Parent With a Pro

Last week, we talked about helping our kids become more empathetic.  In this companion episode, we teach you how to help your children develop the critical life skill of offering apologies.  The steps taught are so simple are so powerful.  This is a must listen for everyone! (hint: you could even take notes for yourself.  This episode has helped me a ton) Happy listening.

A question we get asked repeatedly is "How do I teach my child empathy?"  As parents, we want our kids to be concerned about the feelings of others, to be empathetic. Today's episode is full of tips to help your children see things from other's perspective and help them show empathy to others. Happy Listening!

Our world is full of tragedies, natural disasters, and violence.  It isn't uncommon for these events to frighten our children or cause an increase in their anxiety.  With so many such events occurring recently, we wanted to create a podcast that would coach parents through talking to kids about tragedies and helping them feel calm after they've occurred. I learned so many new things recording this episode that will forever change how I handle tragedies with my kids. Happy Listening!

If you have multiple kids in your home and those kids don't always get along, then today's episode is for you.  In this episode you will learn specific steps for solving sibling squabbles.  I always love how Jeff teaches solutions to our parenting issues in a way that simplifies our parenting instead of complicating it and today is no exception! Here's to fewer sibling squabbles in all our homes!    

Have you ever wondered "Why is my child behaving like this?!" If so, you'll love today's episode. Marriage and family therapist, Jeff Tesch teaches us what drives our children's misbehavior. This episode will give you great insight into the mind, heart, and behavior of your child. Happy Listening!

Believe it or not, our children are not born knowing what behavior is appropriate and what behavior isn't. It is our responsibility as parents to teach appropriate behavior to our kids. But how do we do this? By how we respond to behavior. If we respond to negative behavior by giving our kids an uncomfortable consequence and respond to positive behavior with a positive consequence, your kids will eventually learn what is OK and what isn't. To help you do that, we created this episode to teach you our favorite positive reinforcement technique. You can modify this for kids of any age. By the end of this episode, you'll have a fun way for you to get your kids to repeat good behavior. Happy Listening!

Have you ever had weeks where you saw improvement in your child's behavior only to be follow by weeks of regression? I have and it stressed me out!  So much so, that I decided we needed a whole podcast on it. This episode will help you know how much regression is normal and how to handle it when you see it. Happy Listening!      

If you're tired of letting the stress of parenting control you, you will definitely want to listen to this episode! One of the things we face almost daily as parents of sassy, spirited, and strong-willed kids is a feeling of stress or overwhelm.  These feelings can lead us to react poorly, they can suck the fun out of parenting, and  they can make everyday feel like an uphill battle. This episode is one of my favorites ever.  Jeff Tesch, LMFT teaches some really powerful tools to help us address our stress and function from a healthier place. Happy Listening!  

  There are so many factors that can affect a child's behavior.  They are external factors, like environment and internal factors, like depression, anxiety, or ADHD. In today's episode we talk about an internal factor, Sensory Disorder.  A lot of people want to know what it is, if their child has it, how it can effect behavior, and if it can be treated.  Luckily, Mike Fitch, CMHC has a lot of experience with diagnosing and treating kids with sensory disorder and was willing to teach us all about it.  If you think sensory disorder might be an issue for your child, you'll want to make sure you listen to this episode! Happy Listening!

If you have aggressive kids, you are not alone!  A lot of people in our private Facebook group have mentioned that their kids are really aggressive: hitting, biting, yelling, spiting, etc. In today's episode, we learn why kids are aggressive, how to respond to it, and how to know if they need some extra help handling their aggression. Happy Listening! Links mentioned in this episode: Bonus: Breathing Exercises Episode 019: Discipline Technique to Avoid Because They Hurt More Than They Help

According to marriage and family therapist and researcher, Jon Gottman, in order for you to have a healthy relationship with your child you need to have FIVE positive interactions to every ONE negative interaction.  It's kind of like a bank account, positive interactions count as deposits and negative interactions count a big withdrawals.  It's pretty easy to have a healthy positive:negative ratio with kids who behave really well, but what about the ones that need correction often? In today's episode, Jeff Tesch, LMFT teaches how to connect with your child while you correct them.  The techniques taught in this episode will help your disciplining count as a positive for both of you!  How awesome is that? Happy Listening!  

Am I alone?  Or is your authority also challenged at least once an hour? Challenging authority is a common characteristic of strong-willed kids, but it's not one that we need to just put up with.  In today's episode, Jeff Tesch LMFT teaches how to handle kids who challenge your authority in the healthiest way. Happy listening! If you'd like to a have link to each new episode sent directly to your inbox, sign up below!  

  I have to admit that one of the things that's been really tough for me is feeling a deep connection with my kids when they are misbehaving.  Their misbehavior frustrates me and sometimes gets me to the point that even though I love them, I don't like being around them. A little while ago, marriage and family therapist, Jeff Tesch taught me about something called "Play Therapy".  Play therapy has been proven to be one of the most effective ways for a therapist to help a child heal from deep traumas.  Additionally, a simplified version of it can be used at home to connect with ANY child, which leads to improved behavior, and has the added perk of improving a child's ability to concentrate for longer periods of time! In today's episode, Jeff Tesch, LMFT teaches ALL OF US how to use play therapy in our own homes.  I have been using it for the last couple of weeks and have been amazed at the results.  I have seen improved behavior, I have felt deeply connected to my kids, I have genuinely loved being around them, and so much more.  Now, whenever a child's behavior seems to start regressing, I take some time to do this "at home play therapy" with them and I see results really quickly.  It's been a game changer.   Give this episode a listen and learn more about this amazing tool. Happy listening! Don't want to miss an episode? Sign up to have a link to each new episode sent directly to your inbox!

In last week's episode, we talked about sassy, spirited and strong-willed kids that are bossy or don't pick up on social cues easily.  This week, we're covering the opposite end of the spectrum by talking about kids who are more shy.  Clinical mental health counselor, Mike Fitch teaches that a child might fit into this category for one of the following reasons: They have anxiety about social situations They are naturally more introverted They have been burnt in social situations and have given up They have been bullied and are afraid If you have a child who is more on the shy side, this is a great episode to listen to!  Mike outlines how to recognize why your child is shy and specific strategies to help them be comfortable socially. Happy listening! Don't want to miss an episode? Sign up to have a link to each new episode sent directly to your inbox!

We all know that sassy, spirited, and strong-willed kids have some really useful personality traits. "S" kids are generally strong, not afraid to say what they think, will stand up for themselves, and so much more.  However, they also have traits that make it hard for them to function well with their peers.  I polled the parents of our private Facebook to see what characteristics their kids had that were getting in the way of their ability to make a keep friends.  The parents answers feel into one of the two following categories: Loud and bossy with their peers  Anxious or shy around their peers For the next two episodes, clinical mental health counselor, Mike Fitch teaches how to help kids in each of these categories function better in social situations. In this week's episode, we talk specifically about the Loud and Bossy kids while in next week's we discuss the Shy and Anxious kids.  Both episode's are jam packed with ways to help your children develop much-desired social skills. Happy Listening! Don't want to miss an episode? Sign up to have a link to each new episode sent directly to your inbox!