• Forgiveness: Letting Go of Parenting Guilt and Shame | Clifford Edwards | Episode 5

  • Parents can struggle with feelings of guilt and shame when raising our kids. By the time they’re teenagers all those parenting mistakes can add up, for us and our children. When that happens the emotional baggage that is created can cause problems in our relationships with our teen or twenty-something. On this week’s Mighty Parenting podcast, Judy Davis and Sandy Fowler interview forgiveness expert Cliff Edwards. They uncover the truth about teen behaviors that may worry you, discover what you can do to prevent problems, and reveal tips for repairing any damage within the relationship between you and your teen.

    In Real Talk, Judy and Sandy chat about something we all do that contributes to our own stress and depletes our happiness. The good news is that when we change this little habit we not only make our lives better, we take some of the pressure off our kids.

    A Favorite Quote from the Show:

    Sharing your imperfections and admitting when you’re wrong takes the pressure off your teen so they don’t feel they have to be perfect.

    High Points From Our Show About Forgiveness:

    Forgiveness is important because it keeps our relationships strong.

    Some signs our teen or twenty-something may need to forgive us include: being on guard, avoiding us, or not communicating with us.

    Our kids having these negative judgments about us leads to them not trusting us.

    Start talking to your kids about this by asking, “Is there anything I’m doing that shames you or makes you feel guilty?”

    To open up a dialog with your teen, help them forgive you, and improve your relationship with them parents can:

    • Admit we’re fallible.
    • Apologize for what we did.
    • Help them shift the negative judgement about what we did by asking them, “What can we both learn out of this?”

    About our Guest:

    Clifford Edwards is the empowered forgiveness expert, author of the acclaimed book, The Forgiveness Handbook – A Simple Guide to Freedom of the Mind and Heart and developer of The Liberate ProcessTM. He has been a professional coach, trainer, and consultant in continuous practice for over seventeen years.

    With best-selling author and transformational leader Debbie Ford, Cliff co-founded the Ford Institute for Integrative Coaching in 2000. As a trainer and key architect of the Institute’s programs for eleven years, he was in charge of all curriculum, and accountable for the successful training of nearly 1000, skilled Integrative life coaches worldwide. He produces books, processes and programs to help people become more self-aware, self-loving and confident so that they can have greater success, more freedom, better relationships, and a more profound sense of joy and fulfillment in their lives.

    More from Cliff Edwards: