Episode Description
Recorded live at the Washington, DC launch of The Parenting Paradox, this special episode features Dr Jenny Brown in conversation with author, therapist, and Bowen family systems faculty member Dr Kathleen Smith.
Drawing on decades of clinical experience and family systems research, Jenny explores why modern parenting has become increasingly intensive, how anxiety fuels the “worry cycle,” and why our greatest influence as parents comes not from doing more for our children, but from managing ourselves more thoughtfully.”
Together, Jenny and Kathleen discuss the powerful story behind the book’s original title, So Much Love, the hidden forms of over-parenting, loving leadership, technology, resilience, and the surprising freedom that comes when parents stop trying to fix their children and instead focus on changing their own part in the family system.
Whether you’re parenting young children, teenagers, adult children, or grandchildren, this conversation offers practical wisdom, hope, and a refreshing alternative to today’s culture of intensive parenting.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
- Why So Much Love was the book’s original title
- How “intensive parenting” can take many different forms
- The parenting worry cycle—and how to step off it
- Why the best parenting work begins with ourselves
- What loving leadership looks like in everyday family life
- How giving children emotional breathing space helps them become capable and resilient
This conversation was recorded live during the Washington, DC book launch of The Parenting Paradox, with Dr Jenny Brown interviewed by Dr Kathleen Smith, therapist, author of Everything Isn’t Terrible and True to You, and faculty member at the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family.
