What all dads need to hear about emotions and their son's future mental health Artwork

Reflective Parenting Podcast by Curious Neuron

You don’t snap at your kids because you’re a bad parent. You snap because your stress builds faster than your awareness, and no one ever taught you how to handle that.

I’m Dr. Cindy Hovington, a mom of three with a doctorate in neuroscience and founder of Curious Neuron. I created The Reflective Parenting Podcast for parents who care deeply, know a lot, and still find themselves overwhelmed in the real moments.

This is not a podcast where I tell you how to be a perfect parent. I’m in it with you.

Each week, I invite you into my own reflections:

what I’m learning from scientific articles and books,
what I’m noticing in my nervous system and emotions,
and what real parents and experts teach me in conversation.

Together, we get curious about why we snap, shut down, or over-function in conflict, and what’s actually happening in our brain and body when we do. We talk about stress, shame, repair, boundaries, playfulness, and the quiet moments no one sees—so you can start to recognize your patterns and gently shift them.

By listening, you’ll learn to:

notice your stress and body signals earlier,
understand the lenses and stories that intensify hard moments,
regulate your nervous system when parenting feels like “too much”,
and handle conflict with more calm, clarity, and repair.
But more than that, you’ll have a companion in the work.

I’ll share where I struggle, what I’m practicing, and how I’m trying to grow, so you don’t feel like the only parent who finds this hard.

If you’re ready to move away from “perfect” parenting and toward reflective parenting—where every tough moment becomes data, not failure—pull up a chair.

Let’s learn, feel, and grow together.

Find out which book I will be covering next month:

https://curiousneuron.com/podcast/

Join the private group on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/groups/reflectiveparentingpodcast/

Start training your emotional awareness for FREE:

https://tremendous-hustler-7333.kit.com/84371dc0b2

Purchase my course The Emotionally Aware Parent.

https://curiousneuron.com/reflective-parent-club/

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Reflective Parenting Podcast by Curious Neuron

What all dads need to hear about emotions and their son's future mental health

November 17, 2025 • Cindy Hovington, Ph.D. • Season 8 • Episode 36

0:00 | 49:29

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Today on the Reflective Parenting Podcast, I’m sitting down with Dr. Brendan Kwiatkowski-Hartman to talk about something many parents quietly wonder about:

Why do boys sometimes pull away emotionally and how can we support them without pushing too hard?

Brendan is a researcher who has spent years studying boys, masculinity, and emotional expression. What he learned in his PhD work is both reassuring and eye-opening: boys do feel deeply, even when it looks like they’ve shut down. And the reasons they hold back are often more complex and tender than we realize.

This is a grounded, thoughtful conversation, especially meaningful for dads who want to connect more with their sons but aren’t always sure where to start.

In this episode, we cover: