Welcome back for the next journey of The Family Express Podcast with Kathryn de Bruin and Ronda Evans where our destination is resilient and connected families. This episode’s adventure takes us to the diverse experience of neurodivergence. Our guest today is Kat Austin, LPC, LAC, LMFT from Boulder, Colorado, USA. All Aboard !

2:40 Kat opens with the vulnerability that it is to be a parent, and that parental shame gets evoked.

4:14 Kat describes the anecdote for shame.

7:15 How shame can show up in a neurotypical parent and a neurodiverse parent.

9:58 Exploring the loss, the discovery of differences in brains, and psychoeducation and how making the implicit explicit for the whole family system (parents, siblings, grandparents, and more) can be helpful and organizing.

11:58 The family is learning together in real-time. Help the family adopt the reframe of discovery and experimentation

13:37 Families are getting stuck around difficulty with emotional regulation. Parents need to have their own strong emotional regulation skills. The goal is for the “most responsivity” to stay online.

14:46 Parents can get blocked by grief.

15:11 Families can struggle around organizational and structural needs such as sequencing, hyperfocus and time blindness.

19:00 Recommendations, resources and referrals for families.

22:50 How can we help families when they don’t know or recognize that neurodivergence is showing up in the family? 

28:15 Kat discusses the philosophical question of labeling or diagnosing, or not.

29:40 Being diagnosed or treated for ADHD can lower risk of depression, anxiety, and substance use and can improve self-identity and self-worth.

32:20 Advocate for your family, especially in the school system.

Thank you for listening! 

Kathryn is an ICEEFT Certified EFT Trainer. Kathryn and Ronda are both licensed marriage and family therapists, EFT supervisors and therapists, and AAMFT Approved Supervisors.

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