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Practicing Connection Podcast

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Improve your resilience and readiness in a rapidly changing world.

Jessica Beckendorf and Bob Bertsch host this exploration of personal and collective practices that empower us to work together to help each other, our families, and our communities improve our resilience and readiness in a rapidly changing world.

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Make Your Partner Look Good (S.5, Ep.12)

Two people give each other a high five in front of a stack of cardboard boxes

Practitioner Shannon Hughes of Enlivened Studios shares "Make Your Partner Look Good" a practice fro...

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Yes, And vs. Yeah, But (S.5, Ep.11)

Practitioner Shannon Hughes of Enlivened Studios shares "Yes,and," a practice from applied improvisa...

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Share the Work (and Love) (S.5, Ep.10)

Jessica and Bob talk about sharing the work and love - one of the eight ways of cultivating communit...

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Giving and Receiving Feedback (S.5, Ep.9)

Discover the transformative power of feedback, the nuances of giving and receiving it, and gain insi...

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Regulating Your Emotions (S.5, Ep.8)

An exploration of the profound impact of emotion regulation on health, well-being, and relationships...

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Determining Your Values (S.5, Ep.7)

Learn how values shape emotions, decisions, and relationships, providing a roadmap for reduced stres...

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Empathetic Listening (S.5, Ep.6)

Discover why empathetic listening goes beyond the basics of active listening and how it can transfor...

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An Ecosystem of Military Family Support with Nicola Winkel (S.5, Ep.5)

A conversation about building an ecosystem of support and addressing issues upstream with Nicola Win...

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Learning From Each Other (S.5, Ep.4)

Bob shares a practice to help us take control of our learning and begin to build a knowledge network...

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Asking Powerful Questions (S.5, Ep.3)

Jessica shares a practice to help us engage people in the meaningful conversations we need to have i...

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Listening for Strengths and Values (S.5, Ep.2)

Jessica talks about the listening practice, Strength Spotting, and guides us through how to do it.

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Invest Time in Leisure, Learning and Yourself (S.5, Ep.1)

Jessica and Bob talk about investing time in leisure, in learning, and in yourself - one of the eigh...

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Share Your Work (S.4, Ep.18)

Jessica and Bob talk about the benefits of sharing your work with others and share a practice for ge...

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Fostering Connection in Meetings (S.4, Ep.17)

Jessica and Bob talk about why generosity is important in collaboration and share a practice for ref...

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Practicing Generosity (S.4, Ep.16)

Jessica and Bob talk about why generosity is important in collaboration and share a practice for ref...

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Reflections on Seeking Balance (S.4, Ep.15)

Four of our guests from this year return to share their year-end reflections on seeking balance.

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Energy & Engagement Tracking (S.4, Ep.14)

Learn more about energy and engagement tracking, a practice to help align your life with the things ...

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Grounding Chair Meditation (S.4, Ep.13)

Join us in a grounding chair meditation, a practice that can help reduce stress levels in the moment...

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What Lights You Up? (S.4, Ep.12)

Learn how to use the question, "What Lights You Up?" to begin to find a sense of purpose. Research s...

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Using the Feeling Wheel to Know Your Emotions (S.4, Ep.11)

In this practicast, Practicing Connection co-host, Jessica Beckendorf, guides us through how to use ...

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Burnout and Resilience in Service Providers (S.4, Ep.10)

In this episode (Season 4, Episode 10) co-hosts Jessica Beckendorf and Bob Bertsch talk about burnou...

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Applying Technology to Community and Community to Technology (S.4, Ep.9)

In this episode (Season 4, Episode 9), co-hosts Jessica Beckendorf and Bob Bertsch talk about how to...

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Starting a Food Pantry for Military Families with Monica Bassett (S.4, Ep.8)

A conversation with Monica Bassett, founder and CEO of Stronghold Food Pantry, a resource for milita...

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Adapt, Flex and Be Resilient (S.4, Ep.7)

Tips on about how to adapt, flex and be resilient - one of the eight ways of cultivating community r...

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Hawaii’s Food Security Collaboration for Military Families (S.4, Ep.6)

The Food Security Hawaii Working Group is an amazing cross-sector collaboration to address food secu...

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Making Intentional and Deeper Connections (S.4, Ep.5)

In this episode (Season 4, Episode 5), co-hosts Jessica Beckendorf and Bob Bertsch talk about making...

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Practicing Depolarization with Randy Lioz (S.4, Ep.4)

In this episode (Season 4, Episode 4), we welcome guest Randy Lioz to talk about the challenges pola...

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Grounding Yourself in Your Strengths and Values (S.4, Ep.3)

In this episode (Season 4, Episode 3), co-hosts Jessica Beckendorf and Bob Bertsch talk grounding yo...

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Supporting Military Families with LGBTQ+ Youth with Cathy Marcello (S.4, Ep.2)

In this episode (Season 4, Episode 2), co-hosts Jessica Beckendorf and Bob Bertsch talk with Cathy M...

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Building Capacity in Military-connected Schools with Dr. Ron Avi Astor (S.4, Ep.1)

In this episode (Season 4, Episode 1), Jessica Beckendorf shares highlights from her conversation wi...

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Replay of Working Out Loud (S.1, Ep.4)

In this episode, hosts Jessica Beckendorf and Bob Bertsch explore john Stepper's Working Out Loud fr...

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Coming to Reflection “On Slant” (S.3, Ep.9)

In this episode, we share the year-end reflections of some of our past collaborators. Inspired by ou...

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Replay of Social Justice and Family Well-being (S.3, Ep.1)

For this episode, we talked to Shawn Trenell O'Neal, author of the upcoming MFRA course, "Introducti...

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Bjørn Peterson – Clarity, Courage and Creativity, Part 2 (S.3, Ep. 8)

In this episode, we talked to Bjørn Peterson about bringing clarity, courage and creativity to our ...

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Bjørn Peterson – Clarity, Courage and Creativity, Part 1 (S.3, Ep. 7)

In this episode, we talked to Bjørn Peterson about bringing clarity, courage and creativity to our ...

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What is Practicing Connection? (S.3, Ep.6)

In this episode, Jessica and Bob discuss the concept of "practicing connection" and the podcast and ...

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Heather Plett: On Holding Space and Mutual Liberation (S.3, Ep.5)

In this episode, we talked to Heather Plett  about what it means to practice "holding space" for ou...

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Collaboration (replay)

In this episode, we explore different perspectives on collaboration. Is there a mindset that leads t...

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Practicing Informal Leadership (S.3, Ep. 4)

Our guest for this episode is Lauren O'Donnell (LinkedIn),  a consultant with extensive experience ...

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Social Justice and Military Families (S.3, Ep.3)

For this episode, we talked to the authors of the upcoming MFRA course, "Social Justice and Military...

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Recognizing and Responding to Inequity (S.3, Ep.2)

For this episode, we talked to Allison DeMarco, author of the upcoming MFRA course, "What Can Family...

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Social Justice and Family Well-being (S.3, Ep.1)

For this episode, we talked to Shawn Trenell O'Neal, author of the upcoming MFRA course, "Introducti...

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Questions for Reflection (S.2, Ep.6)

For our final episode of Season 2, we asked two of our guests from the past year to share one of the...

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Why Knowing Yourself Matters, Pt. 2 (S. 2, Ep. 5)

In this episode, we continue our discussion self-knowledge with Teresa Curtis and Jessica Jane Spayd...

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Why Knowing Yourself Matters (S. 2, Ep. 4)

In this episode (Season 4, Episode 1), Jessica Beckendorf shares highlights from her conversation wi...

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Practicing Reflection (replay)

In this episode, we share some of the questions we find most helpful for reflection and our answers ...

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Warm Collaboration (S. 2, Ep. 3)

In this episode, we explore the concept of warm collaboration. In Nora Bateson and Mamphela Ramphele...

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How Networks Can Help Reduce Stress (S. 2, Ep. 2)

In this episode, Naava Frank and Ziva Mann, authors of the article "How to Reduce Stress and Increas...

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Celebrating (or at least dealing with) Failure (S. 2, Ep. 1)

In this episode, Jessica and Bob discuss the idea of "celebrating failure." While we know a healthy ...

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Collaboration (Ep. 2)

SUBSCRIBE NOW Listen now: About this episode: In this episode, hosts Jessica Beckendorf and Bob Bert...

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