The Supporting Child Caregivers Podcast

The Supporting Child Caregivers Podcast

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Helpful information about child development and parenting issues for child caregivers--parents, teachers, health workers, and other child caregivers across the globe.

Alexandra Harrison


    • May 27, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 32m AVG DURATION
    • 157 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Supporting Child Caregivers Podcast

    Episode 159: The SCC Pod - Nigerian-American Family Values

    Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2025 37:35


    Iyanu Shonukan, a first year student at Harvard College talks about the values he was taught by his Nigerian-American parents and how they have shaped his ambitions to provide underserved people with culturally responsive care in the mental health space.

    Episode 158: The SCC Pod - Family Values of Chinese Youth

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2025 42:57


    What is the number one family value for Chinese adolescents and young adults? You may be surprised. Two Chinese students, Joanna and Jacky, join us from Hangzhou, China, and Boston Massachusetts, to describe two different school experiences but the same family values.

    Episode 157: The SCC Pod - Passing on Family Values Through Modeling Generosity

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2025 33:05


    Dr. Muhammad Zeshan, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and social media influencer speaks about how he recommends passing on cherished family values to your children.

    Episode 156: The SCC Pod - Family Values with Dr Abishek Bala

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2025 42:17


    Dr. Abishek Bala, Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Central Michigan University, who traveled with me on my second trip to india, talks about the values he learned from his Indian family that he hopes to pass on to his young daughter living with him and his wife in the US. It is a thoughtful interview and includes some surprises for those of us brought up in the U.S.

    Episode 155: The SCC Pod - Family Values: Prajna Neelgund

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2025 47:48


    Prajna Neelgund, software engineer, teacher, administrator, and actor talks to us about family values in traditional and contemporary India—how they are changing and the effects on young families.

    Episode 154: The SCC Pod - An Interview with Rohan Abhijith

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2025 33:56


    Rohan Abhijith, a man of many talents-- educator, gamer, business strategist, and cartoonist and illustrator—talks about the family values he learned in his childhood in India. I met Rohan at Deenabandhu Trust, a school for children from low-resource families and was lucky enough to meet this mother and father in the beautiful city of Mysore.

    Episode 153: The SCC Pod - Using Family Values to Guide Parents Through Hard Times

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2025 14:41


    SCC Pod host Alexandra Harriso draws on her decades of clinical experience and her experience as a parent to share her reflections on the importance of family values and how they can help guide parents through hard times.

    Episode 152: The SCC Pod - A Conversation with Dr Henry Maquez-Castro

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2025 34:02


    Dr. Henry Marquez-Castro talks about how parents can strive to empower their children.

    Episode 151: The SCC Pod - Ask Me Anything

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2025 26:31


    Ask Me Anything: 1) How do you detect depression in elementary school children? 2) How much of a problem is "screen time" for children? 3) How do I overcome the desire to be a "perfect parent" and to develop a support system? 

    Episode 150: The SCC Pod - A Culture Breaker from Vietnam

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2024 45:28


    Dr. Duyen Trieu brings her compassion, interpersonal and language skills, and cultural knowledge, to serve the community of Vietnamese immigrants in the Boston area. She speaks about early relational health from this perspective.

    Episode 149: The SCC Pod - ERH in the NICU

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2024 48:55


    Dr. Jaclyn Ruggiero speaks about what she has learned about early relational health from her work as a neonatologist in the NICU.

    Episode 148: The SCC Pod - Early Relational Health Work with Families

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2024 37:13


    A teacher and advocate for excellent early care and education of young children and their families, Lisa Matter tells stories about some of the families she has worked and how she learned to “listen to the behavior” of the children.

    Episode 147: 147 The SCC Pod -Early Relational Health Through Multiple Caregivers

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2024 44:48


    Efuru McLeod, a licensed social worker born and raised in the small island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, gives a moving and inspiring story of her childhood experience with multiple caregivers. She explains how her personal experience of different and complementary care from family members informs and enriches her current work with children and families.

    Episode 146: The SCC Pod - Noorture From the Arabic for Light

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2024 36:33


    Hoda Shawky, a pediatric nurse practitioner and lactation and mental health practitioner, describes the evolution of her spiritually and culturally based support of mothers of infants and their families.

    Episode 145: The SCC Pod - Early Relational Health in the Classroom

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2024 36:47


    Early educator, Katie Mervin, talks to us about her passion for providing a comforting and facilitating environment for very early learners and for supporting their teachers.

    Episode 144: The SCC Pod: Early Relational Health Through Life Stories

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2024 38:38


    Kailey Enayati, a Doctor of Physical Therapy, treats patients on the continuum from birth to end of life talks about what she has learned about early relational health from her patients' life stories and is in the process of designing an app to facilitate ERH-centered documentation that would make it easier for home visitors and families to write or access providers and improve referrals to other services

    Episode 143: The SCC Pod: Early Relational Health in the Clinic

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2024 43:41


    Dorothy Richardson talks about her pioneering work to support families of young children at the Rice Center and in establishing the Early Relational Health certificate program at U Mass Chan Medical School.

    clinic relational health dorothy richardson
    Episode 142: The SCC Pod - Early Relational Health in Vulnerable Populations

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 27, 2024 40:44


    Dr. Bonnie Hepler talks about her studies of relationships between mothers, infants, and healthcare providers and how she works with vulnerable populations to achieve equity of quality and compassionate care.

    Episode 141: The SCC Pod - The Role of Fathers in Early Relational Health

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2024 37:32


    Charles C. Daniels, the CEO of Fathers' UpLift Inc., talks about the significance of father-child relationships and how this led him to the field of Early Relational Health. He tells stories of fathers who found their role as fathers after being lost to substance abuse and in doing that, found themselves.  

    Episode 140: The SCC Pod - Early Relational Health and Collaborative Care

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2024 47:14


    Dr. Dvir speaks about a collaborative care model in which child psychiatrists and pediatricians work together to support early relational health.Dr. Yael Dvir is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at UMASS Chan Medical School/UmassMemorial Health, where she is Vice Chair and director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Her current clinical work focuses on enhancing access to pediatric behavioral health through collaborative care models, and includes directing the UMASS - Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Program (MCPAP) site and the MCPAP for Early Childhood Program as well as precepting psychiatry trainees in the child psychiatry bridging clinic, a short term stabilization clinic.

    Episode 139: The SCC Pod: Dr. Rob Meeder’s Response to “What is Early Relational Health?”

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2024 43:09


    Dr. Meeder, a pediatrician and Medical Director of a Family Child and Youth Mental Health Program, talks about how he came to understand the importance of early relational health as a pediatrician and how he works to support ERH in his pediatric practice. An accomplished athlete and world traveler, Rob also brings a spirit of adventure and an interest in culture to his work with families. 

    Episode 138: The SCC Pod: Dr. Claudia Gold: What is Early Relational Health

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2024 38:29


    Claudia Gold, a developmental pediatrician and author of four books on parenting, will introduce our new series, “What is Early Relational Health”?

    Episode 137: The SCC Pod - Ask Me Anything

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2024 17:55


    In this Ask Me Anything episode, Alex responds to a question about what parents should do when a little boy insists on wearing dresses.

    Episode 136: The SCC Pod - Cultural Diversity in Speech and Language Therapy

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2024 46:46


    Jennifer Black combines expertise in early development with management consulting, exploring ways of helping systems grow—family systems and organizational systems. As a speech and language pathologist, a trainer in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, and a trainer in the NCAST model from the Parent-Infant-Child Institute, she brings her considerable skills to this talk, including a consideration of how to facilitate communication in families in indigenous communities in Hawaii and Alaska.

    Episode 135: The SCC Pod - Child and Family Speech Therapy in Two Languages

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2024 35:43


    Matthew Valleau is a bilingual speech and language pathologist whose career trajectory took him from early intervention, where he worked with families in their homes, finally to working with children in the Boston Public Schools. Matthew brings a special set of talents and perspectives to helping children communicate.Reference: Valleau M, Arunachalam S (2017). The effects of linguistic context on visual attention while learning novel verbs, Proceedings of the 41st annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, Ed. Maria Lamendola and Jennifer Scott, 691-705. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Press.

    Episode 134: The SCC Pod - Ann Densmore and the Gift of Enabling a Child to Speak

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2024 39:31


    Ann Densmore is a certified speech pathologist and audiologist with a doctorate in education from Clark University (specialty in child discourse) and a master's in human development and psychology from Harvard University Graduate School of Education.Resources:Douglas S, Dunkel-Jackson, Sun T, Owusu P (2022). A review of research related to the POWR intervention: a Communication partner intervention to support children with neurodevelopmental disorders, Current Developmental Disorders Reports, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-022-0244-6.Vallotton C, Mastergeorge A, Foster T, Decker K, Ayoub C (2017). Parenting supports for early vocabulary development: Specific effects of sensitivity and stimulation through infancy, Infancy, 22(1):78-107. doing: 10.1111/infa.12147. Knolle F, Vallotton C, Ayoub C (2018). Maltreated children use more grammatical negations, J Fam Child Stud, 27:453-464, dot:10.1007/s10826-017-0905-3. Olswang L, Prelock P (2015). Bridging the gap between research and practice: Implementation science, Supplement Article, J Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, doi:10.1044/2015_JSLHR-L-14-0305. Densmore A, Helping Children with Autism Become More Social (2007). Greenwood Publishing Company.

    Episode 133: The SCC Pod - Sarah Douglass and Language Disabilities

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2024 47:48


    Sara Douglas, Assoc Prof at Michigan State University in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies talks about her life-long mission to support communication in children with language disabilities.

    Episode 132: The SCC Pod - Patricia Prelock: Kids, Language, and Autism

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2024 38:55


    Dr. Prelock talks about her studies of the nature and treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) emphasizing the role of emotion regulation, social communication and perspective taking as important components of social cognition.

    Episode 131: The SCC Pod - Jaclyn Roberto and Speech Therapy for Children

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2024 32:19


    131 the SCC Pod: Jaclyn Roberto speaks about her work supporting children with communication problems and their families in weekly out patient sessions.Jaclyn is a speech-language pathologist who has been in the field for about 13 years.  Although she has worked in multiple settings over the course of her career, most of her career has been in a pediatric outpatient setting, where she works closely with families who bring their children for weekly speech therapy sessions. She has a passion for working with early childhood language, children on the autistic spectrum, pediatric feeding disorders, and augmentative-alternative communication. 

    Episode 130: The SCC Pod - Communicating with Babies

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2024 44:49


    In this episode, we talk with Dr. Claire Vallotton, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University. She studies communication between preverbal children and their parents and educators, and develops curricula and workshops to help caregivers understand and respond to young children's communication cues so that they can respect babies as little individuals with legitimate feelings, wants, and needs.

    Episode 129: The SCC Pod - Speech, Music, and Stories with Carol Krusemark

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2024 27:32


    Carol Krusemark is a speech/language pathologist with over 30 years of clinical experience.  While she currently specializes in serving professional voice users, she has also worked in hospitals, schools, and on early intervention teams.  Her current areas of interest include teaching, supervision, and incorporation of trauma-informed care principles into clinical care.

    Episode 128: The SCC Pod - Sara MacIntyre on Stuttering

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2024 39:28


    We are delighted to welcome Sara MacIntyre to begin our series on Kids and Language. Sara is a speech and language therapist who specializes in stuttering based in Philadelphia. She owns YouSpeak Stuttering Therapy and hosts a webinar series and a podcast. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. 

    Episode 127: The SCC Pod–Ask Me Anything

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2024 14:01


    Alexandra Harrison talks about “Co-Regulation”.

    Episode 126: The SCC Pod-Sleep Disorders in Autism

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2024 39:57


    Dr. Isabella Caldwell talks about the very common problem of sleep disorders in autistic children on the autistic spectrum.

    Episode 125: The SCC Pod: Dr. Catherine Lord’s ADOS and Longitudinal Study

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2023 42:12


    Dr. Catherine Lord talks about the beginning of her research that led to the powerful assessment tool, the ADOS, and then the longitudinal study that has contributed so much to our understanding of autistic individuals and their families. She also talks about her current work developing tools for families to use with their children.

    Episode 124: The SCC Pod: A Task Sharing Approach to Autism

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2023 44:24


    Dr. Gauri Divan, Director of the Child Development Group in the non profit Sangath, focuses on creating innovations that use a task-sharing approach with non-specialist workers.

    Episode 123: The SCC Pod: Neurodiverse Children in the Philippines

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2023 40:26


    Dr. Charlotte Tan talks to us about her clinical work in the evaluation and treatment of neurodiverse children in her practice in the Philippines.

    Episode 122: Neurodevelopment Disorders with Dr. Robert Hendron

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2023 42:47


    Dr. Robert Hendren talks to us about the “terroir” in neurodevelopment disorders and his translational interventional outcomes research.

    Episode 121: The SCC Pod: Dr. Susan Sherkow and Autism

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2023 48:49


    Dr. Susan Sherkow will speak about her knowledge and her experience with autism spectrum disorders as an expert psychoanalytic clinician and as the founder and Director of the Sherkow Center for Child Development and Autism Spectrum Disorder in New York City.

    Episode 120: The SCC Pod: Dr. Kevin Coughlin and the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Unit

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2023 38:38


    Dr. Kevin Coughlin, Medical Director of the new Neurodevelopmental Disorders Unit of Cambridge Health Alliance talks about his experiences setting up this unit to fill a crucial gap in treatment for ASD youth—and talks about the roots of his interest in ASD

    Episode 119: The SCC Pod-A Scientist's Perspective on Neurodiversity

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2023 43:12


    Lori Hogenkamp, the pioneering mind behind the Evolutionary-Stress Framework draws from her personal journey and extensive research in psychoneuroimmunology to offer her insights into the challenges faced by neurodiverse individuals and ways to help them meet those challenges.

    Episode 118: The SCC Pod: Dr Rogeria Lerner, Autism and Brazil

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2023 37:58


    Dr. Rogerio Lerner, Professor of Psychology at the University of Sao Paolo, talks about how he used psychoanalytic knowledge to inform a cost-effective instrument for low resource communities in Brazil and was even able to influence public policy.

    Episode 117: The SCC Pod: Dr. Anne Alvarez and Children on the Autism Spectrum

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2023 41:56


    Recognized author and psychoanalyst from London speaks about her remarkable work with children on the autistic spectrum. 

    Episode 116: The SCC Pod: Dr. Karen Levine on Interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorders

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2023 46:21


    Dr. Levine, a developmental child psychologist, discusses several helpful interventions for children on the autism spectrum suffering anxiety and fears.

    Episode 114: 115 The SCC Pod: Ruby Salazar, Autistic Children and their Families

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2023 44:17


    Ruby Salazar, child and family developmental therapist, talks about her long experience working with children on the autism spectrum and their families and effectively advocating for them.  

    Episode 113: 114 The SCC Pod: Developmental Consultation wth Ilene Lefcourt

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2023 53:17


    Ilene Lefcourt, author of several parent guidance books, member at Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training, and founder of the Sackler Lefcourt Center for Child Development in 1982, has provided developmental consultation to parents for over 35 years. She speaks about how she reached parents being haunted by “ghosts from the nursery” and helped them correct their misapprehensions of their infants' behavior in order to respond to them with sensitivity.

    Episode 112: 112 The SCC Pod: Children on the Austistic Spectrum

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2023 35:08


    Robin Holloway, is a psychologist working in Toronto. He has written about and worked with children on the autistic spectrum for decades and he approaches our subject with knowledge and a special sensitivity. He talks to us about his work and tell us some stories about the children who helped grow that knowledge. 

    Episode 111: 111 The SCC Pod: Dr. Michael Yogman—Involving Fathers in Their Children’s Lives

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2023 40:59


    Well known pediatrician, Dr. Michael Yogman, talks about his long-term interest in involving fathers in their children's lives-- how he supported fathers in his pediatric practice, and how he continues to do so in international organizations.

    Episode 110: The SCC Pod: Dr. Connie Keefer on NBOs

    Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2023 47:22


    Dr. Connie Keefer adds another episode to our series on the NBO. Dr. Keefer, one of the creators of the NBO, talks about experiences she had using the NBO with babies born with problems, and also tells a story about her experience with a tribe of American Indians. 

    Episode 109: 109 The SCC Pod: Ask Me Anything

    Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2023 15:33


    Alexandra Harrison talks about helping a 3-year-old stop throwing and responds to Dr. Vivek Murthy's remarks about an “epidemic of loneliness” with thoughts about connectedness. 

    Episode 108: 108 The SCC Pod: Ask Me Anything

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2023 31:29


    Alexandra Harrison responds to a question about a child who is a picky eater. 

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