Dawn Friedman welcomes Dr. Melissa Giglio, a CBT therapist and director of Central Health Partners Child Development in Hong Kong, to discuss selective mutism (SM). Giglio explains SM as an anxiety disorder in which children who speak fluently at home are persistently unable to speak in specific settings, often mistaken for stubbornness, and distinguishes shyness from social anxiety and SM using persistence and functional impairment. They emphasize collaborating with schools, using gradual exposure without “rescuing,” helping children habituate, and coaching parents to stay calm, supportive, and non-accommodating while building distress tolerance and confidence. The conversation addresses anxious parents, concerns about traumatizing exposure, demand avoidance and providing perceived control with continued expectations, common comorbidities (including ADHD), when medication may help, and the need for evidence-based, systemic treatment involving parents and schools. Giglio shares resources (Bravery Grows book, a six-month journal) and intensive one-to-one camps in Hong Kong and Maine, plus outcomes when SM is untreated.

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:17 Meet Dr Giglio

01:47 What Is Selective Mutism

02:44 Why The Name Changed

03:37 Misconceptions And Oppositionality

04:22 How Parents First Notice

05:23 Shy Vs Social Anxiety

06:53 When Anxiety Becomes Persistent

09:43 Supporting Exposure Without Rescue

11:55 Handling Meltdowns And Tiny Steps

13:27 Anxious Parents And Trauma Fears

16:12 PDA And Demand Avoidance Nuance

20:00 Comorbidity And Medication Questions

22:23 Overlearning Through Exposure

22:54 Finding Proper SM Treatment

23:47 Parents As Co Therapists

27:08 Coaching Without Accommodating

28:15 Books And Journals Tools

31:25 Intensive Exposure Camps

33:37 Wins And Progress Stories

35:16 Risks Of Late Identification

37:23 Let Kids Do Hard Things

Working with Dr. Giglio at Main Child Therapy Center

Grab her book, Bravery Grows

Follow her on Instagram

Dawn Friedman introduces the final May Mental Health Awareness Month guest episode of Tell Me It Will Be OK, featuring Pam Howard of Less Drama More Mama, a licensed clinical social worker, master certified life coach, author, and mom of two. Pam shares two “mama meltdown” stories—one in 2009 with a 3-year-old and newborn when she yelled, threatened consequences, and spanked in rage, and another 13 years later when she yelled at her teen for not getting up for school and threatened a truancy officer. She explains how, instead of spiraling into shame, she practiced self-compassion, sought support, and used the experience as growth, drawing on The Gap and the Gain to focus on progress. Pam describes repairing with her daughters through apology, conversation, and a “family reset,” and invites listeners to forgive themselves and reframe imperfect parenting as an opportunity for change.

00:00 Finale Guest Intro

02:20 What Is a Mama Meltdown

02:51 2009 Breaking Point

04:55 Shame and Wake Up Call

06:17 Meltdown Returns Years Later

07:02 Saboteurs Take Over

08:57 Choosing Self Compassion

10:24 Gap Versus Gain Mindset

11:11 Repairing After the Blowup

13:24 Forgiveness and Growth

15:16 Wrap Up and Coaching Invite

Get more of Pam at the following links:

Website: Less Drama More Mama

Instagram: Less Drama More Mama

Facebook: Less Drama More Mama

Mentioned in this episode:

Tell Me It Will Be OK: The Practice

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In this Mental Health Awareness Month crossover, the Tell Me It Will Be Okay podcast features Leah Davidson—speech language pathologist, nervous system resilience coach, host of Building Resilience, and founder of Resilient Brilliance—sharing an episode on “Parenting Older Kids Without Overfunctioning.” Leah explains that as kids become teens and young adults, parents’ roles shift from constant doing to observing, which can bring grief, relief, confusion, and longing. She argues older kids don’t “borrow” a parent’s regulation the same way; they react to it, so parental urgency, advice, and fixing can feel like pressure or control and create distance. Leah emphasizes regulating yourself to respond rather than reflexively react, set clear boundaries without escalation, and create space that communicates respect and trust. She offers practical cues like pausing, using non-withdrawn silence, and reflecting on effort versus connection.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:58 Why Older Kids Hit Hard

03:28 Midlife Focus and Community

05:40 From Borrowing to Reacting

07:36 Regulate Yourself and Set Boundaries

10:00 Space Builds Connection

12:31 The Real Work Is You

14:05 Practical Regulation Tools

15:31 Stop Overfunctioning for Closeness

17:34 Reflection Questions and Wrap Up

19:13 Community Invite and Outro

Mentioned in this episode:

Tell Me It Will Be OK: The Practice

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In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Tell Me It Will Be Okay Podcast shares its platform with Cynthia Coffel’s Teen Anxiety Maze for an episode titled “Overcoming Avoidance: Choose Your Path to Success,” inspired by Lynn Lyons’ book Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents. Cynthia explains how avoidance temporarily relieves discomfort but reinforces anxiety over time, showing up in everyday procrastination and in teens avoiding school, friends, parties, driving, or homework. She encourages parents and teens to identify meaningful goals, reframe “I have to” into “I choose to,” and use mindset shifts to make difficult tasks more tolerable. Cynthia emphasizes supporting kids through manageable discomfort (not panic), role modeling persistence, and preparing teens for adulthood by practicing doing hard things, and invites listeners to work with her through coaching and an “anxiety audit” call.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:26 Meet Teen Anxiety Maze

02:03 Book Series and Coaching Offer

04:27 Why We Avoid Tasks

08:00 Avoidance in Anxious Kids

10:13 Find Goals and Motivation

14:55 School Refusal Mindset Shift

17:33 Choose Versus Have To

20:40 Parenting for Discomfort Skills

26:51 Goal Formula and Role Modeling

29:59 Wrap Up and How to Connect

You can learn more about connect with Cynthia by heading to her website, BetterRegulateThanNever.com and by following her on instagram @cynthiacoufalcoaching

Mentioned in this episode:

Tell Me It Will Be OK: The Practice

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Dawn Friedman introduces the Tell Me It Will Be Okay podcast and, for Mental Health Awareness Month and Child Mental Health Awareness Week (beginning May 3), announces that each Friday in May will feature another parenting-focused podcast’s favorite episode. She then explains why finding therapy for kids and teens is difficult, including provider shortages and insurance complications, and shares why she doesn’t take insurance: extensive paperwork, payment and coverage errors, limits on session length, insurer control over notes, and insurers dictating care. She discusses sliding scale realities, concerns about large venture-funded services and clinician turnover, and why a therapist doesn’t need to be a parent but should have child experience, consultation support, and training in child anxiety (including awareness of SPACE and parent involvement). She recommends ways to find referrals, highlights diagnosis/treatment plan considerations, and explains custody-related legal limits and why child therapists can’t weigh in on custody.

00:00 Podcast Welcome and May Series

00:56 Why Finding a Therapist Is Hard

01:15 Private Practice Background

02:09 Why Therapists Skip Insurance

06:35 Sliding Scale and Low Cost Options

07:54 Concerns About Big Therapy Platforms

09:56 Should Your Therapist Be a Parent

11:50 Kid Experience and Supervision Matters

16:02 Child Anxiety Training and Parent Role

17:51 School Based Therapy and Diagnoses

19:21 Treatment Plans and Long Term Fit

22:29 How to Find and Vet Therapists

27:21 Rapport and Why Child Therapy Is Tough

29:03 Custody Battles and Legal Limits

32:17 SPACE Directory and Wrap Up

You can find a SPACE trained provider by going here:

https://www.spacetreatment.net

Mentioned in this episode:

Tell Me It Will Be OK: The Practice

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The episode of the Tell Me It Will Be Okay podcast features an interview with New York–licensed psychologist and psychoanalyst Dr. Michael Schwartzman about his book The Anxious Parent: Freeing Yourself from the Stresses and Fears of Parenting and how parents can separate their own anxiety from their child’s needs through reflection and child-development awareness. Schwartzman discusses how modern parenting includes more unknowns, why consistency matters more than occasional “perfect” responses, and how children learn through experience, including useful failure, risk-taking, and independence. He shares personal stories of his own anxious parenting and explains how parents can avoid over-identifying with their child while still providing empathy and guidance. We discuss how “the problem is the point,” encouraging experimentation, tolerating discomfort, and authoring one’s own parenting based on values rather than quick-fix advice.

You can connect with Dr. Schwartzman and learn more about his books at his website, MichaelSchwartzmanPhD.com. He also mentions two books in his podcast. They are:

• The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Raising Self-Reliant Children by Wendy Mogul PhD
• The Ordinary is Extraordinary: How Children Under Three Learn by Amy Laura Dobro and Leah Wallach

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

02:34 How Parenting Changed

06:00 Separating Parent vs Child Anxiety

07:40 Social Media Parenting Fixes

10:55 Consistency Over Perfection

12:50 Developmental Expectations

16:09 Shaping Child and World

17:59 Anxious Parent Origin Story

21:36 Time Travel and Triggers

27:03 Letting Kids Own Their Lives

28:35 Raising Kids to Leave

32:16 Learning Through Adjustment

33:29 Letting Kids Struggle

35:19 Confidence Through Parenting

37:38 Working With Resistance

40:16 Benign Versus Harmful Neglect

43:05 Try It Your Way

43:52 Parenting Resources

46:39 School Psychologist Role

48:15 Becoming A Parent

52:56 Parenting Is Messy

55:06 Problem Is The Point

58:15 Author Your Parenting

01:01:03 Learning Is The Point

01:03:15 Final Takeaways

Mentioned in this episode:

Tell Me It Will Be OK: The Practice

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Dawn Friedman hosts the Tell Me It Will Be Okay podcast and interviews therapist and adult and child psychiatrist Dr. Elena Lister about her book Giving Hope: Conversations with Children about Illness, Death and Loss (co-written with Michael Schwartzman and Lindsay Tate). Lister explains that asking children about difficult subjects—including death and suicidal feelings—doesn’t “put ideas in their head,” but builds trust and opens communication, noting kids already think about these topics through experiences like Disney movies, nature, and news events. She emphasizes caregivers being grounded and “steady and sturdy,” using delaying or revisiting conversations when needed, admitting mistakes, and allowing children to set pace while keeping doors open. Lister shares her family’s experience when her daughter Liza was dying, discusses talking about uncertainty and differing beliefs about afterlife, offers guidance on cremation and funerals, and highlights that mentionable is manageable.

00:00 Welcome and Guest

02:55 Fear of Saying It

05:53 Disney and Death

07:42 Start Before Loss

10:50 Grounded Parent Mindset

12:43 Deer in Headlights

15:42 Good Enough Parenting

16:44 Classroom Disclosure Story

23:24 Anger and Humanity

26:55 Distress Tolerance Check

30:19 Death in the News

35:00 Living With Mortality

37:05 Aging and Nature

37:58 Afterlife Questions

40:26 Family Beliefs Clash

42:02 Living With Uncertainty

43:01 Grief Work Origin Story

45:25 Schools Can Talk

47:47 Let Kids Set Pace

53:41 Child Life Support

55:47 Cremation Explained

57:55 Funerals and Rituals

01:02:09 Preparing Kids for Loss

01:05:46 Final Thanks and Wrap

• Website: Elena Lister MD
• Giving Hope by Elena Lister MD, Michael Schwartzman PhD with Lindsey Tate (affiliate link on Bookshop)
• A Short Good Life by Philip Lister MD (affiliate link on Bookshop)

Mentioned in this episode:

Tell Me It Will Be OK: The Practice

🌟 READY TO FIND YOUR ROOM TO BREATHE?

Letting Go to Focus on What Matters in Parenting

Dawn Friedman introduces her podcast and explains “judicious giving up,” a practice of letting go of solving a parenting problem immediately so families can clarify what truly matters, understand what’s underneath the issue, and choose a more fitting focus. Drawing on her transition from solutions-focused case management to therapy, she notes that the stated problem is often not the real problem, and that parenting challenges—like an anxious child who won’t sleep alone—may reflect bigger needs, family values, timing, capacity, and parents’ own triggers or identity beliefs. She critiques one-size-fits-all, quick-fix behaviorist advice and emphasizes individualized, developmentally informed plans built from self-reflection, understanding the child, and aligning with values. She also reframes recurring struggles as opportunities for learning and growth rather than proof of failure. (This is part of the Podcasthon 2026 event! My charity for the event is The Children's Defense Fund, which envisions a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being, and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive.)

00:00 Welcome and Mission

00:43 Judicious Giving Up

01:11 From Casework to Therapy

03:09 The Problem Behind Problem

04:58 Parenting Anxiety Example

06:57 Choosing Your Focus

11:27 Beyond One Size Fits All

14:44 Problems Recur Over Time

18:55 You Can’t Fix Kids

20:17 Values Then a Plan

24:02 Mindset Reframe and Wrap

Mentioned in this episode:

Tell Me It Will Be OK: The Practice

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In this episode of Tell Me It Will Be Okay, I interview Brandy Jemczura of Columbus, Ohio, founder of Seeds of Caring, a nonprofit that connects children ages 2–12 (and some middle schoolers) with volunteer and activism opportunities to build empathy, kindness, and agency. We links service to anxiety support and resiliency, emphasizing four cornerstones: feeling lovable, capable, able to handle emotions, and developing a resilient self-concept. Brandy shares how Seeds of Caring grew from 285 child volunteer experiences in its first year to over 57,000 annually, now operating in Columbus and Indianapolis, and explains how programs use children’s literature, reflection, and hands-on projects to address tough topics without “othering,” using asset-framing language and reinforcing that everyone needs help sometimes. We discuss parent concerns, privilege, and how small actions can create hope and community impact.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

00:30 Action as Anxiety Relief

00:55 Resiliency Cornerstones

02:33 Volunteering Builds Regulation

04:38 Meet Brandy Gemchura

05:19 Seeds of Caring Origin Story

08:22 Scaling Up and Facing Fear

10:45 Why Ages Two to Twelve

14:00 What Two Year Olds Do

17:32 Culture of Caring Ripple Effects

19:37 Winning Over Nonprofit Partners

21:56 Talking Tough Topics With Kids

24:02 Hope for Overwhelmed Parents

25:22 Favorite Family Activities

25:44 Goldfish Fairness Lesson

27:43 From Empathy to Action

29:11 Avoiding Othering Language

32:07 Kids Growing With Service

35:09 Kindness Versus Nice

37:54 Privilege Into Next Steps

41:02 Helpers and Mental Health

43:56 Scaling to New Cities

45:17 Start Small Anywhere

46:58 Parents Modeling Kindness

49:24 Final Wrap and Resources

Want to know more about Seeds of Caring? Of course you do! Who wouldn't?!? Check out their website here: SeedsofCaring.org

You can find also find them on:

1. Facebook: Columbus, Indiana
2. Instagram: Columbus, Indiana
3. Linkedin
4. YouTube

Mentioned in this episode:

Tell Me It Will Be OK: The Practice

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In a timely episode (hey, I planned it that way!) I'm sharing my conversation with Frida Berrigan, a peace activist and author, who shares her experiences growing up with activist parents, navigating tensions between parenting and activism, and raising her own children. We discuss the importance of engaging in activism while maintaining joy, the struggle of balancing multiple responsibilities, and the impact of ordinary acts in making a difference. Frida also emphasizes the significance of moral cheerfulness and acting within our capacity to contribute to positive change.

As you'll hear in the podcast, Frida grew up in a family of famous peace activists and she wrote about her experience and how it inspired her own parenting decisions in the book It Runs in the Family: On Being Raised by Radicals and Growing into Rebellious Motherhood. You can also read her essays at WagingNonViolence.org and I recommend you start with her wonderful essay, Nuclear Weapons Ruined My Life (And I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way).

00:00 Welcome to the Tell Me It Will Be OK Podcast

00:52 Introducing Frida Berrigan: Peace Activist and Author

01:20 Frida's Family and Activism Background

01:59 Parenting Through Activism

02:46 Interview with Frida Berrigan Begins

03:09 Frida's Children and Parenting Journey

05:51 Balancing Caregiving and Activism

07:27 Frida's Unique Upbringing and Education

18:30 Navigating Tensions and Choices in Activism

27:22 Parenting Decisions and Sharing Information

29:47 Taking Action with Kids

31:11 Impact of School Shootings

32:11 Helping Refugee Families

36:26 Balancing Effort and Outcome

41:54 The Role of Ordinary Acts

49:02 Moral Cheerfulness and Joy

53:38 Accepting Imperfection

Thanks for listening! And, of course, it helps if you will share, rate, and subscribe so more people can learn about and from Frida Berrigan and the other wonderful guest I have coming up! 🧡

Takeaways:

1. In our increasingly complex world, parenting anxious children requires a multifaceted approach that embraces both awareness and empathy.
2. Frida Berrigan's life experiences illustrate the challenges of balancing activism with parenthood in a meaningful and impactful manner.
3. The significance of moral cheerfulness amidst adversity is a recurring theme, emphasizing the importance of joy in the face of life's difficulties.
4. Engaging with community and activism can provide children with invaluable lessons on compassion, empathy, and the importance of standing up for justice.
5. Understanding that our efforts, no matter how small, contribute to a larger movement is essential for both parents and children alike.
6. The podcast stresses that navigating the imperfections of life and parenting is a shared journey that requires patience and understanding.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. wagingnonviolence.org

Mentioned in this episode:

Tell Me It Will Be OK: The Practice

🌟 READY TO FIND YOUR ROOM TO BREATHE?