Are you struggling to raise emotionally healthy, resilient adolescents in this fast-paced, ever-changing world?
America has an epidemic of mental health disorders in adolescents that has made parenting even more challenging, but parents can still have an enormous impact on the health and well-being of their children. In her new book, Chicken Little: The Sky Isn’t Falling, Erica Komisar offers parents the tools they need to navigate this tumultuous time of change and create a continuous deep connection with their children.
Erica is a psychoanalyst and parent guidance expert who has been in private practice in New York City for over 30 years. She’s also the author of Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters.
IN THIS EPISODE:
7:00 Teenagers still need their parents’ guidance, even though teens tend to push their parents away
8:40 Covid exacerbated mental health issues and distress in younger people
11:30 There’s a tremendous amount of sacrifice involved if you’re going to raise and care for children well
13:40 We have placed more emphasis on money and career success than on caring for children
16:30 The best way to help quell the mental health crisis in children and adolescents is to prevent it from developing
19:00 Our society is achievement focused, rather than focused on emotional health, etc.
19:30 We “check out” of our children’s lives and simultaneously expect them to achieve more
20:00 Poverty can cause depression and so can affluence—in the same way.
22:00 Erica talks about her new book, Chicken Little.
23:00 At its root, anxiety is fear
24:00 The push for early independence is backfiring
24:30 The internet and social media has had a corrosive impact on the mental health of adolescence
27:30 Video games and tech additions are symptoms of anxiety and depression
31:40 Parents must be present during adolescence
34:00 You cannot protect your adolescent from pain and frustration, but it is a parent’s job to help them process it
38:35 We help shape our children’s identity over time. Parenting is also about helping your children take things OFF their plate.
41:00 Women/Girls get the message about having to “be something” more than boys/men
42:00 – PARENTS MATTER!
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