Beyond Good Intentions With Kristen Duke

I'm so very happy to share my interview with 16 year old Claire, who experiences mental illness. Her mom Cassidy is a dear friend from high school was my interview in episode #4, so listen to that if you haven't yet! Claire goes into detail about how she is happy to dispel the stigma that you don't talk about mental illness and I love her for that! She shares about some friends of hers wanting to go to therapy but their parents don't believe they are really struggling.  We talk about social media and her thoughts to parents who are hesitant to introduce social media to teens. LISTEN and SHARE with whomever will benefit.  PLEASE LEAVE AN iTunes review if you haven't yet and visit our Amazon store to help support this podcast.

Sarah loves teens as much as I do, and when I met her 6 months ago, I knew we were kindred spirits. She's right in the thick of things with her 3 teens + pre teen, just like me! She is a nurturer of teens, and it's clear when she shares that her teens friends come over for dinner, and confide in her. I love when she mentioned teens getting a bad rap, and how they deserve to be celebrated...YES! I thought... She shares home decor on her instagram @BlessedCrazyTXNest as well as ideas to throw parties for family and friends. So check that out for inspiration! To support this podcast, shop for anything you want on AMAZON by first clicking into our store of favorites.  Thanks for supporting this podcast through that as well as reviews, and shares when you love it!

Amber is a health coach at @Biceps.After.Babies and shares encouragement that you can choose to live a healthy lifestyle at any age. AND you don't have to sacrifice the foods you love either.  As part of Amber's business, she coaches people in macro counting and strength training, teaching that body confidence needs to start with loving ourselves, focusing on what we CAN do, and praising our efforts and our childrens. She and I also spoke on my teen podcast @FistBump.Podcast directly to my teen friends, so encourage your teens to listen!

Surviving childhood leukemia brought on a great deal of survivors guilt for Jamie. She felt like a disappointment, uncertain why she survived when she had known so many other cancer patients that she adored, who weren't so lucky. She was bullied in high school, felt angry towards her parents, and just didn't understand why she was so special to have survived. She speaks of her suicide attempts, wanting to quiet the voices in her head. As an adult, and coming through on the other side, she travels around teaching youth about the importance of talking to someone when they are in these dark places.  I was happy to hear her weigh in on Affirmations, because it's a HOT TOPIC right now. She spoke about the power behind the positive words we speak, when we start to believe them. Find Jamie at @SurvivingTheBubble on Instagram

Leigh is a therapist specializing in Women's health. In this episode, we talk a lot about self care as well as anxiety which plagues so many people young and adult alike.  She says, "Depletion is probably the largest pre cursor to depression and anxiety. Self Care is SO important!" When you're stressed, your body shuts down. Leigh introduced to me The Resiliency System: Self Awareness Self Compassion Self Talk--not all of your thoughts are accurate Self Care--having benevolent feelings about our bodies instead of frustration She shares about a program she is developing called Worrier to Warrior.  Leigh's Instagram: @TakeCareOfMom www.TakeCareOfMom.com   Books she mentioned: Brainstorm by Dan Seagull Antidote to Fear---TRUTH. We all have to search for those truths and those truths lead us to believe we can be resilience.  The 2 terrible thoughts: I'm not enough (the core of depression) Me or my loved one isn't going to be ok (anxiety) I do have what I need to thrive and get through hard things. Teach our k

My friend Rachelle is a very intentional parent, right in the thick of things with a handful of teens and tweens. Her oldest is about to graduate high school (just like mine) and I was eating up all of the amazing ideas she shared about being service minded and teaching her teens to look outside of themselves.  Find the ideas Rachelle shares on Instagram or drop her a note of gratitude at @KnowingLivingLoving Books Rachelle Recommended: The Parenting Breakthrough  Love and Logic for Teens Hold Me Tight How to Win Friends and Influence People 5 Love Languages for Teens See our family favorites on our AMAZON store. Share this episode with your friends if you love it, or leave a review on iTunes!

My friend Leigh Anne is here to share her wisdom today not only about parenting adult children, but some fun stories and tips from when her kids were younger and into the teen years.  My favorite parts: Talking about waiting to be asked for advice Supporting their decisions no matter what The gift she gave her daugthers-in-law Family Traditions Making Family Dinners Make sure you check my AMAZON STORE with my favorite dresses and clothes this season. Find Leigh Anne on her Website: YourHomeBasedMom.com and Instagram @YourHomebasedMom Make sure you sign up for her newsletter to get her weekly meal plan!

My youngest child, Cali, is 10 today and we are talking all things TWEEN! She has wanted to be interviewed on the podcast for a while, and I thought her birthday was the best day for that. You may enjoy the mother daughter back and forth chat we had, and you'll especially get a giggle about half way through as we visit the topic of how exactly the sperm gets to the egg.  I chatted about Our recent Amazon purchases Join the conversation on Instagram today, too!

Mar'Lee contacted me after she heard last weeks podcast episode with Erin sharing about her runaway teen. She said this to me in an email, "I have had the impression I needed to do this for awhile, share my story.  Tell Erin thank you.  I was other is gone and I have always wondered how my mother felt.  I came home eventually, and found my faith, but that was a subject we NEVER talked about."   She felt like her story needed to be told, and she shares with me, with us, in this episode. I'm so grateful for her willingness to be brave and share, because I know it will bless others. Others who are grappling for a shred of hope.  Please hop on over to Instagram and tell Mar'Lee thank you for sharing. I know it will mean so much to her.  Podcast instagram: @KristenJoyDuke We're also grateful for any podcast reviews on iTunes!  CLICK HERE Hit "view in itunes" Open in iTunes Hit Ratings and Reviews Write a Review  

I got an email recently from Erin saying that she loved listening to the podcast, but hoped to hear more interviews from people that were going through struggles with their kids. In her message she says, "It is depressing sometimes to listen to a podcast that's amazingly positive when you're having a hard time." I've said it before and I'll say it again...contact me or nominate someone who has a story that others can hear! Most don't feel comfortable sharing a challenge when they are in it, so let me know! "I don't have very many answers but maybe even I can offer something to your listeners," Erin shared. In our chat, she shares about how she adopted two brothers as toddlers, and in raising them, it's been much more of a challenge than anticipated. Her oldest ran away from home as a teen, cut off contact with his parents, and moved from place to place, and she has very minimal contact with him now.  Her guiding scripture: "Be Still and Know that I am God." I need that reminder that I can sit and be with my o

"Usually we think our communicating is with our words, but our non-verbal communication is so much more powerful." Alisa shared so many amazing tidbits of information in our chat, this has definitely become into one of my top 5 favorite interviews on the Beyond Good Intentions podcast. She is so knowledgeable on a topic that I'm striving for daily with my children. She is a researcher of CONNECTION, and she shares how we can be more connected with individual family members with 10 minutes a day of quality time, the sweet spot of connection. "Long enough to make it meaningful and short enough to make it do-able", she says. She came upon this concept years ago when chatting with a friend that asked, "How do I be a good parent in a nutshell?" She had to ask herself in her own parenting as she found real life practice didn't come as naturally as she thought, having all the research. She asked herself, "Where does the theory and research and real life converge?" The answer: Connection. The most important thing we

I'm delighted to share with you my chat with Reachel Bagley. We met 8 years ago at a park in Arizona, and haven't seen each other since, but we've interacted online, as she shares wardrobe strategies as she helps others clean out their closets and minds at @CardiganEmpire.  We talk about how she met her husband, adoption, surprise pregnancy, and how our job as parents is to create a safe environment for our children, as our children are pre-programmed with their own agenda. We also discussed the commitment of TIME for our children is so much more of a foundation than opportunities presented with money.  >>>Our episode this week is sponsored by Living Scriptures. A great online resource for streaming children's video and clean movies. Sign up for a month trial to see if it's for you! Reachel's favorite parenting books we discussed are: The Whole-Brain Child and Raising Human Beings