I had Haley as a teen and we have been through so many ups and downs, but are on the side of healing past hurts, as well as our relationship. It’s been so fun watching her grow and see her follow in my footsteps as a social worker. Haley has her Bachelors in Social Work and works for a local counseling agency as a crisis response counselor. She lives with her dog, Hank, and uses art as an outlet to help her get through the big and hard of life!

On today’s episode, Mary Anne shares about the ways that cancer has affected her family and what helped her make it through. She shares about not healing from grief but from growing through grief. Mary Anne also talks about how grief is not always related to death. This is a heavy conversation, but a good one.

On today’s episode, Melissa answers a listener's question about chores. She talks about how much is too much, thoughts on allowance, and what age should chores start. Chores can be hard and cause disagreements in the home, so listen in to see if you can pick up some suggestions to make it easier on everyone!

On today’s episode, Jon Pemberton guest-hosts the podcast as the tables are turned on Melissa. He interviews her on all things podcasting and what she has learned over the past year. Jon is one of the funniest people, so you won’t want to miss this one!

On today’s episode, Melissa shares how she got to the place of leaving her job in Child Welfare to start Mending Families. She also gives her thoughts on a few topics that came up in her conversation with Matt Anderson in last week's episode. Melissa believes that in order to do better, we have to be willing to listen and grow our compassion. Let’s start here!

On today’s episode, Matt shares about his journey from running a foster care agency to leaving with no plan in the Fall of 2022. We talk about values fatigue, learning through relationships, and reflecting on how choices we make can effect an entire family system. Matt shares specific situations and experiences that have shaped how he views the child welfare system and “right relationship” with others. This is a heavy conversation and I encourage you to listen with open hearts and minds. Enjoy!

On today’s episode, Melissa answers listener questions about how to co-regulate with their child. This is a common question and can be a hard one to answer because it is so specific to each child, so Melissa gives you several tools to try out with your kids! Sometimes parenting is trial and error so give these a try and see what helps!

On today’s episode, Melissa gives you a sneak peek of the monthly membership, Let’s Grow, and you can listen in on one of the monthly trainings! Each month, for a small fee, you can join a live monthly training, peer support and so many giveaways and freebies! If you are interested in learning more, go to https://www.mendingfamiliieswa.com/membership.

On today’s episode, Melissa and Steve talk about trauma informed parenting, where we can be more trauma aware, and how you start to see trauma everywhere once you start to experience growth. Steve also shared ways that we can make more space for queer kids that he believes can help them feel seen and loved. This is an important conversation that you won’t want to miss!