Ep. 300 Unlocking Connection and Calm in Parenting: The Attachment-First Approach
Parenting Great Kids with Dr. Meg Meeker
Dr. Meg Meeker
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 6 November 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this transformative episode of Parenting Great Kids, Dr. Meg Meeker welcomes psychotherapist and parenting coach Todd Sarner to unpack powerful, research-backed parenting strategies that prioritize connection and attachment over behavior control. Sarner challenges the traditional "behavior-first" models and instead encourages a relational, attachment-first parenting style that fosters emotional regulation, trust, and long-term resilience in children.
From exploring the root causes of conflict to rethinking discipline through the lens of unmet needs, this episode provides practical tools, mindset shifts, and actionable advice for parents navigating the complexities of raising emotionally healthy children in today's world. Todd also teases key insights from his upcoming book, The Calm and Connected Parent, making this a must-listen for any caregiver wanting to parent with purpose, empathy, and strength.
About Our Guest
Todd Sarner, MFT, is a psychotherapist and parenting coach who has spent over 20 years helping parents turn daily struggles into lasting connection and cooperation at home. He is the founder of Transformative Parenting and the author of the forthcoming book The Calm & Connected Parent: An Attachment-First Guide to Raising Resilient Kids in the Age of Screens and AI (November 2025). Blending attachment science with practical psychology, Todd offers clear, compassionate tools that move beyond theory into real-world strategies parents can use in heated moments. He specializes in working with high-achieving, thoughtful parents who often feel like they’re doing everything “right” but still experience conflict, disconnection, or digital-age pressures. Through his coaching, teaching, and writing, Todd empowers families to help their children thrive emotionally while creating more calm and connection at home.
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Transcript
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| 1:07.4 | in partnership with Todd Sarner. We received sponsorship for this interview, and as |
| 1:12.4 | always, all opinions are our own. On today's episode of Parenting Great Kids, we've all been |
| 1:19.3 | there. Power struggles with our kids, endless meltdowns, feeling like nothing we try is working. |
| 1:26.0 | But what if those difficult moments like the defiance, the |
| 1:28.9 | shutdowns, the big emotions are actually signaled? What if there your child's way of saying |
| 1:35.3 | something deeper isn't working for me right now? Joining us today is Todd Sarner, a psychotherapist |
| 1:43.5 | and paraging coach with over 20 years of experience |
| 1:46.7 | helping families move from chaos to connection. He's the founder of transformative parenting |
| 1:53.9 | and the author of the upcoming book, The Calm and Connected Parent. Todd, this is going to be so much fun. Welcome to Parenting Great |
| 2:03.3 | Kids. We talked for hours before we hit record. I think we did. And then finally, I said, okay, |
| 2:10.2 | we just need to hit the record button. I love your work. I love that. Your whole approach to |
| 2:15.6 | parenting. Because I think so many times parenting coaches and experts |
| 2:21.1 | get things backwards. We come and we tell parents what to do rather than learning why our kids |
... |
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