Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be

Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clinical psychologist, a mother of three, and the founder of the Good Inside platform, which offers workshops on parenting, a podcast, and the eponymous book. However, Dr. Kennedy first entered the parenting space on Instagram. Through posts and short videos, she offers bite-sized advice on a range of parenting topics—from what to do when a child throws a tantrum to how to respond to criticism from family about one’s parenting.

Dr. Kennedy’s approach draws on attachment theory and the internal family systems model. Her approach is a version of “respectful parenting” or “gentle parenting” (See: Background). While these approaches are often misunderstood to be synonymous with permissive parenting, Dr. Kennedy makes it clear that her approach is anything but permissive. Rather, she stresses the importance of emotional boundaries and their maintenance by clearly delineating the responsibilities of the parent and the child, respectively. She prioritizes children’s resilience over their happiness, as the former is what will equip the child to deal with everything life hands them. Her approach also stresses that multiple truths can coexist at once, i.e., one is a good parent for holding firm to a boundary, and one’s child is also allowed to be upset about it.