Her work inspires me and her "how-to's" make me feel capable! It's a magic combination!
The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting:
Raising Children with Courage, Compassion and Connection
by Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW
Contents: 2 Audio CDs Approximate Running Time: 2.5 hours
$17.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling - sold by 3C Press
"It is evident from her lectures and blog posts about The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting that Brené Brown has poured an enormous amount of spiritual, emotional and intellectual energy into the work that brought her to the conclusions she shares in the lectures. With her humility and openness to new understandings and challenges she is teaching us what she has learned herself during her own process, and with openness and humility we too can learn to embrace the challenges and work in ourselves that is involved in raising children with courage, compassion and connection."
-- Michelle Carchrae (review from Suite 101.com Parenting)
"I've listened to the CDs three times. I am usually wary of parenting books, manuals, how-tos...being such a vulnerable new parent, I'm afraid to read about the way I'm supposed to do things, and inevitably go down the shame spiral. My policy has been to trust myself as much as possible and ask my sister and friends about the rest. But these CDs made my heart feel lighter and gave me so much hope and confidence. It might be the only parenting material I ever need."
--Andrea Scher, Superhero JournalOverview
Even though we come from diverse parenting traditions and rely on a variety of parenting techniques in our own families, most of us share the same hope for our children. We want our children to be self-confident, resilient and compassionate. We want our children to carry a sense of acceptance, authenticity and belonging with them, rather than searching for it in external places.
We want our children to know that their imperfections are not inadequacies, and that they don’t need to fear being ashamed or feeling unlovable if they are different or when they are struggling. To engage fully in the parenting journey means practicing what we want to teach and acknowledging that we can’t give our children what we don’t have.
If we want our children to have courage, compassion and connection, we must practice these things in our daily lives. If we want them to love and accept who they are, our job is to love and accept who we are. And we must be willing to practice, teach and learn imperfectly.
Ours is a shared journey and the true greatness of this adventure comes to life when we, as parents, support and encourage one another. We’re all in this together!
Guideposts for the Journey
Practice loving-kindness
Embrace imperfection
Understand shame and practice resilience
Make space for rest, creativity and gratitude
Hold spirit sacred
Make mistakes, make amends
Learn hope
Practice forgiveness and self-compassion
Lean into discomfort and pain
Practice courage by setting limits and respecting boundaries
Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW is an educator, writer, activist and researcher. She is a member of the research faculty at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work where she has spent the past eight years studying shame, empathy, compassion and vulnerability and how these powerful emotions affect the way we live, love, parent, work and build relationships.
Blog Series is available here.
Lecture guides, references and CD track information is available here.
Artwork by Jen Lemen (jenlemen.com)
Copyright © by Brené Brown. All Rights Reserved.