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Home > Authentic Parenting > Reactivity, Fatherhood, and the Balancing Act of Ambition and Presence
Podcast: Authentic Parenting
Episode:

Reactivity, Fatherhood, and the Balancing Act of Ambition and Presence
Category: Kids & family
Duration: 00:56:20
Publish Date: 2025-12-11 19:03:00
Description:

Jeff Hittner on the invisible pressures dads carry every day—balancing ambition with presence, holding emotions they were never taught to express, feeling the weight of being a provider while wanting to be deeply connected, and silently wondering whether they're doing enough.

  • 03:18 — Why dads default to fixing

  • 06:10 — How conflict exposes emotional patterns you didn't realize you were repeating

  • 09:27 — What happens inside your body in the first seconds of reactivity

  • 12:55 — How shame hides in anger or withdrawal and shifts your parenting

  • 16:40 — Why ambition and presence feel at odds—and how to hold both

  • 19:12 — How the definition of "providing" can create hidden distance

  • 22:03 — What kids actually need from you when they're dysregulated

  • 26:44 — How small repairs rebuild connection after hard moments

  • 29:58 — Why dads often hide their struggles and how vulnerability helps

  • 33:21 — How real-time emotional attunement works—and what derails it

  • 37:49 — What regulated fatherhood looks like in everyday interactions

  • 41:30 — Why self-compassion matters more than perfect parenting

  • 44:56 — How tiny daily habits build long-term emotional resilience

  • 48:20 — What keeps parents stuck in reactive cycles and how to break them

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