Overpowering Emotions: Tools for Child & Teen Anxiety and Resilience

With the holidays upon us, I wanted to do an episode on how to make the most of them. While I started to go through the things to destress, I realized that, truly, the one and most important thing to focus on is presence over presents (and busyness and rushing and chaos that can take us out of the moment).

To optimize our presence, we need to be mindful. Therefore, I knew the best episode this week was with mindfulness expert Claudio Barrientos.

Listen to today's episode to learn more about how to bring mindfulness into your own life to make the most of the holidays.

In addition, I do have a guide about how to make the most of the holidays:

1. Check out this resource: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/holidayguide/

2. Listen in on my other podcast, Parents of the Year, where my husband and I talk about making the most of the holidays as a family. https://apple.co/3du8mPK

About Claudio Barrientos:

Claudio was raised in Spain and Connecticut. He is an avid traveller with an endless curiosity of people, culture, food, philosophy, and psychology. He received his undergraduate degree in Philosophy & Theology from University of San Francisco, and his master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Texas San Antonio. Currently, Claudio is a Licensed Master Social Worker.

Claudio has worked with adolescents and adults in a DBT Intensive Outpatient Program, provided mental health services in Spanish to unaccompanied minors in the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and taught mindfulness to thousands of people across boardrooms, classrooms, and the general public.

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Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/

On today's episode of Overpowering Emotions, I talk about how to help kiddos who are scared to use the bathroom in public. While this is true for a lot of young children, there are still a lot of older children - even tweens and teens - who continue to avoid using public toilets.

Fear of going using the public bathroom is common, but not talked about, which is why it's important to open the conversation.

Unfortunately, so many kiddos "hold" all day, which can lead to long-term health problems. While parents tend to accommodate kids when they are young (e.g., avoiding going out in the first place),  accommodations are not sustainable and only make anxiety worse.

We need to help kids manage this fear sooner than later (it's definitely easier to help them learn to cope when they are younger but it's never too late - even for our tweens and teens).

In today's episode, I share simple ideas to help kiddos learn to go to the bathroom in public successfully.

Prefer to watch? You can here: https://youtu.be/OhjdZMU2MXU

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Website: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/

Resources: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/resources/articles-child-resilience-well-being-psychology/

Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/

We all want to help kiddos reach their full potential. However, when we put them under too much pressure, there can be serious consequences for kids.

While we certainly want to set expectations for children and encourage them, the pressure to constantly perform well in any and all parts of life can lower their motivation and lead to mental health problems. Especially when kids feel like every test or every performance is going to make or break their future success.

You can also watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/B07lMxmXY5g

In today's episode, I had the incredible opportunity to chat with Dr. Christopher Thurber. We discuss findings from  his new book, The Unlikely Art of Parental Pressure: A Positive Approach to Pushing Your Child to Be Their Best Self including the ways that parental pressure can be harmful and what to do instead. Dr. Thurber shares practical examples that we all can apply in our work with families (or as parents ourselves!).

Be sure to tune in to today's episode.

Learn more about Dr. Christopher Thurber:

Dr. Christopher Thurber enjoys creating and sharing original content for business leaders, independent educators, and youth development professionals. He is a board-certified clinical psychologist, educator, author, and father. Chris earned his BA from Harvard University in 1991 and a PhD in clinical psychology from UCLA in 1997.

A dedicated teacher from a young age, Chris has more than 30 years of experience working with camps and independent schools. He has written numerous book chapters and scholarly articles on leadership, homesickness, and youth development. An awardwinning contributor to Camping Magazine and Camp Business, Chris has also shared his opinions and expertise on national and international radio, television, print media, podcasts, and webinars, including the Today Show, NPR, and CNN.

In 2007, Chris co-founded ExpertOnlineTraining.com, which quickly became the Internet’s most popular and respected educational resource for youth leaders. The hundreds of thousands of subscribers to this library of video training modules come from 43 different countries. Chris also coauthored the critically acclaimed Summer Camp Handbook with Dr. Jon Malinowski. This award-winning preparatory resource was recently translated into Mandarin to support the burgeoning camp movement in China. Chris also designed the only empirically-validated homesickness prevention program, called Prep4Camp.

During the academic year, Chris serves as one of the psychologists and instructors at Phillips Exeter Academy, an independent secondary school. He and his wife, Simonida, an analytical chemist and musician, live in New Hampshire with their sons Danilo, born in 2002, and Sava, born in 2004. You can learn more about Chris, and access all of his publications and resources, by visiting his website, DrChrisThurber.com.

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Website: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/

Resources: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/resources/articles-child-resilience-well-being-psychology/

Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/

In part 2 of my discussion on test anxiety, I go through more practical and effective strategies, such as study strategies, and things students can do during and after the test to manage test anxiety and optimize their academic success now and into the future.

Want to watch this episode? You can also watch it here: https://youtu.be/ZSPzjTwbpb0

AND, be sure to check out this Test Taking Skills resource (https://korupsychology.ca/essentialskillsfortesttaking/)

Enjoying the show? Help out by rating this podcast on Apple to help others get access to this information too! apple.co/3ysFijh

Follow Dr. Caroline

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Website: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/

Resources: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/resources/articles-child-resilience-well-being-psychology/

Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/

Loads of kids get stressed when they have to write a test. In fact, most students say that schoolwork and tests are the most stressful things in their lives.

However, when that stress becomes too big, worries can make it hard for students to learn, remember what they learn, think clearly, notice mistakes, and show what they have learned. Test anxiety impairs student success and can even harm their well-being.  It is essential to learn about test anxiety and how to manage it effectively.

Tune in today for part 1 of this important topic.

AND, be sure to check out this Test Taking Skills resource (https://korupsychology.ca/essentialskillsfortesttaking/)

Prefer to watch? You can also watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/PjUUHyIg2UI

Enjoying the show? Help out by rating this podcast on Apple to help others get access to this information too! apple.co/3ysFijh

Follow Dr. Caroline

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.carolinebuzanko

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LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/dr-caroline-buzanko

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrCarolineBuzanko/

Website: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/

Resources: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/resources/articles-child-resilience-well-being-psychology/

Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/

Today I continue the discussion on supporting anxious student success in school. One thing that I see impairing anxious students that happens far too often are accommodations for anxiety in the classroom. 

The strategies for anxiety in students' Individualized Program Plans (IPPs), though well-intentioned, actually make the student's anxiety worse and lead to worse outcomes over time. This is because they are not strategies at all – they usually allow kids to escape anxiety. 

One small accommodation to allow kids to sit out of class presentations can snowball into complete school refusal. It’s a very slippery slope.

Tune in to ensure you are not making these mistakes and what needs to happen to actually support anxious students.

*IMPORTANT!

Remember: our responses are ALWAYS supportive and empathetic. The strategies I discuss are designed to strengthen a child's emotional resilience within the context of a secure and supportive relationship. The goal is to avoid reinforcing anxiety through accommodation while still providing the necessary connection children need to thrive.

Enjoying the show? Help out by rating this podcast on Apple to help others get access to this information too! apple.co/3ysFijh

Follow Dr. Caroline

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Website: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/

Resources: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/resources/articles-child-resilience-well-being-psychology/

Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/

Being human means we all feel some social anxiety. We are social creatures and have a foundational need to belong.

However, it starts to become a problem when we feel such intense worries that it interferes with our ability to function, our relationships, and our ability to live life.

Social anxiety is on the rise and has only intensified since COVID.  During that time kiddos have missed out on so many important developmental opportunities to connect and socialize. ( Adults too have gotten out of practice with being in social situations.)  When it starts interfering with life, we need to do something about it immediately.

Tune in to today's episode where I discuss the importance of building skills and strengthening kids' capacity to cope effectively when social anxiety shows up.

And, here is the Door Study I mention in the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWSxSQsspiQ

Enjoying the show? Help out by rating this podcast on Apple to help others get access to this information too! apple.co/3ysFijh

Follow Dr. Caroline

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Website: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/

Resources: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/resources/articles-child-resilience-well-being-psychology/

Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/

I am so excited to have Shyness expert Nadia Finer join me on today's episode. Nadia believes it's okay to be shy and that, in fact, shyness is an essential factor in today's world. Nadia is on a softly spoken mission to help shy people be more mighty. She's the UK's leading shyness expert; the author of two books about shyness – Shy and Mighty (published by Quercus) and Shy and Mighty for Kids, (published by DK), the host of the Shy and Mighty podcast, and a coach specializing in shyness.

Nadia knows what it's like to struggle with shyness. You see, all her life she's had a little voice. Really little. The kind of voice that makes random people tell Nadia that she should be a cartoon voice-over actress. A voice so little that when strangers ring her house phone, they ask Nadia to put her mum on the phone. It's no wonder she's often shy and self-conscious!

Nadia believes that shyness is not a weakness, or a shameful secret. Shy people are not broken. And they don't need to change who they are. Nadia is a regular speaker in organizations and schools around the UK. She has appeared on Radio 4 Saturday Live, Woman's Hour, and the ITV News. She's been in the Times, Guardian, the Telegraph, The Telegraph, The Independent, and in Good Housekeeping.

On today's episode, we discuss:

*  What shyness really is and why we feel shy

*  How to work with your shyness instead of against it

*  Why the world needs shy people

*  How to turn your shyness into a superpower

About Nadia Finer

For 15 years, Nadia Finer has helped people of all ages to overcome insecurities and fears to achieve their dreams. With more than 50 percent of the world population experiencing shyness, Nadia's work to raise awareness of shyness in schools and organisations has helped change thousands of lives.

Check out Nadia´s socials below

https://www.facebook.com/iamshyandmighty

https://www.instagram.com/iamshyandmighty/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiafiner/ https://twitter.com/nadiafiner

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Resources: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/resources/articles-child-resilience-well-being-psychology/

Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/

Next on the journey of social anxiety, I have to ensure we talk about social media because it plays a huge role in the amount of social anxiety people experience today.

In today's episode I had a fascinating discussion with Dr. Jon Gruda on anxiety detection using linguistic analysis.

We get into a few different things, though a large part of our discussion was on how our posts can influence others' emotions, contributing to the very real phenomenon of emotional contagion. Additionally, Dr. Gruda shares ideas for everyone about how we can think about the influence of our posts we put out on social media as well as how others' posts can affect us.

I talk a lot in all my workshops on how much social media affects our kids in particular and contributes to a considerable amount of social anxiety.

There are also some great tips for our children and teens who use social media.

Don't miss out on this fantastic episode.

About Dr. Gruda:

Dr. Jon Gruda is an Assistant Professor in Organisational Behaviour at the National University of Ireland Maynooth. One of his primary research streams has been developing machine learning models that can infer anxiety using social media data. He also conducts research on the intersection of anxiety, personality, and leadership.

University page: https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/people/jon-gruda

Personal website: https://www.jongruda.com/

Twitter: @learn2upgrade

Enjoying the show? Help out by rating this podcast on Apple to help others get access to this information too! apple.co/3ysFijh

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Resources: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/resources/articles-child-resilience-well-being-psychology/

Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/

Today, I talk about how we address perfectionism in more detail.

Yes, I do talk about the most important thinking trap to address, but I also highlight the things we must DO to help anxious kiddos manage perfectionism.

After all, as with anything related to anxiety, it's more about what we do than what we say.

BONUS: Is perfectionism holding you, a client, or someone you know back? Check out this quiz to see! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/is-perfectionism-holding-you-back/

Enjoying the show? Help out by rating this podcast on Apple to help others get access to this information too! apple.co/3ysFijh

Follow Dr. Caroline

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.carolinebuzanko

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LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/dr-caroline-buzanko

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrCarolineBuzanko/

Website: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/

Resources: https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/resources/articles-child-resilience-well-being-psychology/

Business inquiries: https://korupsychology.ca/contact-us/

Want to learn more about helping kids strengthen their emotion regulation skills and problem-solving brains while boosting their confidence, independence, and resilience? Check out my many training opportunities! https://drcarolinebuzanko.com/upcoming-events/