Many parents struggle to talk with children about difficult topics. The natural tendency is to avoid hard conversations or try to make uncomfortable feelings go away. But children need validation for the questions they have - and just being heard is often the thing they need most.

This episode reveals the origins of bullying in children, and considers 4 important factors in its prevention and intervention: the bully, the victim, the audience and the responsible grownups/caregivers.

When your child has an Individual Education Plan (IEP), it can feel like a full-time job. In this episode, Dr. Kimberly Bell discusses the big issues and emotions that can arise, and how to work through them.

Magical thinking refers to the way children try to understand the unfamiliar when they don't have the knowledge, life experience or critical thinking capabilities that separate reality from fantasy. This conversation talks about the phase and how parents can support their children through it.

We talk about the developmental stages of children, but what about parents? Grownups go through their own transitions that can be every bit as challenging. In this episode, we validate the bumpy stages of the parenting experience - from individual to expectant parent to parent of infants, then toddlers and older children.

By age 6, children typically display empathy toward others. But it doesn't just happen. This episode looks at the building blocks of empathy and how parents help to put them together.

The words punishment, discipline and consequences are often used loosely in conversations about the ongoing job of raising children who know how to do the right thing. Dr. Kimberly Bell defines the terms and discusses an approach that's both effective and kind.

An interesting discussion about the history of early learning in America, why it matters, and how Cleveland became a center of excellence for early childhood development.

Bonus reel: Replacing things adults often say to children with kinder, developmentally mindful alternatives. Another compilation of "Let's Rephrase That" segments from the Hidden Language of Children podcast.

People are often surprised to learn that toddlers and preschoolers can benefit from "talk therapy." In this episode, we discuss the reasons such young children are getting help, and how it's provided through a discipline called "therapy via the parent."