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What does raising strong-willed children really look like when life throws unexpected challenges your way? In today’s episode, I sit down with Sonali Vongchusiri, a passionate advocate for parenting with humor and compassion, to explore how we can connect with our kids while honoring their unique needs—and our own. Sonali shares her personal experiences of parenting while navigating life with legal blindness and albinism, offering a fresh perspective on balancing visible and invisible challenges.
We dive into the importance of embracing differences, processing emotions creatively, and fostering genuine connections with our children. Sonali’s stories will make you laugh, reflect, and maybe even rethink how you approach parenting. Whether you’re raising a deeply feeling child, a strong-willed one, or both, this conversation is packed with relatable moments and practical ways to create a family dynamic where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued.
If you’ve ever wondered how to meet your child’s needs while staying true to yourself, this episode is for you. Join us as we explore how to parent with authenticity, humor, and heart.
More about Sonali Vongchusiri:
Sonali is a highly-sensitive mom, with three deeply-feeling and strong-willed kids.
It took a whole lot of time to see that just because her kids didn’t respond to parenting methods the way experts said they would, and just because her family didn’t fit society’s ideal of a “perfect family,” she wasn’t a bad mom and she wasn’t raising spoiled, snowflake kids. In fact, now she knows for sure, that they rock!
So she’s your sensitivity, needs and regulation go-to-gal. And, she also happens to be legally blind and have albinism. When she finally realized she didn’t need to “fit in” to “belong”, it gave her permission to find her own way. And now she supports others in doing the same.
Her work is dedicated to sharing with parents how it’s possible to have fun with sensitive kids and to raise them to be kind and compassionate. Because she gets it – both from being THAT kid, and from having THOSE kids.
Topics covered on Raising Strong-Willed Children:
- How can we embrace our own differences and teach our children to celebrate theirs?
- What does it mean to balance visible and invisible needs in parenting, and how can we do it effectively?
- How can humor and creativity help us process emotions and connect with our kids in meaningful ways?
- What are the unique challenges of raising strong-willed children, and how can we navigate them with compassion?
- How can we use rituals and small moments to build deep, lasting connections with our children?
- How can we reframe challenges like dissociation or sensory sensitivities into opportunities for growth and connection?
- How can we empower our kids to handle difficult questions or situations with confidence and humor?
Connect with Dr. Robyn Koslowitz:
- Website: www.drrobynkoslowitz.com
- Post Traumatic Parenting Guidebook
- Come say hi on Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
- Email: targetedparenting@gmail.com
Connect with Sonali Vongchusiri:
- Website: www.forwardtogetherparenting.com
- Instagram: @raisingyourstrongwilledchild
- Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/raisingyourstrongwilledchild
- The Parent’s Guide to Tackling Tech Troubles: www.forwardtogetherparenting.com/tech_resource
Resources from this episode:
- YouTube channel: Post Traumatic Parenting
More about Post Traumatic Parenting:
“How can I give my kids a normal childhood, when mine was anything but?” Post-Traumatic Parenting is the podcast for anyone who has ever asked themselves that question. Robyn Koslowitz, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and Post-Traumatic Parent, combines the fields of post-traumatic recovery and growth with our best understanding of how to raise Little Humans. Through interviews with experts in the fields of behavior science, psychology, trauma, and child development, as well as interviews with toy developers, children’s book authors, and anyone else who makes childhood a delight, Dr. Koslowitz explores how trauma impacts our parenting, and how to hack our traumas into superpowers and super-parenting.
Each week, Dr. Koslowitz unpacks how to survive and thrive as a Post-Traumatic Parent. She shares behind-the-scenes insights into the research that underlies what we know about parenting, child development, and trauma recovery. Each podcast provides actionable tips about how to transform our Post-Traumatic Parenting and how to turn our parenting journey into a post-traumatic growth experience. Dr. Koslowitz interviews some of the famous names in these fields, and some experts you’ve never heard of (but should have!). Ready to go from survivor to thriver? Ready to become the parent you’ve always dreamed of being? Join us!
