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How to Talk to Kids about Beating the Odds, Acceptance & True Self Worth with Peter Mutabazi

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Special guest: Peter Mutabazi. What is to come for a child who is told he is garbage? Worthless? Beaten to the ground? I have often said that children who have the love, kindness and acceptance of an adult—or several adults—can be the difference. As you might remember me saying, Search Institute found that many young people don’t feel that they have at least 3 key adults to turn to in a time of need and challenge. Our next guest had a very hard start to his life—abused by his father and watching his mother and siblings meet that same fate. He survived the streets of Kampala Uganda and, due to the potential that someone saw in him- wound up going to school and altering his life for the better in every possible way. My next guest will help us to understand how to talk to kids about acceptance and true self-worth. He has a remarkable story.

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How to Talk to Kids about Being Self-Driven, Self-Motivated & Self-Controlled with Dr. William Stixrud – ReRelease

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Special guest: Dr. William Stixrud. Are we raising an anxious generation? Many would agree that we are. The causes of the uptick in anxiety among children has started to be discussed—even within our podcast- we have talked with Jessica Lahey and our obsession with grades and our focus on avoiding failure at all costs. We have talked with Julie Lythcott Haims about the bubble-wrapping of our children that leaves them unprepared for a life that we deliver them to at the age of 18—a life in which they don’t have the skills, yes, but also where they don’t have the resilience or the confidence to take it on. In The Self-Driven Child, authors William Stixrud and Ned Johnson continue this conversation—focusing specifically on the ways that children today are being denied a sense of controlling their own lives—doing what they find meaningful, and succeeding or failing on their own, and on their own terms. While screen time and technology certainly are part of the problem, the real issues lie with us—the parents and the teachers—who have their hearts in the right place but are nevertheless, taking the opportunities away from children that would allow them to grow stronger, more confident, more autonomous, more competent– and more themselves. 

William R. Stixrud, Ph.D., is a clinical neuropsychologist, frequent lecturer, presenter, author and founder of The Stixrud Group. He is a member of the teaching faculty at Children’s National Medical Center and an assistant professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Stixrud is the author, with Ned Johnson, of the nationally bestselling book, The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives. You will also see him featured for his expertise in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Times of London, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, Time Magazine, Scientific American, Business Week, Barron’s, and, New York Magazine. And—fun fact- Dr. Stixrud also happens to be a musician who plays in a band!

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How do we talk to kids about Health Challenges & Medical Diagnoses with Kelly Fradin

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Special guest: Dr. Kelly Fradin: Many of us have been there. We walk out of an appointment with our child’s doctor or teacher and we feel concerned—and a whole host of other feelings from fear to anger to sadness, confusion and of course, love. We all hope that our children are healthy and cruise through life fairly unscathed- so when reality hits and we hear that our child has common challenges like ADHD or learning disabilities or more severe challenges like feeding issues, asthma, food allergies, anxiety or depression, we can become alarmed. As we may flip into roles beyond the typical parenting caregiver to medical scheduler, diagnosis researcher, health advocate and more- we may find that money, time, access and a feeling of calm is in short supply. What can we do to cope with and talk with our kids about challenging medical diagnoses and how to proceed through life with one? For this, we turn to Dr. Kelly Fradin.

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How to Talk to Kids about Equity, Racism and Social Justice with Jason B. Allen – Rerelease

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Special guest: Jason B. Allen: It is no secret that many of our black and brown boys are marginalized, mistreated and made to feel inferior in today’s world. You’ve heard leaders call for systemic change- but that only happens when the people within our systems, help them to change. We need advocates, educators and activists to help do this important work—to teach and guide us, as parents and coaches and prominent people in the lives of youth on how to help all our young people reach their potential. There are some uncomfortable conversations that must occur- about racism, about inequity, about social justice—with those young people who are on the receiving end of inequities as well as with those who are peers, friends, teachers and parents of those who must cope with these inequities every day. How do we talk to our kids about equity and social justice? How do we empower our young people to speak out and make change? And How do we present ourselves as mentors—or provide the mentors our children need- so that they have people to look towards who look like them so they can see where they can go with hard work and hopefully, a fair shot. For all of this, I turn to special educator, Jason B. Allen.

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How to Talk to Kids When Something Bad Happens in the World with Dawn Huebner, PhD – ReRelease

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Special guest: Dawn Heubner, Ph.D

We all want our children to feel safe, secure and engaged in their lives. But when big, bad things happen in the world- from mass shootings to natural disasters to other tragedies detailed on the news and filtered through the adults at the restaurant, the neighbors on the street, the kids on the bus and friends at school- the world can feel a little less safe and secure for many of our children. How can we reserve our kids feelings of optimism, safety, security, strength and that inexplicable feeling that comes with a carefree childhood when scary things happen across the world, across the state or across the street? For this important topic, we turn a second time to past podcast guest, Dr. Dawn Huebner who you’ll remember from our discussion about worry and anxiety and how to help our kids when they worry too much—a great and helpful podcast episode that I urge you to listen to after this one.

Dr. Dawn Huebner is a Clinical Psychologist and Parent Coach specializing in the treatment of anxiety. She is the author of 9 books for children including the perennial best seller, What to Do When You Worry Too Much, and more recent, Outsmarting Worry. Dr. Huebner’s newest book, coming out THIS WEEK called Something Bad Happened, provides support for children learning about big bad things happening the world. Dr. Huebner has been featured on news and information outlets including the TODAY Show, CNN, Parent’s Magazine and more. She maintains a private practice in Exeter, NH.

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How to Talk to Kids About Differences and Inclusion with Beth Leipholtz

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How do we talk to kids about children who have differences like spina bifida, fragile X syndrome, autism, or who are deaf or blind? Many times when children ask, out of curiosity, about a child’s difference that they see on the playground, at school or in a store, some adults are quick to shush that child out of fear of embarrassing the other child, the other parent, or themselves. It can catch us off-guard and we may not know what to say. In chapter 5 of my book, which is on talking to kids about diversity and inclusion, I highlight one of my very best friend’s children, Nate, who has Cerebral Palsy and Hydrocephalus, and is now a teen who is happy to tell you about his differences—but it’s not always that way—so how do we talk to our children, when they DO have a difference, about that difference so that they aren’t ashamed and they know that it’s simply part of what makes them who they are– but not all that they are. For this, we are talking to Beth Leipholtz.

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How to Raise Resilient, Self-Reliant, and Secure Kids in an Age of Anxiety with Dr. Harold Koplewicz – Rerelease

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Special guest: Dr. Harold Koplewicz: This podcast focuses on how to raise resilient, self-reliant and secure kids in an age of anxiety. The most common health disorders among children are mental health disorders. That’s 17 million children! We must help children cope with stress and learn from their mistakes—and we can do this through scaffold parenting. Scaffold parenting is a framework based on structure, support and encouragement. Dr. Robyn Silverman speaks to Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, founding president and medical director at the Child Mind Institute and author of the new book, The Scaffold Effect, on the How to Talk to Kids about Anything podcast.

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How to Talk to Kids about Being Sensitive in a Loud, Fast, Too-Much World with Jenn Granneman

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Do you have a sensitive child? Or, perhaps you are the sensitive one having been told your whole life, “you’re too sensitive!,” “shake it off!” or “you’ve got to toughen up!” Well, no more. Did you know that nearly 1 in 3 people are highly sensitive individuals? And while sensitivity has its challenges at times—it also provides some beautiful gifts. How do we talk to and support our sensitive kids? And if we are the ones who are sensitive, how do we raise a child in a loud, often over-stimulating world? For this, we turn to our next guest, Jenn Granneman.

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How to Talk to Kids about Middle School with Judith Warner Rerelease

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Judith Warner – This podcast is about how to help ourselves and our children navigate middle school successfully. Dr. Robyn Silverman interviews Judith Warner, author of “And Then They Stopped Talking to Me,” about middle school friendship, relationships, emotions, frustrations, screen-time and more.

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How to Talk about the Emotional Lives of Teenagers with Dr. Lisa Damour

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Many would agree that most teenagers are emotional. Sometimes those emotions are worn on the sleeve while other times they are more covert but often ever-present. How do we understand our teenagers’ intense and often fraught emotional lives—and how do we support them through this critical developmental stage? For that, we have the pleasure of having the fabulous Lisa Damour back on our show today.

Recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association, Lisa Damour, Ph.D., co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, writes about adolescents for the The New York Times, appears as a regular contributor to CBS News, works in collaboration with UNICEF, and maintains a clinical practice. She is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood and Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls (we had Lisa on the show to discuss it!). She has a NEW book out! Wooohoo! It’s called The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents which is the #1 New Release in Popular Adolescent Psychology on Amazon! She and her husband have two daughters and live in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

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