Featured Media

A video podcast where Dr. Pasqua talks about helping kids handle “big feelings” and helping parents manage meltdowns. Includes practical techniques to try today!

:40 – 4:59
Big emotions – Big feelings in kids. I like to give a framework to understand where those feelings are coming from and what is actually realistic to expect of your child in those situations.

9:49 – 9:59
Kids capacity to manage their feelings, to manage their behavior fluctuates throughout the day, from day to day. It depends on a lot of different factors like sleep, appetite, stress.

14:36 – 14:40
Self-regulation is something that develops over a life-span, even into adulthood.

14:42 – 14:53
School-age kids and younger really don’t have that full capacity for self-regulation or self-management and they need us to work with them.

20:21 – 20:28
Emotional intelligence and social intelligence, both of those interpersonal skills are more predictive of long-term success.

Techniques

21:18 – Regulate yourself: if we go up, our kids go up
22:26 – Name it to tame it (label the child’s feelings)
26:22 – The Coping Box
29:23 – Bibliotherapy (book therapy)

Being a teenager can be tough. Their bodies and brains are changing quickly at a time when parents, teachers and peers expect a lot from them. Even before COVID-19, the mental health of our teens was an issue. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 13.3% of U.S. kids ages 12 to 17 had at least one major depressive episode during the previous year and one-third had an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Today we will be talking about how to distinguish between normal teen angst and anxiety or depression and what parents can do to help their kids cope.

Learn how to negotiate with teens from Dr. Meredith Wiese. Consider the value of engaging in negotiation instead of battle. Negotiation is a healthy mental exercise that benefits both teens and parents. It gives you the opportunity to learn what’s important to your teenager and why. Simply put, you’ll get to know your child better through your negotiations. Today we are going to be looking at how we as parents can help teach our teens to negotiate for what they want in a healthy way.