Have you ever gotten into an argument with your three year old and wondered “How did it come to this? I’m bigger, stronger, smarter and yet this little tyke has me on the ropes!!!!”

Have you tried to set a boundary with your teenager, only to have them“flip the script” and suddenly you’re on the defensive.

In this special podcast we interview certified hostage and conflict negotiator Karleen Savage M.A., author other “The Confident Teen Blueprint: A Parent’s 30 Day Challenge to Empower their Teen.”

We’ll discuss universal skills for conflict resolution that work with all children of all ages (including adult children!) Some of the techniques include:

• Embracing Curiosity: How to become an exceptional learner.

• Master Listening: How to story map, connecting the bullet points and filling in the gaps in the story.

• “Zippy the Lippy” : Learn when to keep your mouth shut. Most relational conflict is NOT an emergency. There is a way to avoid getting caught up in the other person’s intensity.

• Attitude: How can I deescalate this? How can I be present without “fixing” the problem.

If you’ve ever felt like a hostage in your own family, you’ll want to listen to this one.

Even parents of grown children sometimes wake up in a cold sweat reliving the battles in getting their 4 year old to go to sleep. In this episode we tackle head on the thorny but solvable challenge of getting your young child to go to sleep. After listening to this podcast, you’ll be primed to make bedtime more effective and relaxing for everybody.

Some of the topics we cover are:

When is the ideal time to switch your child from a crib to a bed?

Common causes that create difficulty falling asleep or middle of the night wakings.

How do you handle it if the child is afraid?

How much sleep do children this age actually need at night?

What is a healthy bedtime routine that promotes sleep?

In the end, it’s all about taking back parental authority by setting appropriate, respectful, firm boundaries while avoiding some of the common mistakes that parents make that inadvertently cause sleep problems.

We’ll give you tips on how to set limits and consequences that actually work and give you a realistic time frame about how long to expect before seeing results.

Finally, we’ll look at the more controversial topics: Do rewards work? And what about the “family bed”?

In this episode we interview clinical psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Cohen clinical about the huge uptick in anxiety and depression in our kids since the pandemic and how CBT is providing a lifeline for many families.

Therapists using CBT work with anxious and depressed children and teens to help them identify the specific triggers that lead to their anxiety and give them strategies to develop resilience and to handle discomfort.

We also discuss how parents can work with the principals of CBT including taking a “fear inventory” to help their children and teens at home. Finally, we’ll discuss whether medication is helpful or something to be avoided.