Empowered to Connect Podcast

It's that time of year again - time to take a deep breath and spend hours and hours with family members you may or may not want to see, eat foods that may or may not be easy for your kids to eat and spend the next month or so with the dull hum of presents and high expectations accompanying your every move. Happy Holidays everyone! In all seriousness, whether you live for this season or loathe this season, it can be a bear to navigate with all of the out of the ordinary that it brings. Have no fear! On this replay episode, Jesse Faris, Becca McKay, and JD talk through all of these things and more with some practical tips and reminders to help get you through what can be a really tricky season to navigate with your family!

In this episode, Becca, Jesse, and Tona dive into a timely topic: gratitude. With the holiday season in full swing, we can’t help but ask, should children be grateful? If not, how do we scaffold gratitude for our kiddos? Tune in for an honest conversation about expectations, empathy, and what gratitude really means. We share personal stories, a few laughs, and some surprising insights about how gratitude shows up in everyday life. It’s a heartfelt reminder that gratitude isn’t something we demand. It’s something we model and grow in together.

Enjoy this replay of From Trauma and Loss to Healing and Empowerment with Cam Lee Small. One of our favorite Therapists/Adoptee Voices joins us on the pod to talk about lots of things including his book The Adoptees Journey: From Trauma and Loss to Healing and Empowerment. We talk with Cam about everything from how identities are formed in adoptees to things he wishes adoptive parents knew to his own experiences filled with pain and beauty. This is an episode every adoptee and adoptive parent NEEDS to hear. Find Cam’s work at therapyredeemed.wordpress.com and follow him @‌therapyredeemed on Instagram and YouTube.

Ever wonder why certain behaviors leave us scratching our heads? On today’s Empowered to Connect Podcast, we’re diving into sensory processing. What it is, why it matters, and how it impacts our ability (and our kids’ ability) to regulate and move through the day. We all know the basic 5 senses, right? But did you know there are actually EIGHT sensory systems your brain is managing? We're breaking it all down:✅ What is sensory processing?✅ What happens when our systems get overwhelmed?✅ How can we support ourselves and our kids when things feel "off"? We're not Occupational Therapists. Just parents sharing what we've learned. This is a conversation you don’t want to miss!

Parenting takes heart and strategy—and finding the right balance can be tough! In this episode, Becca, Jesse, and Tona dive into how Cultivate Connection, ETC’s peer-to-peer parenting course, helps caregivers strengthen both. You’ll hear insights on parenting styles, nurture, and structure—and how to bring it all together at home. Interested in taking the course? Find a Cultivate Connection Facilitator near you or hop on the waitlist for Cultivate Connection Online, coming early 2026 on the Empowered to Connect Institute.