Episode 137: Connective Parenting with Michelle Kenney
The Divorce Survival Guide Podcast
Kate Anthony
4.4 • 574 Ratings
🗓️ 7 October 2021
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"Parenting is hard, divorce or not. Parenting is a big ask." When you mix parenting, divorce, changes in family structure, and a complete upheaval of everyday life - parenting becomes even harder. Michelle Kenney, a connective parenting coach, joins me to talk about how to parent your children before, during, and after divorce, with connection, peace, and empathy.
Michelle is a divorced mom of two daughters, who are 12 and 15. She is a recovering yeller, control freak, and perfectionist turned connective parenting coach. She was so poignant and soothing during our time together. I can't wait for you to listen.
"I gave up the relationship I share with my ex-husband to focus on the relationship I share with my girls. The relationship I share with my girls is better because I got divorced." Michelle Kenney.
Show Highlights
- Was parenting always a big ask or did parenting change over time (compared to past generations)? (5:33)
- How to use connective parenting as opposed to punitive parenting, when your own life is destabilized by the divorce process. (7:39)
- "It's okay to make mistakes, it's not perfect, and we can strive to do better." And...as parents, we have an obligation to our children to apologize when we do get things wrong. (7:52)
- Connective parenting: what it means and what it looks like. (10:20)
- When your co-parent continues to punitively parent your child and you don't. "You need one, good connected caretaker to be a functioning human being, to do well, and to be well-adjusted." (12:15)
- How to talk to your children about your different parenting styles without badmouthing your co-parent. (14:30)
- The importance of empathizing with your child. Plus, why is it so hard to do? "We don't understand what empathy is because no one did it for us." (22:06)
- Adjusting to co-parenting and being without your child while they are with their co-parent. (23:36)
- Why punitive parenting is bad for children. (28:13)
- Michelle shares her experience as a former yeller and insight about what parents can do when they do yell or lose their shit. (32:30)
Learn More About Michelle:
Michelle lives in Los Angeles with her two girls 12 and 15. Before becoming a Hand in Hand certified instructor in 2015, she worked for 12 years in public schools as a teacher and counselor. None of which prepared her to be a mom. After years of consequences, bribes, and star charts she found Hand in Hand parenting, created by Patty Wipfler. It reshaped the relationship she shares with her daughters, and she credits it with changing her life.
She is passionate about helping others find their way through the murky business of being a connected parent. She loves leading groups and finds the dynamic transformative.
Michelle also strongly believes that listening partnerships are the cornerstone to moving through difficulties.
Michelle has helped herself and others make meaningful connections, work on sibling rivalry, and alleviate school problems. Aggression, fears, withdrawal, and sleep issues are just some of the struggles she has shared and helped others rectify.
She holds a Master's Degree in Education speaks fluent Spanish, has been trained as a Council in Schools Facilitator and is an ADL Trainer fighting against the bias of all types on school campuses.
Resources & Links:
For show notes and resources, also visit: https://kateanthony.com/podcast/connective-parenting-with-michelle-kenney/
The Divorce Survival Program is here. Learn more or purchase, here!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Divorce Survival Guide podcast, where we have open and honest conversations about co-parenting, separation, divorce, and the hardest question of all, should you stay or should you go. |
| 0:17.7 | I'm Kate Anthony, your divorce survival guide, and I'm here to help you navigate |
| 0:22.8 | some of the roughest waters you've ever swum in and answer some of your toughest questions. |
| 0:28.5 | I've been to hell and back, and now it's my mission in life to help you get to the other side |
| 0:34.2 | of this process with your sanity and your heart intact. |
| 0:46.8 | Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode. So before we get into today's episode, which is just like a warm bath, |
| 0:57.6 | I wanted to let you know that the divorce survival program is now open for enrollment for |
| 1:04.7 | everyone. And this program is, you know, I think as I've said to you a number of times, it is a labor of love that I've been working on for years. |
| 1:18.5 | I can't tell you how grateful I am to my friends and colleagues and guest experts who have joined me, Susan Guthrie, Christina McGee, Sean Lehman, Rhonda Nordyke, |
| 1:30.8 | Dr. Elizabeth Cohen. I could go on and on and on. You know, there are so many amazing |
| 1:36.4 | guest experts. And, um, but it's not just the guest experts. It's also me. So it has 23 videos of just me giving you the information, your most |
| 1:49.0 | frequently asked questions answered. As I've said, the culmination of years of my work |
| 1:55.4 | put into one place and it is one stopstop shopping for getting all of your questions answered |
| 2:04.3 | about how to navigate this divorce process from legal to financial to emotional healing |
| 2:09.7 | and most importantly making decisions that will keep your children at the center of all of your decisions and never put them in the |
| 2:19.9 | middle. And you know that is my goal always. The program is open for enrollment right now. If you go to |
| 2:26.6 | Divorcesurvival Program.com or click the link in the show notes or go to my website and |
| 2:32.8 | click on getting divorced all sorts of |
| 2:34.7 | ways that you can find this you can buy it now it is open for enrollment it is $497 it is |
| 2:44.3 | unbelievably low priced and there's a payment plan as well so it will save you tons of money in the process. Let me tell |
| 2:54.1 | you. It is worth so much more than the $500 that I'm charging for it. But I'm doing that |
| 3:00.2 | because I think it's that important for you to have this information. So now on to today's episode. Today I have with me Michelle Kenny. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Kate Anthony, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Kate Anthony and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.