Dr. Ellen Braaten was one of my first guests on the Tilt Parenting podcast, when she joined me back in 2016 to talk about her book about processing speed, Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up. I’m so happy to be bringing her back to the show to talk about motivation,, which is the topic for her wonderful new book, Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less: How to Rekindle Your Child’s Motivation. 

In this episode, we explore motivation (or what we might perceive as a lack of motivation) in our kids from many angles, including what is really going on when our child appears to be unmotivated, the relationship between executive function and motivation, how resilience comes into play, and the way in which we as parents and caregivers can support our kids in gaining confidence and skills so they can make meaningful progress towards the things that light them up. 

About Dr. Ellen Braaten

Dr. Ellen Braaten is the Executive Director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program (LEAP) at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an Associate Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Braaten is widely recognized as an expert in the field of pediatric neuropsychological and psychological assessment, particularly in the areas of assessing learning disabilities and attentional disorders. She is the co-author of many books and articles for parents and professionals including the bestselling book, Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up. Her newest book, Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less: How to Rekindle Your Child’s Motivation was published in March of 2023.

Things you'll learn from this episode

-Why people sometimes misconstrue struggles with motivation as laziness (and how they’re getting it wrong)

-How executive function challenges and challenges with getting, or staying, motivated are connected

-What the parenting APP framework is and how it helps parents in supporting their children in feeling more motivated

-What “flow” is and how can we leverage that to support our kids’ fledgling motivation

-How to support kids in setting and working towards goals with kids who are particularly demand-avoidant

Resources

-Dr. Ellen Braaten’s website

-Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less: How to Rekindle Your Child’s Motivation by Dr. Ellen Braaten

-Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up: Help Your Child Overcome Slow Processing Speed and Keep Up in a Fast-Paced World by Dr. Ellen Braaten

-Exploring Slow Processing Speed with Dr. Ellen Braaten (Tilt Parenting Podcast)

-Traits of Flow According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

-The Learning and Emotional Assessment Program at Mass General

-Doable: A Girls’ Guide to Accomplishing Just About Anything by Debbie Reber

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