How do you help kids understand the physiological and emotional components of addiction? How do you help them understand the different effects that different substances can have on the body? In this episode, Michelle Larson, marriage and family therapy associate, and Amanda Suarez, school psychologist, share their direct insights about how to best help kids with this tricky topic.

See our full lesson for members:

https://upliftkids.org/lessons/addiction/

How do you have healthy, positive conversations with your kids about sex? We explore that question in this episode. See our full lesson on the topic (for members):

https://upliftkids.org/lessons/sexuality-conversation/

James Ure has done almost all 100+ of our main Uplift lessons and has fabulous insights about how families can use the program — or just have makeshift conversations about the topics that matter most — at home. He's also the co-director of Uplift family camp alongside Elizabeth Seeley, who have also started a teen camp together. Use the code Uplift100 for $100 off the teen camp at TheMojoVillage.com. (Uplift doesn't get any financial compensation for this — we're just trying to spread the word about causes we care about!)

Listen to this episode to hear how you can have regular conversations about important topics from someone with rich experience on the topic.

Elizabeth Seeley, co-director of Uplift Kids family camp, talks about her unique approach to doing Uplift lessons at home — an approach that starts with chocolate tasting and ends with open conversation. Hear ideas about how to do Uplift lessons, as well as Elizabeth's thoughts about family camp and a new project she's involved with for teens looking to explore an expansive approach to spirituality.

Kids can feel deep grief when they lose something, when they move, when a friendship ends, or when someone close to them passes away. How can you help them navigate these feelings? In this episode, school psychologist Amanda Suarez, marriage and family therapy associate Michelle Larsen, and curriculum creator Jon Ogden talk about the ways to help kids navigate these big feelings.

Need strategies to help your kids work through difficult situations with a coping skills toolbox. Hear practices that have worked with the kids Amanda Suarez works with as a school psychologist and that Michelle Larsen works with as a therapist.

Members can see the full lesson at:

https://upliftkids.org/lessons/coping-skills-toolbox/

In this episode, Uplift Cofounder Jon Ogden is joined by Jordan Harmon, a dialectical behavioral therapist who leads workshops for parents. Jordan attended our recent 3-day parenting retreat in Oregon where he told a story about how certain insights he gleaned from his work as a therapist helped his son manage his angry outbursts. Hear Jordan tell this powerful story, which can help you with similar issues at home.

If you're interested, you can also join Jordan's online parenting workshops by filling out this form: https://tinyurl.com/27t93akv

We just wrapped up our second parenting retreat at Scholls Valley Lodge, just outside of Portland, Oregon, and learned so much from the wonderful parents who attended. In this episode we discuss one small part of the experience, which focused on spiritual practices that families can try at home.

Kids (and grownups!) sometimes get fixated on certain tasks, or they get distracted by open awareness — both of which can relate to the spectrum of autistic tendencies and ADHD. In this conversation, we explore how to help kids who lean in either direction (or a combination of the two).

How can you help kids find something they care about, something they're good at, something that's needed, and something they can get paid for? It takes balance and persistent but gentle guidance. This episode explores how to do it well so that kids join an ongoing and ever-changing human conversation.