Transforming Trauma: Episode 081

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, our host Emily is joined by Kirsten Timmer and Jens Heidegger. Kirsten Timmer is a licensed psychologist, psychotherapist, co-founder, and CEO of TransParents and Jens Bode is a licensed doctor, lead course facilitator, trainer, and supervisor at TransParents. TransParents is a platform for parents and professionals who are committed to creating meaningful relationships with children while respecting and preserving life processes. With a focus on the importance of the parent-child relationship, their work lies in strengthening that connection by utilizing a trauma-informed approach. 

 

In their training, they invite curiosity by employing tools like puppets and roleplay for parents to see how they can relate to their children in a more supportive, playful way. As Jens shares, “We have them play themselves and another participant plays their children. And then we have them swap roles so they can step into the shoes of their own children and feel how it feels on the inside. What the needs may be, what the deeper reasons may be, and what the parenting styles feel like.” In this act of playful discovery, there is a heartfelt openness that can strengthen parent-child connections.

 

In reconnecting to her own childhood and raising a son, Kirsten came to understand the importance of how attachment impacts how we relate to ourselves and others. She describes becoming a parent for the first time as “an invitation to life, to grow.” She reflects on how we want to parent versus how our baggage and the “old identifications” from our childhood disrupt the connection to our children. Kirsten and Jens support parents in a shift from shaming themselves to developing deep curiosity for themselves and their children. Jens says, “The cause of it is that you develop more freedom, more possibilities, more agency, that are then helpful for the kids.”

 

We hope you will enjoy this episode with Kirsten Timmer and Jens Heidegger. We deeply are grateful to be joined by members of the international NARM community and for the pair sharing about their work and how they use NARM to enrich their organization, TransParents.

 

We invite you to listen to the full episode and follow Transforming Trauma in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

 

About:

Kirsten Timmer is one of the founders and CEO of TransParents. She is a psychologist, psychotherapist, and parenting advisor. She was trained in Client-Centered Therapy by Carl Rogers and in NARM® by Dr. L. Heller and has her own practice. She is also a senior student of Thomas Hübl, a contemporary spiritual teacher and mystic. Jens is a specialist in psychosomatics and psychotherapy trained in Behavioral Therapy at IVB Berlin and trained in NARM® by Dr. L. Heller. Jens is one of TransParents’ lead course facilitators, trainer, and supervisor of the mentor team.

 

Learn More:

www.TransParents.net