My guest for this episode, Dr Jody Carrington, a clinical psychologist, speaker, and author based in Alberta, Canada, has spent most of her career working with children and families who have experienced trauma, and has learned that kids can only be as okay as the adults in their lives are okay. The result of her insights is the wonderful book Kids These Days: A Game Plan for (Re)Connecting With Those We Teach, Lead & Love. I recently came across Jody’s book, and not only did I absolutely love how accessible and real it is, I knew I needed to introduce her to the Tilt community.
As you’ll hear, Jody has one of those joyfully infectious personalities, but even more than that, Jody offers powerfully grounded insights and strategies for parents, caregivers, and teachers to connect with and show up for our kids and each other. It’s nearly impossible to not be inspired by her hopeful, humorous, and humanizing approach. I hope you get a lot out of this conversation.
About Jody: Over the past 15 years, Dr. Jody Carrington has assessed, treated, educated and empowered some of our most vulnerable and precious souls on the planet. She is a child psychologist by trade, but Jody rarely treats kids. The answer lies, she believes, in the people who hold them. Especially when kids have experienced trauma, that’s when they need big people the most. Some of her favorites include educators, parents, first responders, and foster parents. Jody has shifted the way they think and feel about the holy work that they do. Before Jody started her own practice and speaking across the country, she worked at the Alberta Children’s Hospital on the inpatient and day treatment units where she held families with some of the difficult stories. They taught her the most important lesson: we are wired to do hard things. We can handle those hard things so much easier when we remember this: we are wired for connection.
This all started when Jody received her Bachelor of Arts with Distinction from the University of Alberta. She completed a year-long internship with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police during that time, and worked alongside families struggling with chronic illness at the Ronald McDonald House. She received her Master’s degree in Psychology at the University of Regina and completed her PhD there as well, before completing her residency in Nova Scotia. Her first book, Kids These Days: A Game Plan for (Re)Connecting With Those We Teach, Lead & Love, came out in 2019 and sold 75,000 copies in just three months. It is now on Amazon’s Best Sellers List.
THINGS YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:
- All about Jody and how she came to her work as a psychologist
- Why it’s so important that kids have meaningful connections with adults in their lives, including (and perhaps especially) teachers
- The importance of showing emotional regulation to kids (and why emotional regulation can’t be learned without dysregulation)
- What is a “light up moment”
- How labels are often relied upon in schools to provide context but miss the actual story
- Jody’s answer to the question: “Is it ever too late” with older kids who may have experienced trauma or have really tricky conduct
- Why and how our real power comes from connecting and supporting each other
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
- Kids These Days: A Game Plan for (Re)Connecting With Those We Teach, Lead & Love by Dr. Jody Carrington
- Your Light Up is Your Superpower | Rise Masterclass (video interview with Jody Carrington)
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