Defiant, depressed, withdrawn, unmotivated children are not defiant, depressed, withdrawn, unmotivated.  These are the behaviors that are caused by being in fight, flight or freeze survival mode.  

In this episode you can find out:

In this episode I speak about the fact that one of the least understood and yet most powerful tools for the mental, emotional and physical health of our children (and ourselves) is the ability to engage in REAL Connection. When we are truly Connecting with our children, their (and our), body and brain chemistry get a biological and neurological upgrade. And the more we do this, the healthier we all get.   Discover how you can use the ability to be truly present as a way of making real Connection with your children. 

In this episode I am being interviewed by Wade Bergner of Real U Academy.   The topic we address is the fact that too many children believe that, 'I Am Not Enough.'   It is a hugely important topic.  This 'not enough' feeling has been called low self-belief, low self-esteem, low self-worth but I believe this 'not good enough/not enough' feeling that some children grapple with,  goes deeper than that.  

In this episode I am interviewed by Sonali Vongchusiri, host of the Summit: Raising Your Strong-Willed Child: How to Give Up the Guilt, Step Out of Overwhelm, and Rediscover the Joy in Parenting.  

In this interview we cover every aspect of strong-willed children:

Why this happens

In this episode I am being interviewed by Erin Kerry of Sparkling Wholeness.   We cover the following aspects of building emotional resilience in children:

Underlying root cause of low emotional resilience.

Emotional resilience = healthy neurotransmitters.

How parents can stimulate resilience through the way they engage and communicate with the child.

Interpersonal Neurobiology – what is happening in the parent is happening in the child.

How parents shape the child’s brain.

The role that stress plays in low emotional resilience.

The dangers of diagnostic labels.

Emotional resilience is something that all parents want for their children. Traditional parenting approaches to building resilience are not effective because these approaches teach parents how to manage this problem, instead of how to heal it.  This is a band-aid approach.  If you are managing your children's problems, this means the problem still exists.  In this episode  I explain how parents can build a child's emotional resilience 'from the inside-out.' as opposed to trying to achieve this from 'the outside-in.'  My approach is rooted in neuroscience. and uses the tools of neuroplasticity. 

Children are not born with low self-esteem. They cannot be born feeling that they are not good enough, In this episode I will offer a different way of understanding what low self-esteem is, how  to recognize it as soon as possible, why it happens with some children and not with others, and how parents can reverse the negative self-beliefs that children have.

For children, the feeling of anxiety makes their lives such a struggle.  For the parent, it is heartbreaking to watch a child struggle with anxiety.  In this podcast I will discuss what is at the root of a child's  anxiety.   Learn why children become anxious and what to do to help them overcome this.  I explain that it is not possible to convince a child to stop being anxious. and why trying to do this creates even more anxiety.  You will discover a different way of parenting an anxious child.  

Defiance in children is a deeply misunderstood problem and, unfortunately, often handled in a way that simply increases the defiance.  Defiant children don't choose to be defiant.  They cannot stop themselves. Something is happening inside them that is driving them to behave that way. Listen to Dr. sandy explain what this is and what parents can do to shift the child from defiant to delightful

Sensitive children need sensitive and special parenting.   With the best intentions and love,  a parent may  unintentionally cause a sensitive child to feel stressed and anxious.  This parenting trap is understandable because parents want their sensitive children to become more emotionally robust but trying to change the child's sensitive nature with advice and too much talking, does not work.  it can increase the problem.  In this video you will learn what to do and what never to do with children who have a sensitive nature.