The Parenting Lab (Help for the Healing Parent)
by Brittney Gonzalez
Join the conversation as we explore the art and science of parenting! As a Master-Certified Parent Coach, I'm here to guide you in your parenting - to heal, connect, regulate, and move forward with intention. You don't have to be stuck in a loop of yelling, conflict, and frustration! Yes, parenting is hard - but WHY? Let's dig into what's really going on, and transform your parenting from the inside out.
Episodes
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79. 4 Things Parents Never Need to Apologize For
How often do you say “I’m sorry” when you haven’t actually done anything wrong? Parents often apologize to soften a decision, avoid conflict, or make their needs easier for someone else to accept. But over time, those automatic apologies can turn a clear choice into a request for permission - and...
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78. Compromise: The Sweet Spot of Mutual Discomfort
What does healthy compromise look like in parenting - and how do you know when to negotiate, when to hold firm, and when a limit needs to grow with your child? In this episode, we explore the “sweet spot of mutual discomfort”: the place where parents and children both stretch a little to reach an...
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77. Empathy Fatigue: When Compassion Feels Hard
Have you ever known your child needed empathy, but felt too irritated, distracted, or depleted to care? I’ve been there - and the guilt afterward can be almost as hard as the moment itself. In this episode, we're talking about empathy fatigue: why compassion can feel out of reach even when you…
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76. Parenting by the Stars: Strengths, Shadows, and How to Align to Your Zodiac Sign
What can your zodiac sign reveal about your parenting strengths, stress responses, and opportunities for growth? In this fun birthday episode, we explore all 12 zodiac signs - from Aries to Pisces - and how their natural personality traits may shape the way we connect, protect, communicate, set...
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75. The Five Moments Every Parent Gets Wrong (and How to Repair Them)
Every parent has moments they wish they had handled differently - but what we do after a parenting mistake may matter just as much as the original moment. In this episode, I explore why fear, embarrassment, dysregulation, and old patterns can shape our reactions, and how we can repair without...
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74. Every Mother Has a Story: How Motherhood Expands Us (with Kim Marshall)
Every mother has a story - but many of us have learned to minimize, edit, or keep parts of ours hidden. In this episode, I’m joined by Kim Marshall, parent coach and creator and curator of Motherhood Expanded, a multi-author anthology sharing the honest lived experiences of women across different...
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73. Three Questions I Get Asked Most Often (as a Parent Coach)
“How do I get my child to listen?” “How do I stop yelling?” “How do I know if I’m doing this right?” These are three of the most common questions parents ask me - but the answers aren’t usually found in another script, consequence, or parenting strategy. In this episode, we're exploring what...
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72. Back to School Anxiety: It's Not Just For Kids
Back-to-school anxiety isn’t just for kids. Parents carry worries into a new school year, too - about teachers, friendships, grades, learning challenges, IEPs and 504 plans, new schools, and big transitions into junior high, high school, or college. In this episode, we explore the difference...
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71. Why Influence Matters More Than Control
As children grow, our authority naturally begins to fade - but that doesn’t mean our guidance has to disappear. In this episode, we explore the difference between control and influence, why control can feel so reassuring, and how parents can build the kind of trust that allows their voice to…
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70. The Power to See: The Art & Science of Witnessing
What does it mean to feel truly seen - not just noticed, listened to, or known by the roles we play? In this episode, we explore the power of witnessing: seeing the person within the experience and meeting their truth with both honesty and humanity. We’ll look at how witnessing strengthens...
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69. Head, Heart & Hands: An Exercise in Decision-Making
How do we get our partner on board with a change - without convincing, controlling, or reluctantly giving in? In this episode, we revisit the Head, Heart, Hands framework and turn it into a simple exercise for creating genuine buy-in. By exploring what makes sense, what feels meaningful, and what...
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68. Screen Time Isn't the Problem (Here's What Is)
Is screen time really the problem - or is it revealing something deeper? In this episode, we're looking beyond the usual conversations about screen time limits, educational apps, and family rules. Instead, we're exploring what screens do to our nervous systems - and why they can become such a...
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67. How Parents Accidentally Teach Shame
Our words shape more than our children's behavior - they shape the story our children begin to believe about themselves. In this episode, we're exploring how parents can unintentionally communicate shame, even when our goal is to teach responsibility, honesty, and respect. We'll talk about the...
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65. Parenting Self-Assessment: How Healthy Is Your Relationship with Your Child?
☑️Download the FREE Self Assessment Workbook What if you stopped measuring your parenting by your child's behavior - and started measuring the health of your relationship instead? In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we're slowing down to take an honest, compassionate look at where things really...
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64. Dad Phrases, Decoded: A Father's Day Special
Leave a comment with your favorite "Dad Phrase!" "Because I said so." "Turn off the lights." "When I was your age..." In honor of Father's Day, we're taking a lighthearted look at some of the classic phrases dads seem to share across generations. From lectures about electricity to stories that...
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63. Cultivating a Peaceful Family Culture
Join the FREE 5-Day Abundant Parenting Challenge How do we create a peaceful family culture when life is noisy, messy, emotional, and unpredictable? This week, we're building on last week's conversation about abundance vs. scarcity and exploring why peace isn't found in the absence of conflict,...
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62. Abundance vs. Scarcity: It's Not About Excess, It's About Access
Sign up for the FREE 5-Day Abundant Parenting Challenge What if abundance isn’t about having more? In this episode, we explore a different way of thinking about abundance and scarcity - not as personality traits or mindsets you either have or don’t have, but as states you move in and out of. When...
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61. Work-Life Balance...or Whole-Life Alignment?
We often talk about work life and home life as though they exist in separate worlds. But stress, fulfillment, connection, burnout, and emotional wellbeing don't stay neatly contained in one environment. We carry them with us wherever we go. In this episode, we explore the connection between our...
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60. Family Vacations: Expectations vs. Reality (And How to Actually Enjoy Them)
Family vacations are supposed to be magical… so why do they so often leave us feeling disappointed, overwhelmed, or even a little resentful? In this episode, we’re talking about the gap between expectations vs. reality in family vacations and summer with kids - and why even the most thoughtfully...
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59. Fight. Flight. Freeze. Fawn. What is Your Default Stress Response?
Why do you react so strongly in certain moments - snapping, shutting down, avoiding, or people-pleasing - even when you don’t want to? In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we’re breaking down the 4 default stress responses - fight, flight, freeze, and fawn - and how your nervous system shapes…
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58. Re-Mothering Yourself: The Healing Work That Changes Your Parenting
🌱 The companion ebook, Re-Mothering Yourself: A Journey Back to Safety, Wholeness & Inner Guidance, is available now at theparentinglab.org. Mother’s Day can bring up more than flowers, cards, and appreciation. For many women, it also brings exhaustion, grief, resentment, unmet needs, parenting...
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57. I Have Nothing Left to Give
🧘🏼♀️Download Lab 5: Regulated - The Science of Safety & The Nervous System What do you do when you have nothing left to give… but people still need you? If you’ve ever felt emotionally depleted, overwhelmed, or like you’re running on empty in parenting, your relationship, or your life - this...
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56. Cycle Responsive Parenting: How Hormones Affect Motherhood | with Shara Jackson Harper
🍃 Click HERE to download your FREE Cycle Responsive Parenting Guide + Mood Tracker This week, I’m joined by women’s health and hormone expert Shara Jackson Harper to explore a topic so many moms experience - but rarely understand: why parenting can feel easier some weeks and so much harder…
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55. How (And Why) to Stop Punishing
What if punishment isn’t actually teaching your kids… or anyone… anything? What if it’s quietly creating the very patterns you’re trying to change? In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we’re taking a deep, honest look at punishment - not just in parenting, but in our relationships and the way we...
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54. Treating vs Fixing vs Healing: Why Parenting Advice Only Goes So Far
Are you constantly searching for better parenting strategies… but still finding yourself stuck in the same patterns? In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we explore the powerful difference between fixing, treating, and healing in parenting - and why true transformation doesn’t come from scripts…
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53. Real Stories - Tessie & Dylan (Part 2)
Explore Coaching Packages This week is Part 2 of my conversation with my first coaching clients! We're talking with Tessie’s husband, Dylan - and I’m especially excited to share this perspective with you. In this episode, Dylan shares what it was like to step into coaching as a dad - including…
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52. Real Stories - Tessie & Dylan (Part 1)
Explore Coaching Packages This episode is a special one. Today, I’m joined by Tessie - one of my very first coaching clients - as she shares her powerful journey through this work. In this conversation, Tessie opens up about where her family was before coaching, the challenges she faced as she...
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51. The Truth About Triggers
👉🏼 Purchase Lab 5: Regulated 👈🏼 In this episode, we’re rethinking one of the most overused - and misunderstood - words in the healing space: triggered. Because what if your child’s behavior, your partner’s tone, or the chaos of your day isn’t what’s causing your reaction… but simply revealing...
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50. Growing Good Timber: A Metaphor for Resilience
🧘🏼♀️To learn more about your nervous system, download Lab Five: Regulated now! ✨ Is your instinct to step in every time your child struggles? What if that very struggle is exactly what helps them grow stronger, more confident, and resilient? In this episode, we explore how resilience isn’t…
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49. Writing to Heal: The Power of Journaling
✍🏼Download the Writing to Heal Mini-Lab! Journaling has a reputation. For some people, it feels natural and deeply healing. For others, it brings up images of teenage diaries, angsty poetry, or pages filled with emotions they’d rather not put into words. But what if writing isn’t about…
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48. Why Better Questions Matter More Than Better Answers
🙋🏼♂️❓🤔Download the FREE 100 Questions Guide Most parents are searching for the right answers. But what if the real power in parenting isn’t in having better answers - but in asking better questions? In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we explore how asking thoughtful, curiosity-driven...
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47. Head, Heart & Hands: The Secret to Healthy Communication
Download Lab 6: Wired Have you ever felt unheard in your relationship - even when you’re trying so hard to communicate clearly? Do arguments escalate quickly, leaving you wondering why your partner (or your child) just doesn’t seem to get it? You’re both in the same conversation. You’re both in…
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46. The Problem With Love Languages (And How to Actually Connect)
You’re speaking their love language.So why isn't it working? If you’ve read the books, taken the quizzes, and tried to love your partner or child “the right way” - but something still feels off - this episode is for you. In this thought-provoking conversation, we take a deeper look at one of the...
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45. Trauma-Bonding: When Pain Feels Like Connection
Download Lab 5: Regulated Have you ever felt closest to someone during conflict, crisis, or emotional intensity - and strangely disconnected when things finally calm down? This episode explores trauma bonding through a nervous-system lens, looking at why stress, urgency, and emotional activation...
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44. Stop Trying to Stop Yelling: How to Quit Yelling at Your Kids (Without Willpower)
FREE How To Stop Yelling Guide Download Lab Five: Regulated If you’ve ever promised yourself you’d stop yelling - only to find yourself doing it again hours (or minutes) later - this episode is for you. Yelling isn’t happening because you’re a bad parent, undisciplined, or doing something wrong....
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43. Parts Work for Parents: Meeting the Different Versions of You
Ever lie awake after a hard parenting moment thinking, Why did I react like that when I know better? If part of you wants to be calm and connected, but another part wants to shut down, snap, or walk away - you’re not broken. You’re experiencing inner conflict, and there’s a reason it shows up so...
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42. You Know Better… So Why Is It Still So Hard to Change?
Click HERE to access Lab Three: AlignedYou know better - so why is it still so hard to change? If awareness was supposed to make things easier, why does healing sometimes feel more frustrating than before? In this episode, we’re talking about the part of growth no one prepares you for: the...
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41. Your Parenting Vision: A Different Way to Begin the Year
What if the new year didn’t begin with pressure to fix yourself - but with permission to return to yourself? In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we explore a different way to begin the year by shifting from parenting resolutions to a deeper, more meaningful parenting vision. Instead of focusing...
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40. My Vision For You
As we close out 2025, I wanted to offer something different - not goals, not resolutions, not another list of things to fix - but a vision. In this final episode of the year, I want to share my vision for you as a parent and as a person. A vision rooted in healing, awareness, and the belief that...
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39. 3 Quotes that Changed The Way I Parent
As we near the end of 2025, I've been spending some time reflecting on how far I've come in my parenting, so... In today’s episode, I’m sharing three quotes that genuinely changed the way I parent. Not in a dramatic, overnight way... more like those quiet little truths that settle in, speak to...
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38. How to Holiday {Part Two}: Rituals & Traditions
🎄🕎✨In Part Two of How to Holiday, we move beyond boundaries and expectations and step into the heart of the holiday season: meaning. Together, we explore how rituals and traditions help anchor our kids, regulate our nervous systems, and bring us back to what actually matters. Instead of chasing...
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37. How to Holiday {Part One}: Boundaries & Expectations
This week on The Parenting Lab, we’re kicking off a two-part series called How to Holiday - and Part One is all about the thing most parents struggle with the most during this season: boundaries and expectations. The holidays are beautiful, but they are also a lot. Extra noise, extra pressure,...
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36. How to Get the Most Out of Parent Coaching (and Any Transformational Parenting Work)
For access to the courses in The Parenting Lab Transformed Series, visit TheParentingLab.orgParenting is the only job we’re expected to know how to do - with absolutely no training. We’re handed children, a lifetime of conditioning, and an endless list of responsibilities… and then we wonder why...
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35. Parenting Burnout: 6 Signs You’re Burning Out (And How to Recover)
Are you burned out in your parenting? In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we’re exploring the six types of burnout in parenting - mental, emotional, physical, social, spiritual, and reconnection burnout - and the subtle ways they show up long before we realize we’re running on empty. You’ll…
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34. Connection Before Correction: Why 'Help First, Teach Later' is Better Than Lecturing
If you’ve ever tried to teach your child a lesson while they were melting down - and wondered why it didn’t work - this episode is for you. 💛 We’re unpacking one of the most powerful shifts in parenting: help first, teach later. Because here’s the truth: you cannot comfort and correct at the…
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33. Love is the Easy Part: What Really Makes Relationships Last
We say “love” all the time - I love my kids, I love my dog, I love sushi. But is love really enough to sustain our closest relationships? In this week’s episode of The Parenting Lab, we’re exploring a truth that might surprise you: love is the easy part. What’s harder is how we live that love…
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32. I Am vs. Am I?: How Self-Talk Shapes Your Parenting
🔬Download Lab Three: Aligned In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we’re unpacking two tiny words that carry enormous weight in our parenting journey: “I Am” vs. “Am I?” On the surface, they look almost the same. But in reality, they shape everything - our confidence, our motivation, even how…
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31. The Art & Science of Bedtime: A Simple Hack to Change Your Routine
Click HERE for your Free Bedtime Connection Guide! Bedtime isn’t just about getting kids to sleep - it’s one of the most powerful parenting tools you have! In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we’re talking about the surprising secret to building stronger connections with your kids of any age:...
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30. 5 Things I Don't Feel Guilty About Anymore (and You Shouldn’t Either)
In this episode of The Parenting Lab, we dive into the heavy, invisible “shoulds” that keep parents trapped in guilt and self-judgment. I share five things I no longer feel guilty about - and how letting go of these rules has transformed my parenting, my relationships, and my own sense of…
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29. Is It Too Late to Change? No! Here's Why...
Have you ever looked at your child - whether they’re a toddler, a teen, or a grown adult - and wondered, “Did I miss my chance? Is it too late to change?” In this powerful episode of The Parenting Lab, I’m unpacking one of the most common and painful questions parents ask: Is it too late to…
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About this show
Join the conversation as we explore the art and science of parenting! As a Master-Certified Parent Coach, I'm here to guide you in your parenting - to heal, connect, regulate, and move forward with intention. You don't have to be stuck in a loop of yelling, conflict, and frustration! Yes, parenting is hard - but WHY? Let's dig into what's really going on, and transform your parenting from the inside out.
Hosted by
Brittney Gonzalez