Advertise on podcast: UnMuted Love with Ce Eshelman

This week Ce Eshelman, LMFT,  interviews Stephanie Culler: Caltech PhD, twenty-plus patents, and former cancer researcher. Then she became a mother, went looking for what shapes health at the very beginning, and found a hole in nearly every American baby's gut. What does this have to do with parenting children from adverse beginnings? A lot. Her My Baby Biome study — one of the largest of its kind in the U.S. — found that nine in ten infants are missing keystone strains of Bifidobacterium, and nearly a quarter have none detectable at all, rising to 35% of babies born by C-section. Our kids weren't in that study. Most of ours arrived without much of a birth story or what happened in the first 1000 days. So, Ce asked what that study didn't: What happens when the exposures stack? What comes home with a child at eighteen months, or at seven years?  (And, Ce’s favorite part of the interview: how dogs fit in.) ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/NGbt6mPR7Lw 💡 Check out Stephanie's Baby Biome study → https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08274-7 🌐 Find Stephanie on her website → persephone.bio From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

Ce Eshelman, LMFT, sits down with Jen Lumanlan — host of Your Parenting Mojo and author of Parenting Beyond Power — and starts by picking a fight. Not really. Jen once made an episode called "Most of what you know about attachment is probably wrong." Ce owns a place called The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. What follows is not a debate so much as a really good untangling: what the attachment research actually says, who it was built on, and what still holds up when your child arrived at age six with a file folder and a garbage bag. Then they get into the meatier stuff you can use today. Collaborative problem-solving when your child’s survival brain gets to the conversation first. What to do when the unmet need underneath the behavior is I don't believe adults keep children safe. Why the safest parent gets the worst behavior. And whether it's too late for a fourteen-year-old who came home at nine. (Spoiler: it isn't.) Bring your coffee. Bring your skepticism. Bring the part of you that's tired. Both of these women get you. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/XvmrtUVLgVo 💡 Take one of Jen's free quizzes → https://go.yourparentingmojo.com/tl/312 💡 Use code UNMUTED to get $10 off Jen's masterclass on why you're so angry with your child's age-appropriate behavior (and what to do about it) → https://go.yourparentingmojo.com/tl/303 💡 Jen's Taming Your Triggers workshop → https://go.yourparentingmojo.com/t?orid=27633&opid=16 From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

What happens when reading stops feeling like learning and starts feeling like proof that a child is “not smart”? In this episode of UnMuted Love, Ce Eshelman talks with Ruth Rumack, founder of Ruth Rumack’s Learning Space and creator of The Yak Pack Comics, about the emotional side of reading struggles--the part parents do not always know how to name. For many striving readers, repeated reading difficulty is not just an academic problem. It can become a nervous system problem, a shame problem, a confidence problem, and eventually an identity problem. A child who is bright, creative, verbal, curious, or deeply capable may still melt down, avoid reading, refuse homework, guess wildly, shut down, or say heartbreaking things like, “I’m stupid,” or “I hate reading.” Ruth helps parents understand what may be happening underneath those behaviors. Ce and Ruth talk about why children with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, anxiety, executive functioning challenges, and other learning differences often need more than extra practice. They need reading support that protects emotional safety, preserves dignity, and keeps the parent-child relationship from becoming another place where the child feels behind. This conversation is especially helpful for parents whose evenings have turned into reading battles, homework stress, tears, avoidance, or power struggles. Ruth offers a compassionate, practical way to think about helping children build reading skills without adding pressure, shame, or fear. They also discuss The Yak Pack Comics, Ruth’s decodable phonics comic series created to help children reconnect with reading through humor, success, and joy.  This might be the episode that rings a bell for what your child really needs. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/WEDAZqLIxvs 📖 Check out FREE sample Yak Pack comic → https://rumackresources.com/product/yak-pack-comics-free-sample/ 📖 Check out the Yak Pack phonics comic books → https://bit.ly/YakPackComics 🌐 Find Ruth on her website → https://ruthrumack.com 💡 Check out Ruth's resources and publications → https://rumackresources.com From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

In this episode, Ce Eshelman, Attachment and Trauma Specialist, explores the impact on siblings in a house where one has big feelings due to complex developmental trauma symptoms. This episode is about the sibling in your house. The one who isn’t in crisis. The one who learned to read the mood in a room before they could read a book. The research says one thing protects these kids most, which is more doable than you’d think. No guilt in this one. You’ve got plenty already. Find out why the sibling isn’t a bystander, what being a “glass child” really means, and how unrecognized parentification can harm. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/rbYQqWXogOo From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

In this episode, Ce sits down with Conscious Living and Parenting Coach, Vibha Arora, to unpack her “Control-Free Parenting” approach—a blend of Positive Discipline and Conscious Parenting that challenges the instinct to manage, correct, and control.  Vibha is clear: this isn’t about being permissive. And it’s definitely not about stepping back and hoping for the best. This is about doing the harder, deeper work: understanding what’s driving your child’s behavior and what’s getting activated inside of you. If you’re parenting a child from difficult beginnings—where control battles, rejection, and dysregulation are part of daily life—this conversation will both stretch you and maybe intrigue you. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/bH-9GCC5umA 💡 Check out Vibha's FREE Guided Reset audio & nervous system tools → https://www.vibha-arora.com/pause-listen-shift-reset 💡 Take the Control Free Parenting Quiz → https://www.vibha-arora.com/control-free-parenting-quiz/ 📖 Check out Raising Teens Who Talk To You, a book Vibha contributed to → https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Teens-Who-Talk-You-ebook/dp/B0GYQ8R9VP 🎧 Listen to Vibha's podcast, Kaleidoscope: Shifting Perspectives With a Twist → https://open.spotify.com/show/2Jqz8hcUnqAA4sVCnzhgYW 🌐 Find Vibha on her website → https://www.vibha-arora.com/ 📷 Follow Vibha on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/vibhaarora_/ (You can DM her for virtual and in-person speaking and workshop requests!) From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

In this highly practical conversation, Ce Eshelman sits down again with somatic therapist and Life Balance founder, Layne Burkette, to move beyond talking about regulation to actually practicing it with children. Part 1 was focused on showing parents how to use regular breath work for their own wellness. In this second part, Ce and Layne demonstrate simple, usable breathwork and somatic practices parents can use with their children in real time. These aren't complicated techniques or something you need to “make” children do. These are small, body-based ways to build regulating breath into your children’s daily lives.   (If you missed last week’s conversation with Layne, you might want to step back an episode and start with Part 1. You will be glad you did!) ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/pyE8go-W4_I 💡 Check out Layne Burkette's FREE e-Book, Five Days to Calm → https://lifebalancebeyou.systeme.io/ 🌐 Find Layne on her website → https://lifebalancebeyou.com/ 📖 Check out The Perfectly Imperfect Family, the book Layne co-authored → https://lifebalancebeyou.heymarvelous.com/buy/product/90033 📷 Follow Layne on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/lifebalancebeyou/ From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

In this highly practical two-part conversation, Ce Eshelman sits down again with somatic therapist and Life Balance founder, Layne Burkette, to move beyond talking about regulation and actually practice it. This episode focuses on regulating breath work for parents. Together, Ce and Layne explore why parents can know every good parenting strategy and still lose access to those skills when their child’s nervous system lights up the room. They unpack what happens in the body when parents feel pushed, flooded, frozen, or desperate to fix things fast, and why the first intervention is often not a better too, but a steadier body. You'll learn simple, usable breathwork and somatic practices that you can try in real time. These aren't complicated techniques or one-more-thing-to-master exercises. They are small, body-based ways to interrupt reactivity, soften the nervous system, and return to enough safety to parent from presence instead of upset. In Part 2 next week, Ce and Layne demonstrate how to use breath work to create a regulating way of engaging children every day. Don't miss it! ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/8TWulIyHJDQ 💡 Check out Layne Burkette's FREE e-Book, Five Days to Calm → https://lifebalancebeyou.systeme.io/ 🌐 Find Layne on her website → https://lifebalancebeyou.com/ 📖 Check out The Perfectly Imperfect Family, the book Layne co-authored → https://lifebalancebeyou.heymarvelous.com/buy/product/90033 📷 Follow Layne on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/lifebalancebeyou/ From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

For the 100th episode of UnMuted Love, Ce Eshelman, LMFT, steps back to name the conviction threaded through every conversation she's had on this show: a child's behavior is information, not an indictment. Behavior tells us what a nervous system is managing—it doesn't tell us who the child is or who they will become. Pulling from nearly four decades as an attachment specialist and her own years parenting children who came home through foster care, Ce explains why the standard parenting playbook falls apart for kids whose earliest experiences were shaped by fear and loss. Punishment doesn't generate safety. Lectures don't produce calm. And the adults sweating it out every day deserve the same understanding they're asked to give to their child. She talks candidly about caregiver depletion, draws a firm line between therapeutic parenting and going soft, and circles back to the truth she keeps returning to: rebuilding trust is possible, but it can't be rushed or demanded. Part reflection, part celebration, part permission slip for every parent who's quietly wondered if they're doing it all wrong. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/amVmY_ksrdc From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

If you’ve ever thought, “We should have stayed home,” halfway through a celebration, Ce Eshelman made this episode of UnMuted Love just for you. She unpacks why fireworks and loud celebrations are especially hard for children with early trauma, attachment disruptions, and sensory sensitivity, and how parents can plan ahead, lower stress, and still create those life-long meaningful memories we are always hoping for. This episode applies not only to the Fourth of July, but to any celebration with fireworks or loud sensory input, including: New Year’s EveLunar / Chinese New YearDiwaliWeddingsChristmas and holiday gatheringsSporting events and festivals ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/4wQYRPRFkks From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

What if discipline isn't about compliance at all? In this thought-provoking conversation, Ce Eshelman sits down with parenting educator and founder of Non-Coercive, Collaborative Parenting, Vivek Patel, to explore one of the biggest questions parents face: How do you maintain boundaries, safety, and leadership without relying on control, punishment, or power struggles? Together, they unpack the difference between collaboration and permissiveness, what healthy limits look like in real life, and how parents can stay grounded when emotions are running high. This conversation offers a fresh perspective on discipline, connection, and the kind of leadership that builds trust rather than fear. If you've ever wondered whether there is another way to parent without constant battles, this episode is for you. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/Y0C41pwVHi8 💡 Check out Vivek's website for more → http://www.meaningfulideas.com From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

Neurodivergent children can be perplexing to a parent. In this episode of UnMuted Love, Ce Eshelman has a lively sit down with Mark Talaga, a neurodivergent therapist, for an enlightening conversation about parenting neurodivergent children through both lived experience and professional wisdom. Ce and Mark explore what it means to understand neurodivergent children from the inside out—not only through diagnoses, school reports, behavior plans, or parenting strategies, but through the real human experience of being a child whose nervous system, identity, sensitivities, and gifts may not fit neatly into the world around them. This conversation speaks directly to parents raising children who are gifted and asynchronous. They can be bright, articulate, creative, and insightful, while also overwhelmed by executive function demands, social pressure, sensory input, emotional intensity, or the crushing weight of expectations. You will want to bring your full attention to this episode, especially if you have been challenged by your child’s ability to do incredible things while simultaneously being unable some days to put their shoes on. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/IBWDIF7oSBc 💡 Check out Mark's website for more → http://www.centerforidentitypotential.com 🎧 Listen to Hopelessly Gifted, Mark's podcast → http://www.hopelesslygifted.com From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

Let’s be honest. Most of us didn’t get a real sex talk. We got silence, shame, or fierce warnings that left us more confused and worried than confident. Some of us got a single condom for our wallets as though that were all there was to navigating this adolescent developmental terrain. Now we’re raising teens in a world where everything is earlier, louder, and harder to negotiate, especially for kids carrying attachment wounds and early adversity. In this episode, Ce interviews Rebecca Reber, who brings 24 years of walking alongside teen parents, about what teens wish they knew before their entire lives changed in pregnancy and early parenting. What they talk about will change how you think about “the talk.” By the way, it’s not just a talk after all. This isn’t exactly about sex. It’s about nervous systems, and the challenge of finding the experience of belonging. It’s about pressure, identity, and the anxious fear of not being lovable. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/d-eiWCOR8cI 💡 Check out Rebecca's website for more → https://www.rebeccareber.com From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

When your child is melting down, shutting down, or coming at you hard, it can feel like everything inside you wants to react, fix, or shut it down fast. Ce interviews guest Dajana Yoakley of Delight in Parenting fame to focus in on how to be the parent who does this with a steady heart. In this honest and deeply practical conversation, Dajana and Ce unpack what’s really happening during dysregulation, and how parents can show up in ways that actually move the needle over time. This is all about being present, regulated, and intentional when it matters most. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/FptrfgmDN9g 🎧 Listen to Dajana's podcast → http://delightinparenting.substack.com 💡 Get Dajana's FREE Nervous System Reset → https://www.delightinparenting.com/nervous-system-reset-free From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

In this episode of UnMuted Love, Ce explores with Abigail Wald of Mother Flipping Awesome about parenting strong-willed, highly sensitive, deeply reactive children—including children from difficult beginnings whose nervous systems do not respond well to traditional parenting advice. Together they really dive into what it takes to love a child who is strong willed and how to go about finding the right path. Ce and Abigail find solidarity in the grief they both felt as mothers of children whose stories were not Instagram material. Listen as they explore how some kids are not looking for more consequences, louder lectures, or tighter control. They are showing us, through their behavior, that their bodies are reading the world as unsafe. And when a child’s nervous system is on high alert, even ordinary limits, transitions, corrections, and requests can feel like full-body threats. Ce and Abigail share common experiences of how “nothing works” with some children—not because parents are failing, but because the tools being offered are not a good fit for the parent or the child. Find out what they settle on when discussing this question: Is it important to tease apart which behaviors are caused by neurodivergence or by trauma? Listen to their intimate mother-to-mother conversation about the tenacity of love. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/HNEAc8SiK7g 💡 Get Abigail's Mother Flipping Awesome FREE resources → https://abigailwald.com/quickstart From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!

“I’m so worried about my other kids. It isn’t fair that they have to live with all this chaos.”  –Mother of three children, one with trauma from early childhood trauma In families raising a child from difficult beginnings, there is often another child or children in the room quietly learning how to disappear into the background or loudly trying to figure out how to get seen. They learn to wait. They learn to be “easy.” They learn to scan the emotional weather before asking for anything. They learn that their needs might be inconvenient. Sibling trauma begins right there. In this episode of UnMuted Love, Ce talks with Dr. Shannon Schedlich, Chief Executive of Siblings Australia, about the often-overlooked experience of brothers and sisters of children with disability and chronic illness, which includes children from difficult beginnings. Shannon brings a powerful blend of professional expertise, advocacy, research, and lived experience as both a leader in sibling support and the stepmother of an autistic daughter with high support needs. Together, they explore what happens when siblings are left unsupported: increased anxiety, depression, school disengagement, premature caregiving roles, resentment, guilt, loneliness, and the confusing pressure to be “fine” while the family system revolves around the child with the biggest needs. ▶️ Watch the video version here → https://youtu.be/-SZslvG13qY 💡 Visit Siblings Australia's website for more resources → https://siblingsaustralia.org.au/ From Ce Eshelman: Are you searching for a community of parents who will get you; who offer an attentive ear and open arms in the worst of times; who give you a standing ovation for the monumentally big "small steps" forward you make with your child? It is so painful to walk the jagged trail of this parenting journey alone and no one is ever alone in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program. You will feel seen, understood, and actually deeply cared for. We know it as "love." The Society is a virtual program for parents of children who experienced trauma and others who support them or work with them professionally. You don't have to wait a minute longer. We are right here waiting for YOU! Access Free Resources! ✨ The VIP Parent Program has been discontinued, but you can still access all the handouts and more free resources at our Free Resources Page! Additional Resources: 📖 Get your copy of Ce's new book: 20 Things Children from Difficult Beginnings Wish Friends and Family Knew 📖 Get your copy of Drowning with My Hair On Fire: Insanity Relief for Adoptive Parents ▶️ Watch Ce's YouTube Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@CeEshelman 🧐 Subscribe to the blog: https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/blog 🔍 Check out my websites: LoveMattersParenting.com and AttachPlace.com 📣 Hear the Success Stories: LoveMattersParenting.com/testimonials 👉 Find Ce on Social Media: 🔹 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovemattersparenting 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovemattersparenting Unmuted Love is a free podcast for parents of children from difficult beginnings of adoption and abuse trauma. Ce is an adoptive mom of two, step-mom of two, and an Attachment and Trauma Specialist. The Unmuted Love Podcast is part of Love Matters Parenting Society and The Attach Place Center for Strengthening Relationships, LLC. For more information about joining this vibrant community of parents, https://www.lovemattersparenting.com/lmps1. 🎧 Follow us on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an episode!