Caught Between Generations

According to a recent Pew Research Center analysis, more adult children are now living with their parents. Yet, not all of these living arrangements are helpful — especially for parents who live with difficult adult children.

Dr. Jane Adams, social psychologist and author of “When Our Grown Kids Disappoint Us: Letting Go of Their Problems, Loving Them Anyway, and Getting on with Our Lives” is an expert at managing family boundaries and dealing with grown children. Unlike our previous show on bridging the gap with estranged children, in this episode, Jane gives listeners permission to develop a healthy distance from damaging patterns and offers techniques to help develop boundaries that will move adult children from dependence toward independence.

We’ll also examine the roles and responsibilities of grandparents in multigenerational families and how they can champion healthy relationships within their families.

If you are a caregiver, you know caring for a loved has both its rewards and challenges. The physical and emotional stress a caregiver experiences is real: feelings of exhaustion, isolation and guilt are common when caring for a sick or aging parent.

Husband and wife team, Dr. Barry Jacobs and Dr. Julia Mayer, are psychologists who have written for WebMD and HealthCentral.com and collaborated in the latest AARP release, “AARP Meditations for Caregivers: Practical, Emotional, and Spiritual Support for You and Your Family” and in this episode, they will give caregivers practical and creative tips to manage stress and ‘breathe in calm’ again.

You spend each day putting others’ needs ahead of your own. Today, take care of you and get support from people who understand what you’re going through.

Do you spend your time dreaming about the next phase of your life? Are you one of the 74 million plus baby boomers facing retirement? Do you have a secret longing to turn your hobbies into a second career, but not sure where to start?

Nancy Collamer, career coach and author of Second-Act Careers: 50 plus Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement and blogger for NextAvenue.org, Forbes.com and USNews.com, explains how to turn around retirement uncertainty and create a life you’ll love. Nancy explains how you can build an income from your hobbies, spot boomer career trends that match your skills and even get paid to travel.

Additionally, we’ll hear stories from two professionals who have used their talents to create a meaningful lifestyle: Dr. Tim Dupic, CEO of SarahCare of Campbell and Aysha Cooper, CEO of SarahCare of Snellville, Georgia share their reasons for leaving high-powered jobs in corporate America and in advertising to enter the field of senior health care

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn discusses his research at the Cleveland Clinic, which proved that a plant-based diet can arrest and reverse coronary heart disease even in severely ill patients.

Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the U.S. and is responsible for one in three deaths in American women. Many women do not know the early warning signs, which could save their lives. Join Mary McGowan, Chief Executive Officer of WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease as she discusses myths and truths about women and heart disease.

The number of parents who are cut-off and estranged from their adult children is increasing. Whether it is famous children such as Lindsey Vonn or Angelina Jolie, the heartbreaking tales of children who refuse their parents’ phone calls and e-mail and won’t let them see their grandchildren is steadily growing. Dr. Joshua Coleman, psychologist and author of “When Parents Hurt: Compassionate Strategies When You and Your Grown Child Don’t Get Along” speaks from the heart and offers listeners strategies for resolving family estrangement while surviving the pain. Mark Sichel follows with a discussion of how to cope and heal from broken family relationships. Mark is the author of Forgiveness: 10 Steps to Letting Go of Resentment, which helps people recover from family abuse and estrangement.

Do you wonder why your child’s behavior is often explosive? Is your aging parent or someone you care for refusing to listen? Are you wondering how to keep it together and manage your own frustrations while you’re managing everyone else?

Join us with guest Dr. Jeffrey Bernstein, nationally recognized family and child psychologist and author of 10 Days to a Less Defiant Child, and learn the reasons your child may be acting out defiantly and the type of parenting strategies that will help you respond in positive, non-controlling ways. Learn how to apply these strategies to dealing with adults. It is possible to decrease family conflict and remain calm when caring for others.

Teachers, you will also want to listen as Jeffrey shares tips to deal with difficult behaviors in the classroom and ways you can rereinforce positive, rather than negative, behavior in your students.

In this age of bullying and “mean girls” how do you instill values of kindness and compassion in children? If the answer involves another activity, how do you fit it into you and your children’s already overwhelmed schedule?

Genevieve Marsh and Patrick Long join us to share the benefits of family volunteering, community gardens and neighborhood farms. From helping to tend the garden to distributing food to those who are hungry, we’ll learn how even very young children can become involved in random acts of kindness and small tasks of sharing.

Jenny Friedman, author of Doing Good Together, joins us to discuss the benefits of families spending time together while giving back. Jenny describes simple projects that can be done with children of all ages that will teach the social skill of empathy and pass on the values of kindness and compassion.

The phenomenon is the same. Discussing retirement, finances, selling the family home and making end-of-life decisions for or with your parents often makes us feel uncomfortable or anxious. Yet, discussing these sensitive topics makes for a less stressful and happier life.

Tim Prosch, Author of The Other Talk, has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, NPR's Next Avenue, and the recipient of awards for innovative and strategic thinking.

Tim offers advice on how to take control and make decisions and shared care arrangements based on your wishes before family conflict arises.

Carolyn Rosenblatt is a nurse and an Attorney. Together with her husband who is a geriatric psychologist, they founded AgingParents.com and AgingInvestor.com. We will be discussing why older people often appear to be stubborn and difficult, and sometimes refuse help when needed. Carolyn provides approaches that will help your aging parents get the help they need.

If you’re raising a child with type 1 diabetes, it’s likely you know the signs and symptoms of diabetes. Yet, do you the signs of a parent-teen relationship distressed by juvenile diabetes and what you can do about it?

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In this week’s episode, you will learn strategies and get support for managing your child’s type 1 diabetes with tips for a less stressful and more peaceful relationship. Join Jean Betschart, a pediatric nurse practioner, diabetes educator, author of books such as A Magic Ride in Foozbah-Land and a type I diabetic herself. Susan Weiner will also join us. Susan is a medical advisor for many health websites including Healthline.com and was named the 2015 AADE Diabetes Educator of the Year.

Listen as Laura Petherbridge, international speaker, author and stepparent expert offers practical advice to help stepparents thrive. Being a stepparent has its challenges -- and learning how to make time for a ‘spa day for the soul’ allows you to carry on.

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We’ll also discuss the common problems blended families often face: such as, how to handle the roles of step parenting as a ‘childless’ stepmom or stepdad, ways you can minimize family stress and enjoy special events and holidays, and what you can do to keep your marriage and blended family relationships alive and healthy for years to come.