementia, including wishing for this person’s death as a way to resolve the ambiguity. Dr. Boss says that …read more »
Emotional Abuse in Violent Homes with Brie Masselli
Child advocate Brie Masselli discusses her own experience growing up in a home with domestic violence. Brie tells the story of running to school to escape her stepfather’s violent outbursts, and how her childhood struggles in and out of school were missed by those who might have helped. Brie speaks about the ways that children …read more »
Child Abuse and Physical Health 25 Years Later with Vincent Felitti
Dr. Vincent Felitti talks about his groundbreaking research to show that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s, like abuse, neglect and severe family dysfunction) are correlated not only with mental illness and addiction, but also with physical illnesses like heart disease, lung disease and even auto-immune diseases.
Somalis in the Maine Workforce with Hussein Ahmed
This episode of Safe Space Radio features Hussein Ahmed, a business owner in Lewiston, Maine. He describes his journey from Somalia, the ten years he spent in refugee camps in Kenya, and the challenges of finding work in the U.S. due to language barriers, cultural uncertainties and religious stereotypes. Hussein is optimistic that with modifications …read more »
Talking about Difference with Mohammed Dini
Mohammed Dini is Executive Director of the African Diaspora Institute, founder of Portland Forward, and former candidate for state representative. Mohammed talks about his experience moving to Maine at age 13 and learning to identify himself as a Mainer. He also explores the Somali concept of furfurnaan, which means openness, inviting an open-hearted dialogue about …read more »
Using Yoga to Create Safe Space with Deb Cook
Yoga teacher Deb Cook discusses how a daily practice of yoga can build a sense of safety inside. Deb describes how turning the attention inward on a regular basis creates a feeling of a home inside that one can always return to, and remembers how yoga supported her while grieving her father’s death.
Loving a Brother with Schizophrenia with Isa Mattei
This episode of Safe Space Radio features therapist Isa Mattei talking about her relationship with her brother, Artie, who had schizophrenia. She describes her mother’s fierce determination not to have Artie institutionalized, which kept him integrated in the family and also sometimes subjected his siblings to chaotic and often frightening interactions—yet Isa felt very seen …read more »
Parenting Life-Threatening Depression with Rachel
This episode of Safe Space Radio features Rachel talking about her son’s severe depression and multiple suicide attempts. Rachel names the sense of ambiguous loss she feels now that her son lives in a state mental hospital, and how her daily visits to him can bring their own sense of shame and self-doubt. She offers …read more »
Commitment to a Mentally-Ill Parent with Jeneen Interlandi
Harvard Nieman Fellow Jeneen Interlandi talks about her father’s bi-polar disorder. She describes the painful and extraordinary measures her family had to go through to get him into treatment, including restraining orders, getting him arrested, and hiring a lawyer to broker an agreement to get him to take medicine as a condition of leaving jail. …read more »
Self-Care and Intergenerational Mental Illness with Beth Erlichman
This Safe Space Radio episode features personal trainer Beth Erlichman, whose mother and daughter both live with mental illness. Beth describes how her experiences growing up with her mother transformed the way she supported her daughter after a psychotic break, and how internal family systems therapy helped her befriend the young, frightened parts of herself …read more »
Parenting a Son with Schizophrenia with Rosemary Radford Ruether
Theologian and academic Rosemary Radford Ruether talks with Safe Space Radio about her son David’s schizophrenia and the challenges her family has faced in supporting him. She questions whether medications have helped or hurt him, and offers a critique of the mental health system which she feels is more interested in warehousing and pacifying people …read more »
Having a Child with Schizophrenia with Cheryl Ramsay
Safe Space Radio interviews Cheryl Ramsay about her two sons, one with schizophrenia who is in treatment and one with an undiagnosed mental illness and addiction who avoids the mental health system. Cheryl describes the deep self-doubt she feels about whether she somehow could have made a difference at each step of the way. She …read more »
On Having a Mother with Bi-Polar Disorder with Valerie Gamache
Safe Space Radio interviews family educator Valerie Gamache about her relationship with her mother who had bi-polar disorder. Valerie describes the ways her family tried to keep the “Big Secret,” to the point that a friend thought her mother had actually died since Valerie spoke so little about her. She also talks about her encounters …read more »
Having a Brother with Schizophrenia with Alicia Barnes
Alicia Barnes talks about her brother, Josh Barnes, who had schizophrenia. Alicia describes Josh’s fears that he had brought mental illness on himself, and how medication impacted his creativity and sense of purpose in writing and playing music. She remembers how stigma kept him from talking about his illness and speaks about becoming involved with …read more »
Bi-Polar Disorder in the Family with Liz Brenner
Social worker and trainer Liz Brenner talks about the challenges of having a father with major mental illness. Liz describes his suicide attempt when she was 20, and how living with the fear of losing him was a form of relational trauma. She experienced first hand how the stigma and trauma of mental illness resulted …read more »
Aging with Neil McKenty
Neil McKenty is a broadcast, author, and former Jesuit priest. He talks about how his expectations about aging have matched up with his experiences now, in his 85th year of life. Neil has been a consultant and constant inspiration to Safe Space Radio since its inception in 2008, and this show is aired in tribute …read more »
Pediatric Medical Trauma with Nancy Kassam-Adams
This episode of Safe Space Radio features psychologist and researcher Dr. Nancy Kassam-Adams. She talks about children’s medical experiences as a source of PTSD and gives helpful suggestions for how parents can identify trauma in their kids after painful medical procedures or hospitalizations. Nancy described an innovative program to treat adolescent cancer survivors and their …read more »
Childrens’ Fear of the Doctor with Chris Nee
How Health Care Providers Can Prevent Domestic Violence with Cathy Plourde
Safe Space Radio interviews playwright Cathy Plourde, Founder of Add Verb productions. Her play, Major Medical Breakthrough, was written to inspire health care providers to screen their patients for domestic violence—especially important since only 10-19% of doctors report that they screen their patients routinely for domestic violence. Cathy gives a thoughtful description of why providers are …read more »
Childhood Domestic Violence with Paul LePage
This episode features Maine Governor Paul LePage talking about growing up in a home with domestic violence. Governor LePage describes the moment when he decided he had to leave home: when his father tried to pay him to lie to a doctor about the cause of his injuries. He describes living with the fear that …read more »
Sibling Relationships with Susan McHale
Researcher Susan McHale discusses the impact of gender and culture on how siblings view each other, and how this might vary across cultures. Susan explores the way that individualistic cultures foster sibling competitiveness and resentment of favoritism. She reiterates the importance of the sibling relationship as a source of longstanding and as yet poorly studied …read more »
Parenting Siblings with Adele Faber
Parenting expert Adele Faber is co-author of the best-selling Siblings Without Rivalry and How to Talk So Kids Will Listen. Adele speaks about the importance of listening to and validating kids feelings, especially around their siblings. She uses the analogy of how you would feel if your spouse brought home another spouse you were expected …read more »
Sibling Abuse with Vernon Wiehe
This episode of Safe Space Radio features author and professor Dr. Vernon Wiehe. He talks about sibling abuse and how it differs from sibling rivalry in a pattern of frequent victimization of one sibling at the hands of another. Dr. Wiehe points out that sibling abuse is even more common that domestic violence or child …read more »
Sibling Ambivalence with Laurie Kramer
Laurie Kramer is a researcher and directs the More Fun with Sisters and Brothers program, which supports kids ages 4-8 getting along with their siblings. Laurie explains that parental attempts at conflict resolution often result in separating the kids. Her program teaches siblings core skills of taking each other’s perspective, managing their own strong emotions, …read more »
Adult Sibling Strife with Jeanne Safer
This episode features an interview with psychotherapist and author Dr. Jeanne Safer, who works on chronic sibling tension and non-communication. Jeanne describes the phenomenon of “sibspeak,” where no real communication takes place except the recitation of grievances, the discharge of obligations, and endless attempts to fix the other person. She encourages siblings to take the …read more »
Being a Gay Father with Frank
Frank is the father of two boys, and he is also a gay man. In this interview, Frank talks about always wanting children and how he and his husband have taken steps to protect their children from homophobia and find welcoming communities. Frank also describes his experience of finding a surrogate to conceive and bear …read more »
Step-Families and Step-Parenting with Patricia Papernow
Psychologist and author Dr. Patricia Papernow talks about the challenges of step-family living, including insider/outsider dynamics and the complicated set of losses and loyalty that step-parents can represent for a child. Patricia talks about her book, Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships: What Works and What Doesn’t.
Interracial Adoption with Catherine Anderson
Catherine Anderson is a white public school teacher and writer. In this episode of Safe Space Radio she talks about adopting her son Sam, who is Black. Catherine describes her decision to adopt and how she thought she understood racism before parenting. She describes her experience of those “grocery store moments” when she has to …read more »
International Adoption with Deb Gallagher
Deb Gallagher created her family through “the messy miracle of international adoption.” Deb talks about the homophobia she encountered as a lesbian seeking to adopt a child both domestically and internationally, and the way she had to hide parts of her identity to have any chance at adoption. She describes her grief at bringing a …read more »
Giving Up a Child For Adoption with Marilyn Bronzi
This episode features clinical social worker and birth mother Marilyn Bronzi, who had a child “out of wedlock” in 1966. She remembers the shame of her choice and how she’s made peace with it in different ways over the years. She also describes the experience of reunification with her daughter Lisa, and the ways that …read more »
Donor-Assisted Reproduction with Diane Ehrensaft
Psychologist, researcher and author Diane Ehrensaft talks about the psychological experience of parenting children conceived through the assistance of a donor. Diane describes the challenges parents face in coping with “genetic assymetry” between the parents, and fears that disclosing to the child will undermine bonding with the non-biological parent. Diane also speaks of the challenges …read more »
Adoption and Parenting with Joyce Maguire Pavao
This episode of Safe Space Radio features author, adoptee and clinician Joyce Maguire Pavao as she talks about parenting an adopted child. Joyce describes the changing demographics of adopted children, and how adopted children are increasingly older and may have experienced trauma as well as the loss of their birth family. Joyce asserts that “adoption …read more »
Being an Only Child with Susan Newman
Social psychologist and author Susan Newman talks about the stereotypes of and misinformation about only children. Studies show that only children do not suffer from the lack of siblings and even show improved academic achievement. She reports that the stereotypes of being spoiled, bossy, or lonely do not hold up to research. Only children families …read more »
Telling Secrets with Evan Imber-Black
Family therapist and author Evan Imber-Black talks about how to tell a family secret thoughtfully and well. She tells stories from her work about the impact of secrets on family members, creating ever widening circles of silence and distance in relationships. Children may not know a secret, but their behavior is nonetheless deeply affected by …read more »
Parenting and Cancer with Susan Conley
Susan Conley is author of The Foremost Good Fortune and co-founder of The Telling Room in Portland, Maine. In this interview she talks about coping with breast cancer in China while parenting two young boys, and how writing helped her survive. Susan describes her decision to write as honestly as possible, exposing less-than-ideal parenting or …read more »
TransParenting, or Parenting Trans Kids with Sandy Lovell
Sexuality educator and mother Sandy Lovell talks about parenting her trans son. As a feminist mother she celebrated his early gender non-conformism, but it never occurred to her that he might be trans. Sandy named parental concerns for her child’s safety, his ability to find love, her grief over losing the daughter, and her struggle …read more »
Trans Couples with Helen Boyd
Author and gender studies professor Helen Boyd is married to a trans woman. She remembers her early courtship with a man who “occasionally cross-dressed” and how this evolved into loving her partner through her transition. Helen explores what it is like to be perceived now as a lesbian because she is married to a woman, …read more »
Camp for Transgender and Gender-Variant Youth with Nick Teich
This episode of Safe Space Radio features the founder and president of the first camp for trans youth, Nick Teich. Nick describes many challenges that trans youth face as they grow up, particularly as they enter puberty and begin to develop secondary sex characteristics of the sex that feels wrong to them. Camp Aranu’tiq is …read more »
Sexual Healing after Sexual Abuse with Wendy Maltz
This interview is with couples therapist and certified sex therapist Wendy Maltz about the impact of sexual abuse on sexuality, and ways to reclaim pleasure, safety and intimacy. She reports that taking a vacation from sex is sometimes necessary, because when sex feels like an obligation, it can often trigger difficulties from the abuse. She …read more »
The Relational Dynamics of Feeding Your Child with Ellyn Satter
This episode of Safe Space Radio features nutritionist and family therapist Ellyn Satter talking about the feeding relationship between parent and child. Ellyn describes what she calls “Division of Responsibility,” wherein the parent is in charge of the when, where and what of a meal and the child is responsible for the how much and …read more »
The Inner Feelings of Bulimia with Julia Jarvis
Julia Jarvis talks about her struggle with bulimia and her recovery. Julia describes her profound experience with feeling she was bad, and keeping a journal of her daily sins. She credits her recovery with the loosening of a rigid and punitive theology, prozac, and the community she found in Adult Children of Alcoholics.
Privacy and Shame with Janna Smith
Janna Smith is an author and social worker. In this episode of Safe Space Radio, she discusses the relationship between privacy and shame. She describes her own struggle over how much to reveal about her father Bernard Malamud, and how to respect both his and her privacy while also confronting her shame about being compared …read more »
Suicide Among Gay Youth with Charles Robins
Charles Robbins is CEO of the Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to preventing suicide among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth. Charles describes the vulnerable time in a young person’s life after they realize they are queer, but before they have found accepting others to share it with. Charles describes his own story of …read more »
The Suicide of a Child with Patricia Ellen
Patricia Ellen’s son killed himself when he was fourteen. Patricia describes the process of trying to understand what led up to it, and the signs that were and were not there. She describes the bullying incident at school that she believes led her son to suicide. Patricia movingly describes the many years long process of …read more »
The Legacy of Suicide with David Treadway
The Legacy of a Mother’s Suicide with Nancy Rappaport
Child psychiatrist Dr. Nancy Rappaport discusses her mother’s suicide, which happened when Nancy was four. Nancy undertakes a detective-like 18 year journey to discover who her mother was, and to understand what she was going through. Nancy describes the terrible consequences when a distorted belief that ones life is expendable, is combined with impulsivity. She …read more »
Hospice Chaplaincy with Ellie Mercer
An interview with hospice chaplain Ellie Mercer about caring for patients at the end of life. She describes her own childhood in a Christian Science family where illness and death were not talked about, or even treated medically, and the relief of working in hospice, where death can be acknowledged and fears can be addressed.
The Impact of Cancer on Families with David Treadway
Family therapist David Treadway talks about his struggle with advanced lymphoma. He and his wife and two grown sons wrote a book together, Home Before Dark, about their experiences of dealing with his illness and the possibility he might die. They take an honest look at the differences in their coping styles and some of the …read more »
Cancer and the Tri for a Cure with Julie Marchese
Julie Marchese is the founder of the Tri-for-a Cure, the all women’s triathlon to raise money for women’s cancer. She describes her experiences taking care of her mother when she had cancer, and how that shaped her ability to take charge of her own treatment when she was diagnosed years later.
Working with Bereaved Children with Joanne Anning
Creating a Relationship with your Dreams with Bob Childs
Sexual Gridlock with Ron Feintech
Divorce with Richard Schwartz
The Legacy of Divorce with Mona Barbera
Couples therapist and workshop leader Dr. Mona Barbera talks to Safe Space Radio about the legacy of divorce. Mona talks about her feelings of confusion and failure after her divorce, her continuing desire to have children, and how she’s tried to learn and change her own patterns of behavior in new relationship.
Choosing Not to Have Children with Jeanne Safer
Dr. Jeanne Safer discusses her decision not to have children. Jeanne describes the intense internal and external pressure she felt to have kids, and the sense that choosing not to meant she was somehow deficient in her ability to love. She talks about how she came to her decision and affirm that having kids was …read more »
Parenting Wounds with Kathryn Black
Kathryn Black is author of Mothering Without a Map: Finding the Good Mother Within. Kathryn talks about her own experience with feeling “under-mothered,” and her fear of passing on a painful legacy to her children. She talks about changing and healing her own behavior, and the pervasive cultural fantasy that childhood is perfectible and of …read more »
Childbirth and Self-Judgment with Martha Tole
Medical assistant and doula Martha Tole talks about bad mother anxiety and childbirth. Martha affirms that bad mother anxiety can begin before birth and may continue indefinitely. She describes how so many mothers’ tendency to compare themselves to others and to judge themselves in other spheres of life is especially painful when it comes to …read more »
Attachment Parenting and Anxiety with Kathryn Landon-Malone
Intergenerational Mothering Struggles with Raye Tibbetts
Raye Tibbetts is author of The Bad Mother Chronicles and a new blog called Good Enough. In this episode she speaks about intergenerational patterns of painful mothering. She describes the legacy of her mother having given away a child to adoption and the impact that had on her ability to bond with Raye, followed by …read more »
Balancing Mothering and Medicine with Amy Gottlieb
Women’s health doctor Amy Gottlieb describes her bad mother anxiety due to her absences from her child necessitated by her training. She talks about how balancing work and family can affect mothering and often results in fears that we are doing both badly. She also names some legislative and employment reforms that are needed in …read more »
Mothering as Hero’s Journey with Nicole Chaison
Nicole Chaison is author of The Passion of the Hausfrau about the experience of motherhood as a form of the mythic hero’s journey. She speaks about the courage it took to write honestly about her experiences as a mother and her struggles with both shame and loyalty in deciding to go public with her stories.
Bad Mother Anxiety with Ayelet Waldman
Writer Ayelet Waldman is author of Bad Mother. In this episode of Safe Space Radio, Ayelet talks about the differences between her and her mother’s generation, and the difficulties of living up to the impossible expectations that fit our ideal of a “good mother.” Ayelet argues that being honest with your children about maternal ambivalence helps …read more »
Lesbian Parenting with Jen Hodsden
Underage Drinking with Jo Morrissey
Youthanasia with Dennis Embry
This interview with Safe Space Radio features child psychologist and researcher Dennis Embry on “Youthanasia,” his name for the policies and practices that result in shorter projected lifespans for younger generations. He looks at the causes of mental health problems, substance abuse, violence, obesity and suicide and shows how the same interventions can prevent all …read more »
Alcoholism in Families with Louise Zubrod
The Fear of Not Being Good with Mike Elkin
Psychotherapist Mike Elkin suggests that many of us experience a fear of not being good as powerful threat. He describes how this fear plays itself out in couples and parenting relationships, and how we tend to express fear as either anger or guilt. He suggests that the most powerful antidote to fear is turning toward …read more »
Fear of Being a Bad Parent with MC
Talking to Kids about Adoption with Robert Childs
Psychologist Dr. Robert Childs specializes in the difficulties and shame that adoptees face in talking to their adoptive families about their biological parents. He addresses the myth that love is all an adoptee needs, and discusses the impact of searching for one’s biological parents as a way to address old fears and grief.
Premature Delivery with Julia Jarvis
An interview with the Reverend Julia Jarvis on her experiences delivering one and a half pound baby girls at 26 weeks gestation. She discusses her struggle with worrying that somehow it was her fault, and also her struggle with the medical profession over who would make the decisions that would affect her daughters’ lives.
