Catharsis, Hope, and Craigslist with Helena Dea Bala

In the newest episode of the Parent Footprint podcast, Dr. Dan welcomes author Helena Dea Bala to discuss her new book CRAIGSLIST CONFESSIONAL: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers.  This episode is filled with heart and hope about the human experience. An Albanian immigrant, Helena Dea Bala came to the U.S. at twelve years old and spent her weekends helping her mother clean houses to make ends meet. She later graduated Phi Beta Kappa from The George Washington University, and also from its law school. Unfulfilled at her day job, she gave herself one year—one year to just listen. Five years in, CraigslistConfessional.com is her full-time project. She has written for The Washington Post and Vogue.  Helena spent five years documenting people’s secrets through “Craigslist Confessional,” a personal project which became a Quartz column and the book CRAIGSLIST CONFESSIONAL: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers.   Helena’s work challenges us to treat the strangers among us with empathy and respect.  She explains, “This experience has taught me about what it means to be human, about genuine connection. It has taught me how to listen to learn. Not to change. Not to fix. Not to respond. To learn. It brings me back to that quote by Socrates: ‘The more I know, the more I realize I know nothing.’ These stories really put things into perspective—they make you realize the futility of passing judgment, and the utility of empathy.” During today’s interview, Dr. Dan and Helena talk about moving and teachable moments in her life that listeners will immediately connect to including: Helena’s parents and their sacrifices to create a new life in America for the family The inspiration for Helena’s Craigslist Confessional series  The stories about parenthood in the book and which ones she will always remember Practicing empathy and compassion - both for yourself as well as others Helena’s very personal and honest essay about challenges in her own parenting journey The episode concludes with Helena’s sweet Parent Footprint moment about music and motherhood.  For more information about Helena and her book please visit:  https://craigslistconfessional.com/ Watch this free video to learn more about Dr. Dan and Parent Footprint Awareness Training®. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Om Podcasten

For anyone who has been parented, is a parent or dreams of being a parent, Parent Footprint with Dr. Dan teaches us all how to make the world a more loving, accepting and compassionate place -- one parent, one person and one child at a time. Every episode features a “Sitting Down with Dr. Dan” segment to help listeners discover ways to be the best version of themselves. With more than 25 years of experience as a psychologist, author and father, Dr. Dan Peters understands the key to raising happy and aware kids is for parents to seek the same joy and mindfulness in their own lives. Through diverse and timely discussions, every episode of Parent Footprint explores and explains how (and why) the way we were parented impacts the way we parent. Aimed at any parental figure in a child's life, Dr. Dan helps any caregiver lead with purpose. With over 200 episodes, Dr. Dan has hosted adolescent and child development experts, mental health professionals and of course, parents. Plus, he takes listener questions! Submit yours to [email protected] and you may get an answer on a future episode. Parent Footprint With Dr. Dan is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including true crime, comedic interviews, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, I Said No Gifts! and more.