Ever feel like your SPICY kid is allergic to the word "no"?

They're actually wired to struggle with three things that make it *look* like they're being difficult 'on purpose' (when it's really just their brain asking for help).

Tune in for a perspective shift to help you parent with less stress and more connection.

Explore why spicy kids struggle with “no” (and how to set boundaries that stick).
Understand why connection is like oxygen for them, and what you can do about it.
Learn the SPICY framework that’s transformed thousands of families around the world.

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking

Dental anxiety isn't just about teeth — it's also about feeling powerless.

It's a topic I covered on a recent Prism Perspective call.

Tune in to learn...
 
• How to help your child understand their anxiety

• Simple strategies to make dental visits less traumatic

• Why lying about pain backfires (and what to say instead)

• Ways to empower your child with choice and control

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking

'Does everyone need therapy?'

It's kind of like asking 'does everyone need deodorant'?

Not strictly.

BUT...

Do you remember your last train ride on a summer day?

Or that Uber trip? Or the customs line at the airport?

Yechh...

The sights, the sounds... the... smells.

Body odor (and lack of deodorant!) in a small space is kind of like our emotional struggles and unresolved traumas.

Both have an impact on the people around us, and we often don't even realize it!
 
The thing to remember is that therapy benefits everyone, not just people with severe trauma.

And one of the best things we can do for our children is investing in our own mental health.

By addressing our own issues, we create a healthier, more stable environment for our family to thrive in.

Join me on this hot take to find out why, and learn what you can do about it.

Timecodes

00:00 - Misconceptions about therapy
00:54 - Therapy as a family gift
01:23 - Understanding childhood trauma
01:58 - Recognizing personal trauma
02:56 - Addressing childhood beliefs
03:50 - Benefits for everyone

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking

I don't know about you, but I like to imagine parenting as a marathon, not a sprint 🏃‍♀️

But it's hard to think long-term when every day feels like a race to the finish line.

It's like the parenting version Groundhog Day...

…we roll into bed exhausted, disconnected, frustrated, and anxious because we KNOW we're only hours away from doing it all again 😑

So, here's a little secret…

By making small changes to the way we parent each day, the wins start to rack up - fast.

And in the process, we create a beautiful legacy for future generations.

That's how you become a cycle breaker - by modelling a new way of parenting for your children, your grandchildren and beyond.

So where do we start? A great place is learning how to fill your child's 'buckets'.

This builds a solid foundation of love and understanding while preparing them to be amazing parents themselves one day.

Unpack the buckets analogy with me to learn the 3 tools you can use to help your child feel 'ok', connected and respected (which leads to better behavior and greater emotional regulation!).

Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction
00:19 - What are the buckets?
04:45 - Being a cycle breaker
05:23 - The source of resistance
06:56 - The buckets: breakdown
08:37 - The source of power struggles

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking

If you're battling your teenager over late-night phone sessions, you're not alone!

In this episode, Heidi shares why phone and tech boundaries are especially tricky for strong-willed and neurodivergent kids (you know - the SPICY children who don't respond to 'traditional' parenting techniques 🤣).

Learn how to identify what's really driving their behavior and unpack strategies for compromise that work for everyone.

Here's the question Heidi received for Q&A from a mom in the Prism Perspective community:

"My 13-year-old SPICY child thinks she should be able to determine her bedtime, which would be anywhere up to 3am if I let her on school nights.

"When do we enforce a ‘phones off’ policy with a SPICY child?"

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking

When we're trying to improve our emotional wellbeing, we usually focus on the present or the future.

But what if the key to healing and feeling ‘whole’ is actually in our past? 🤔

That's where reparenting comes in.

Reparenting is about connecting with and caring for your inner child—the part of you that holds the memories and feelings from your early experiences.

Sound a little ‘woo woo’... or… maybe super-interesting?

Either way, this deep-dive coaching session with Leigh (one of our team members) will give you tonnes of insight into reparenting, understanding and practicing self-compassion, and breaking the glass of what we think we know about ourselves.

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking

Parenting a SPICY child is often lonely, exhausting, isolating and overwhelming.

I know because I have a SPICY child myself, and I see ya’ll in private practice every week 🤣

We live in a society that says children should all fit into a neat little box of behavior and personality… and if they don’t… well… it must be the parents’ fault!

But most of society has no clue what it’s like to parent a SPICY child!

Join me as I break down some of the myths surrounding self-compassion, and why making it a habit will forever change your life (like, in a positive way! 🤣).

There’s also a little exercise at the end if you’d like to give this whole ‘self-compassion thing’ a try.

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking

Heidi answers the following question in this episode:

"Hi Heidi, why doesn’t positive parenting work on my spicy 8 year old? My 10 year old is so different and much more dutiful, compliant and easy. My 8 year old is aggressive, violent and hates any talk about feelings. It feels like we are all walking eggshells. My husband yells and isn’t as patient as me, but I lose it too, as nothing seems to work. I could talk about feelings and validate the emotions of my 10 year old but Mr 8 hates any kind of emotional chat. Why is he like this?"

Heidi answers this question by discussing:

• emotional regulation and how it's such a key issue for SPICY kids
• the two main beliefs SPICY kids have about themselves
• how needing choice, feeling anxious and angry outbursts are all interconnected
• a discussion around the belief a lot of people have that these kids are choosing to be this way and are just disrespectful, strong willed and defiant
• what to do and say when your child says 'I hate you!' or 'I'm running away!'

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking

Ever wondered if transformation was possible for you, or if healing yourself was even an option outside of therapy?

I chatted with my colleague and fellow therapist, Tom Ahern this week, all about our journeys in self-healing and managing our mental health.

It was fascinating to dive deep into the topic and explore the idea that therapy isn’t the only route to self-healing (pretty wild - coming from two therapists!).

Some of the questions we discuss:

• What does self-healing mean anyway? 
• Why do you call it an 'art'?
• What do you know about self-healing?
• What's your experience with self-healing?
• How do you know it's effective?
• How does therapy fit into the picture?
• What would you say to someone who feels stuck and is having a hard time in their own self-healing?

--


Connect with Tom

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tom.ahern
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tombahern
Medium: https://medium.com/@tom.ahern
YouTube: https://bit.ly/2shhVqM
Podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-mind-mate-podcast

Connect with Heidi

Instagram:  www.instagram.com/heidirogers_
Facebook: www.facebook.com/heidirogers.hello
Website: www.heidirogers.com

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking

One of the most common things people say to me is, "I know if I could just change my thinking and be more positive, then I’d be happy. I know it's my fault I'm unhappy because of the thoughts I choose".

If it were THAT simple and just 'thinking happy thoughts' was the key to everything, then the world would be a really happy place. But it's not, because it's not that simple.

Taking a 'bottom up approach' is a much easier way to find happiness.

When we begin the practice of noticing how we feel: the sensations in our body, our breathing, our heart rate… we can start to unlock the causes of our unhappiness.

In this podcast, I explain how to do this, and why it's so important.

Prioritizing the feelings in our body over the thoughts in our mind puts us on the fast-track to happiness.

--

Jalapeño or five-alarm fire? Take the quiz to learn your child's SPICY score now! 👇
*https://heidilinks.com/quiz-pod*

--

If you find this episode helpful, please don't forget to rate and subscribe.

It helps grow the channel and reach more people who need the unique tools for navigating parenthood with a strong-willed or neurodivergent child 🙂

--

Connect With Me

YouTube: https://heidilinks.com/pod-yt
Facebook: https://heidilinks.com/pod-fb
Instagram: https://heidilinks.com/pod-ig
Speaking events: https://heidilinks.com/pod-speaking